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Gift Transactions, Allocations, Amounts, and Linked Secondary Tables

Fast Data Entry

Profiles World

Site Specific Notes

Maintain Simple and Joint Giving and Dues Transactions

The creation, editing, or deleting of data within the Giving or Dues tables is performed following the same general pattern of behavior that is used for all of the other data tables. A constituent's display is accessed within the Profiles World and the Insert, Default, and Update forms are used in the same ways that they are used in other data tables. The individual text boxes on the forms may be free text, lookup table driven, datetime, numeric columns, etc., just as they are in other tables' forms. The Giving data rows also include those automatic system-generated fields that are part of every Abila Millennium row. These standard behaviors are described in the topic, Data Maintenance.

The Giving tables are more complex than other tables in the amount of information that may be associated with a donation and the need to track the details for auditing purposes. Therefore the creation and editing of the Giving data warrants extra attention.

Donations that are made to your institution may be very simple and straightforward, as in the case of a check that is received from one constituent, in response to a particular Campaign and which is to be deposited to a single account number. They may also be quite complex, as in the case of a constituent who makes a pledge to donate an amount of money equal to that given by all the members of his chapter, if and only if they achieve 75% participation, and where his pledge will be joint with his brother, and matched by his spouse's employer, and paid in seven unequal payments over the next five years, beginning in six months, for which he will receive a rocking chair worth $250.

Our exploration of the procedures for data maintenance in the Gift or Dues tables begins with a "simple" gift to the institution, discussed in this topic, and then progresses to the many other options available as listed in the index below. Each item shown in the index is a hyperlink. Click the hyperlink to access the Help topic about the item.

Giving Transactions Index

Creating Simple Transactions

Tenders

Editing Transactions

Joint Transactions

Matching Giving

Pledge Transactions

Multiple Allocations

Credit Transactions

Transactions with a Quid Pro Quo Item

Honor/Memory Transactions

Correspondence

Transactions with a Solicitor

Anonymous Transactions

Serialized Tax Receipting

Simple Transactions

For the purposes of explanation, the terminology "Simple" Transaction is used here to describe a Gift or Dues Transaction that is received from a single constituent, and which will include a single set of Allocation information. It is the least complex of the possible situations that you may encounter in tracking donations to the satisfaction of the donor, the fund raiser, the business officer, the IRS, etc. The instructions for a simple Transaction provide a basis for the other, more complex variations that you may want to use in recording information about a donation. Instructions for more complex Transactions will begin with these instructions for a "Simple" Transaction. See the Transaction Index shown above for the variations in Giving Transactions.

Gift or Dues Transactions may be created using either an Insert Form (which will be presented showing only a minimal amount of system-default data) or a Default Form (which will be presented showing as much user-defined default data as the current user has previously entered via the Options, Define Default function).

Create a Simple Transaction Using an Insert Form

  1. Within the Profiles World, access the appropriate display (Giving or Dues) for the constituent for whom you want to create a Transaction.
  2. Pass the mouse pointer over the Section Header edit button for any existing transactions. You will be shown a context menu which includes the item, Insert. Click that item.

  3. The Insert form will show data boxes for each of the available columns. Depending on the display and maintenance definitions in use at your institution, you may see some of the data boxes shown within a large, boxed-in area labeled Allocation. This distinction is made for the benefit of those Transactions that will include multiple Allocations, in order to distinguish between the information that is common to all Allocations, and that which is specific to the Allocation. For more information, see Understanding Gift Transactions and Allocations, in the topic Gift Transactions. For a simple Transaction to a single Allocation, the distinction is unnecessary, and you may enter data for any of the fields, regardless of the placement on the form (whether inside or outside the box, if a box is displayed.)

    A few of the data boxes will already contain data. The name of the displayed constituent in the Given by text box and the current day's date as both the Effective and Process Dates. In addition, any list box that represents a lookup table will display the word 'CHOOSE'.

  4. Use the Tab key, the mouse, or hot key combinations to move the cursor to any data box (a text box, list box, check box, etc.) that does not show the data that you want. If data is present by default, you may highlight and replace it or you may edit it. If the data box was blank, you may type or select the desired data, according to the nature of the data field. For additional information, see the subject, Using Forms in the topic Data Maintenance for the specific procedures for each field's data type.

    Though the system may allow you to enter less information, we strongly encourage you to consider the fields which are marked with an asterisk in the following list as the minimum amount of information for even a "simple" transaction, in order to provide basic audit-ability standards.

  5. Within the Allocation area, enter the appropriate data in the following data boxes.

    1. Purpose (Account Number) - .the Account number, name or code from the Chart of Accounts lookup table (chart_of_accounts) that shows where the money from this transaction will be deposited by the accounting or business office.
    2. Multiple Allocation - a check box used to trigger the generation of additional, linked Allocations in addition to the Allocation information that is being entered in the current Insert form. For a simple Transaction with a single Allocation, leave this check box UNCHECKED.
    3. Campaign - driven by the Campaign lookup table, which is defined by your institution in accordance with the organization of your fund raising efforts. Examples might be, Annual Fund, Capital Campaign, etc.
    4. Campaign Year - is used to indicate the cycle of the Campaign that is responsible for this transaction.
    5. Class(ification) 1 - driven by the Classification 1 (transaction_class) lookup table which your institution may define in any way it chooses to classify, describe, or identify a characteristic of a Transaction.
    6. Class(ification) 2 - driven by the Classification 2 (transaction_class2) lookup table which your institution may define in any way it chooses to further classify, describe, or identify a characteristic of a Transaction. 

  6. Below the Allocation area, you will see additional data boxes in which you may want enter data. These are:

    1. Check # - may be used when the method of Tender for this Transaction is Check, to record the number from the constituent's check. This may be useful in tracking the donation.
    2. ABA # - may be used when the method of Tender for this Transaction is Check, to record the American Banking Number (sometimes known as the routing number) from the constituent's check.
    3. Currency - the standard currency in which the donation was received. The system assumes that all amounts within Abila Millennium reflect the native currency of your institution, and that any foreign currency donations must be converted to your native currency before any amount data is entered. That being the case, we suggest that data only be entered in this field when the donation was received in a currency that is foreign to the institution's. See Transactions Tendered in Foreign Currency in the Transaction Index.
    4. Asset Amount - If this text box is left blank, the system will automatically equate the Asset Amount as equivalent to the Amount field for a Transaction with a Type of Gift or Dues. You may enter a different amount for this field if you want to override the system's automatic behavior. If you do so, this amount must correspond to the Total Amount that was entered above in this form. If the Transaction Type is other than Gift or Dues, the system will calculate this amount in conformity with the FASB standards for donations, and conditional and unconditional pledges. For more information see the subject, Amount Columns within the topic, Gift Transactions.
    5. Net Present Value - If this text box is left blank, the system will automatically equate the Net Present Value as equivalent to the Amount field for a Transaction Type of Gift or Dues. You may enter a different amount for this field if you want to override the system's behavior. If you do so, this amount must correspond to the Total Amount that was entered above in this form. This data is primarily designed for the purpose of reporting to the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) though any institution may calculate an alternate value and enter that data in this field if desired.

    6. Deductible Amount - If this text box is left blank, the system will automatically equate the Deductible Amount to the Amount of the Transaction. If you want to override this behavior, you may enter an alternate amount in this text box. If you do so, this amount must correspond to the Total Amount that was entered above in this form.

      Note: There are two additional circumstances in which the Deductible Amount is entered or altered by the system. Any time that a Quid Pro Quo item is linked to this Transaction, the system will automatically subtract the value of that item from the current amount in the Deductible Amount field. Also, certain entries in the Chart of Accounts carry a flag to indicate that any Transaction that is deposited to that account should automatically have the Deductible Amount calculated to be 80% of the Total Amount. For more information, see Deductible Amount under Amounts in the topic, Gift Transactions.

    7. Batch # - driven by the Gift Batch Numbers (gift_batch_number) lookup table (If entering a Dues transaction, this field is driven by the Dues Batch Number (dues_batch_number) lookup table). The pull down list will only show Batch Numbers that are Open Batches. If you have defined a default batch number for your use, this field will show the value of that default.
    8. Deposit # - used to record the number of the Deposit in which the funds from this donation were placed.

  7. There are a number of check boxes at the bottom of the form. For the simple Transaction that is being discussed, these functions are not required. But each of the functions that are triggered using these check boxes are described in this Giving Data Maintenance topic or elsewhere. They are: Joint With,  Credit For,  Honor/Memory for, and the Special functions, Post Match,  Anonymous,  Quid Pro Quo, and Solicitor.

  8. When this form shows the data as you want, click on the Insert button at the bottom of the form to create the row and return to that constituent's display,

    OR

    Click Cancel to halt the process without creating the row.

Create a Simple Transaction Using a Default Form

For specific information about Default Insert Forms, see the topic, Default Insert Forms.

Within the Profiles World, access the appropriate display (Giving or Dues) for the constituent for whom you want to create a transaction.

To utilize the current active Default Insert Form, pass the mouse pointer over the Section Header, or one of the edit buttons for an existing transaction, to access a context menu. Click the Insert via Default menu item. An insert form is presented and is automatically be populated with any data that is part of your definition for that active Default.

To utilize a Default Insert Form that is not the current active one, pass the mouse pointer over the Section Header, select the Choose Default menu item, and then click on the name of the Default that you want to utilize. The insert form presented will be automatically populated with any data that is part of that chosen Default definition, and, that chosen Default definition will now become the active Default Insert Form.

It is very important to note that any list box that represents a lookup table and for which you have not chosen a specific entry when the Default Insert form was defined, will display the first entry in that lookup table (which may or may not be a blank).

To create the Transaction, follow the instructions listed under Create a Simple Transaction Using an Insert Form, beginning with step 2.

Joint Transactions

Donations may be received that are given by two constituents. The additional constituent may or may not be the spouse of the original constituent. Your institution must decide on a standard policy for handling such transactions, and most choose one of two options within Abila Millennium.

Either technique, or some combination may be used by your institution. However,it is vitally important to the integrity of your Giving data that a standard policy in this matter be devised and implemented at your institution. All users who view data, enter data, or perform report writing tasks must understand the "rules" for your institution and conform to them.

A Joint Transaction may be created for a spouse or for one other constituent, not both. Therefore, the Joint with Spouse and Joint with Other check boxes toggle - if you activate one, the other is automatically turned off. If you do not want to create a Joint Transaction, you may leave both boxes unchecked.

Also note that you may create a Joint Transaction for the spouse OR you may create a Credit Transaction for the spouse, but not both of these types, for the spouse. Therefore, these check boxes toggle as well.

In accordance with the behaviors described above, you may create one Joint and multiple Credit Transactions linked to the same original Transaction.

This topic discusses the creation of Joint Transactions for a spouse or another constituent; the Credit Transactions topic will discuss the creation of Credit Transactions for a spouse or another constituent.

Create a Joint Transaction for a Spouse at the Same Time that the Original Transaction is Created

To create a Joint Transaction for a spouse at the same time that the original Transaction is created for the other spouse, follow the procedures for the Simple Gift using either of the constituents as the first constituent, but do not click on Insert until you have completed the steps that follow. This check box will only be available if the system has already determined that the constituent has a constituent spousal relationship. (Not limited to the Relationship Type Spouse-Spouse (sp-sp). See the subject, Spousal Relationships within the topic, Relationships.)

  1. If the donation is to be jointly owned by the first constituent's spouse, click on Joint with: Spouse. When this checkbox is selected at the time that the original Transaction row is Inserted, the system will automatically create a functionally identical Transaction for the constituent spouse.
  2. As the system generates the two Transactions, the Amount fields will automatically be equally divided between the two Transactions. Therefore, verify that you have entered the full amount of the donation into the Total Amount field of the first constituent's Transaction. This will allow the system to perform the calculations for the Joint Amounts appropriately.

  3. When all data and settings appear in the Insert or Default form for the first constituent as it should, click on Insert. The system will automatically create BOTH Transactions and return you to the display of the first constituent's Gift or Dues data.

    OR

    You may click on Cancel to halt the process without creating either Transaction.

  4. Once you have created the Transactions, you may want to verify the situation by scrolling to locate the new row, where you will see the hyperlink message, "Joint with spouse". Click the hyperlink. You will be shown the single Transaction that was just created belonging to the spouse.

Create a Joint Transaction for a Non-spouse constituent at the Same Time that the Original Transaction is Created

To create a Joint Transaction for a constituent who is not the spouse, at the same time that the original Transaction i s created for the first constituent, follow the procedures for the Simple Gift using either of the constituents as the first constituent, but do not click on Insert until you have completed the steps that follow.

  1. If the donation is to be jointly owned by the first constituent and another constituent, click on the check box in the lower left portion of the form labeled, Joint with: Other. Note that a Transaction may be jointly owned with a spouse OR another constituent, and not both. Therefore, if one of the two Joint options is checked, the other will automatically be unchecked, and of course, both may be unchecked if the Transaction is not jointly owned.
  2. When Joint Transactions are created, all Amount fields will automatically be equally divided between the two Transactions. Therefore, verify that you have entered the full amount of the donation into the Total Amount field of the first constituent's Transaction to allow the system to perform the calculations for the Joint Amounts appropriately.
  3. When the appropriate data and settings are in place, click on the Insert button to create the Transaction for the first constituent, and to trigger the creation of the second transaction.
  4. The Joint ID Search form will display so that you can identify the Other constituent. It is important to note that if you Cancel the Joint ID Search, you will not halt the creation of the Transaction for the first constituent; you only halt the creation of the Joint Transaction for the second constituent!

  5. Enter the constituent's ID number, or name using Closedstandard Name search formatting.

    Last Name/First Name<space>Middle Name;Suffix

  6. A Search Results page displays, listing the constituent or constituents who match the ID Number or name entered.

    1. A constituent will appear in the search results more than one time if he or she has more than one Lookup Name row. Click the Sort by ID and Display Unique List hyperlink to remove duplicate rows from the Search Results display. If you re-sort the search results, the duplicates will display again.
    2. Locate the desired constituent and click on the name hyperlink.
    3. If the desired constituent is not shown, click the Respecify the Query hyperlink. The Search form re-displays to allow you to redo your constituent search.
  7. Once the second constituent is identified, the system will automatically create a Transaction that is nearly identical, for that constituent, and return you to the display of the first constituent's data. If you want, you may verify the situation by scrolling to locate the new row, where you will see the hyperlink message, Joint with second constituent's name. Click the hyperlink. You will be shown the single Transaction that was just created belonging to the second constituent.

Add a Joint Transaction to an Existing Transaction

A Joint Transaction may be created and linked to an existing Transaction at any time after the original is created. This is accomplished via the Edit menu for the original Transaction. When the Joint Transaction is created, the Amount fields will be adjusted by the system, therefore, careful consideration must be given before creating a Joint Transaction for an existing Transaction if financial reports have already been generated on the original.

  1. Locate the specific Gift or Dues Transaction to which the Joint Transaction is to be linked. Note that this process begins with the existing Transaction which belongs to a different constituent than the constituent to whom the Joint Transaction will belong - do NOT access the display of the second constituent.
  2. Pass the mouse pointer over the edit button to access a context menu and then pass it over the item, Transactions.
  3. Click Add Joint Transaction in the resulting cascading menu.
  4. The Joint ID Search form will display so that you can identify the Other constituent.

  5. Enter the constituent's ID number, or name using Closedstandard Name search formatting. You can, at this step, click on Cancel instead. The Joint Transaction will not be created.

    Last Name/First Name<space>Middle Name;Suffix

  6. A Search Results page displays, listing the constituent or constituents who match the ID Number or name entered.
    1. A constituent will appear in the search results more than one time if he or she has more than one Lookup Name row. Click the Sort by ID and Display Unique List hyperlink to remove duplicate rows from the Search Results display. If you re-sort the search results, the duplicates will display again.
    2. Locate the desired constituent and click on the name hyperlink.
    3. If the desired constituent is not shown, click the Respecify the Query hyperlink. The Search form re-displays to allow you to redo your constituent search.
  7. Once a constituent has been uniquely identified, the system will create the Joint Transaction and return you to the display of the original constituent's Transaction. Scroll to the bottom of that Transaction's display and you will see the message, "Joint with..." and then hyperlink text showing the second constituent's name. If you want, you may click on that hyperlink to view the individual Transaction that has been created for that constituent. If you do so, at the bottom of that display you will see the message, "Joint with..." and then the hyperlink text showing the first constituent's name.

Copy to New Gift

At times, you may want to create a Transaction that is essentially a copy of an existing Transaction, belonging to the same constituent. This is best accomplished using the Copy To New Gift function. Using this technique, the details of the first Transaction are copied to an Insert form where you may edit them or accept them as they are. When the data row is created, certain data fields will have different defaults and some system-use data fields will be different in the new Transaction, such as the Key field, the User ID, the Create Date, etc.

This technique may be especially useful if you plan to Journal an existing Transaction and re-enter it with slightly different data. The Copy function would allow you to first copy the original Transaction, edit the data in the maintenance form before Inserting it and then Journal the first Transaction.

Note that if the Copy to New Gift function is used with a Transaction that has multiple Allocations, the master Transaction will be copied to the Insert form and the Split Allocation check box will be activated. However, the linked Allocations will not be copied and you must re-enter them manually. And, any other Transactions that link, including Joint, Credit, Match Pledges, Honors/Memorials, etc. will not be copied and you must also re-enter them manually.

Create a Transaction Using Copy to New Gift

  1. Display the Transaction that you want to copy.
  2. Pass the mouse pointer over the Edit button and then pass it over the Transactions item in the resulting context menu.
  3. Click the Copy to New Gift item. An Insert form containing most of the details from the original Transaction will be shown.
  4. Tab or mouse click on any of the data boxes to perform any desired edits to the data in the form. The following data fields are particularly noteworthy.
  5. The Effective and Process Dates will default to the current date, rather than the dates from the original Transaction.
  6. The original Batch Number is not copied, and only the currently Open Batch Numbers are available.
  7. The Split Allocation check box, will default to conform to the original Transaction. However, it bears repeating: any linked Transactions must be re-entered manually - they are not copied by the Copy to New Gift function.

  8. When all data appears in the Insert form appropriately, click on Insert to create the Transaction

    OR

    Click Cancel to halt the process without creating a new Transaction.

  9. If appropriate, additional forms may be presented so that you may enter linked data such as additional Allocations, Quid Pro Quo info, Linked Credit Transactions, Matching Pledges, etc. These forms conform to the standard behaviors for each. See the Transaction Index for these options.

Copy to Linked Gift

At times it may be desirable to create a Credit Transaction and link it to another Transaction belonging to the same constituent; see the Credit Transactions topic for example situations. If you would like to add a linked Credit Transaction that is an exact copy of the existing Transaction belonging to the same constituent, this is best accomplished by using the Copy to Linked Gift function.

Note that if the Copy to Linked Gift function is used with a Transaction that has multiple Allocations, the master Transaction will be copied to the Insert form and the Split Allocation check box will be activated. However, the linked Allocations will not be copied and you must re-enter them manually.

Create a Transaction Using Copy to Linked Gift

  1. Display the Transaction that you want to copy.
  2. Pass the mouse pointer over the Edit button to the left, and then pass it over the Transaction item in the resulting context menu.
  3. Click Copy to Linked Gift. An Insert form pre-populated with most of the details from the original transaction will display.

  4. Tab or mouse-click on any of the data boxes to perform any desired edits to the data in the form. The following data fields are particularly noteworthy:

    1. The Transaction Type is Credit Transaction
    2. The Process Date will default to the current date
    3. The original Batch Number is not copied, and only Batch Numbers that are currently Open are available.
  5. The Split Allocation check box will default to conform to the original Transaction. However, it bears repeating: any linked Transactions must be re-entered manually - they are not copied by the Copy to Linked Gift function.
  6. When all data appears as desired, click on Insert to create the Transaction OR click on Cancel to halt the process without creating the Credit Transaction.

Delete a Transaction

Though we strongly discourage deleting transactions, there are very limited circumstances in which it may be desirable to delete an existing Transaction. It is extremely unwise to allow users to delete any Giving data row which is part of a Closed Batch or which has been included in any published or distributed report. However, if during the day's data entry, an operator finds that a mistake has been made and wants to correct it before the daily reports are run, deleting the data row may be an acceptable practice. Your institution should establish a firm procedural policy for the deletion of Giving data. User Security features are available to enforce the your institution's policy.

  1. Access the constituent's display of the appropriate table and locate the desired Transaction.
  2. Pass the mouse pointer over the edit button for the specific Transaction to access a context menu and then click on the Update/Delete item to access a maintenance form.
  3. Visually verify that the data shown in the form is that which you intend to delete. Click the Delete button.

Deleting Transactions and Serial Receipts

If your site is utilizing Serialized Tax Receipting, then these special considerations apply.

See the Serial Receipts topic for complete information about Serialized Tax Receipting.

Anonymous Transactions

Abila Millennium allows you to flag any Transaction with a one character field (giftanon or duesanon) that indicates that the donor wants that this particular Transaction be considered an Anonymous donation. If this field is activated, then the word Anonymous will appear in red in the display of the Transaction.

This data field may also be used when creating certain kinds of published reports, to exclude the donor's name (and probably the report would specify that the word, Anonymous be substituted).

This field may be activated using the check box at the bottom of the Insert form.

  1. Access the appropriate Giving display for the desired constituent and pass the mouse pointer over the Edit button to the left to access a context menu. Click Insert or Insert via Default.
  2. You will be given either a blank Insert form or one showing your current default definition.
  3. Follow the instructions for a Simple Gift or other instructions as appropriate. See the Transaction Index. (Do not click on the Insert button until you have completed the following step.)
  4. Locate the Anonymous check box at the bottom of the form , located in the area labeled Special. Point the mouse to the check box and click to activate the check box.

  5. When all other details appear in the form as you want, click on Insert to create the Transaction,

    OR

    Click Cancel to halt the process without creating the Transaction.

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