Donation Tracking Best Practices
Not all Donations are the same. Learn best practices for tracking Soft Credits, Matching Gifts, and other Donation types.
Quick Recap
The training covered topics such as data entry best practices, appeal management, and handling different types of donations including in-kind and stock contributions. The trainer provided detailed explanations on various system features, including the customization of dropdown menus, reporting capabilities, and the proper handling of tax-deductible amounts and soft credits. The session concluded with the trainer addressing specific questions about historical data reporting and tax-deductible values.
Summary
DonorSnap Data Entry Best Practices
The trainer conducted a webinar on best practices for donation data entry in DonorSnap, focusing on coding donations and payments. She emphasized that while there are few strict rules for entering data, organizations should choose methods that align with their needs and accounting practices for integration with QuickBooks if applicable. The trainer explained the structure of donation entries, including the distinction between donation types, campaigns, and appeals, and demonstrated how to customize dropdown menus in the system. She also highlighted that while certain fields are optional, accurate coding is essential for generating useful reports.
System Management for Appeals and Events
The trainer explained how to manage appeals and events in the system, discussing the use of date ranges and dropdown menus for reporting. She demonstrated how to run reports for specific time periods and events, emphasizing the importance of organizing appeals and donation types effectively. The trainer also highlighted the flexibility in customizing dropdowns for different types of donations and events, allowing users to tailor the system to their needs.
Tax Deductible Donation Value Clarification
The trainer explained the concept of “value received” for calculating tax-deductible donations, clarifying that it refers to the fair market value of something the donor received in return for contributions. She provided examples, such as a golf tournament where a $100 payment included an $80 value received for a round of golf, leaving a $20 tax-deductible amount. The trainer also clarified that the value received field is not the same as the in-kind donation value and advised hiding the field if it is not needed.
In-Kind Donations in DonorSnap
The trainer explained how to handle in-kind donations (a donation of goods or services instead of money) in DonorSnap, emphasizing that the value received should be zero and any value assessment should be noted in the comments. She also demonstrated how to add a custom field for tracking in-kind values if needed, particularly for organizations that frequently handle such donations.
Soft Credit, Honorarium, and Memorial Donation Entry Methods
The trainer discussed the process of entering stock and donor-advised fund donations into DonorSnap, explaining two steps: entering the donation under the intermediary organization (like Schwab or a community foundation) as a hard credit, and using a soft credit to attribute the donation to the actual donor. She emphasized, organizations often prefer soft credits to keep the donor’s name on reports rather than the intermediary’s.
The trainer discussed the handling of soft credits and double entries in DonorSnap, emphasizing the importance of establishing clear policies for reporting and coding different types of payments based on organizational needs. She highlighted the flexibility of the system, allowing organizations to customize fields and reporting methods, but stressed the need for consistency. The trainer also covered memorial donations, explaining how to set up and manage them effectively.
DonorSnap Reporting Overview
The trainer led a detailed walkthrough of DonorSnap, addressing questions about historical data reporting and tax-deductible values. She explained that for multi-year reports, the Reports > Fund Development Analysis > Periodic Comparison report is the most useful tool, and clarified that when auction items are sold for less than their fair market value, the difference is not tax-deductible.