What’s the best way to show variance between time periods? Comparisons and Summaries Report
An important aspect of non-profits is to identify giving trends, and the Comparisons and Summaries report is an easy way to track this data.
This report can output data in two different ways: The Comparison option compares two time periods, and the Summary option displays data for up to five time periods. Both report types include the variance, or difference, in giving between the time periods as either a percentage or a dollar amount.
One of the features of this report is the ability to base it on a selected field. There are a number of available fields to choose from, including constituent and gift fields. A common field to base this report on is constituency code. Running the report on this field will allow you to see how your organization’s donations break down by donor constituency code. If you see a decline in donations from donors with the constituency code of Board Member, you may decide to send an appeal to these constituents.
To get started, click Reports from the main menu of The Raiser's Edge. Under Reports, select Demographic and Statistical. Open a new Comparisons and Summaries Report. On the General tab, you can click the Include button to pull in select records from a query. You will also have the options on this tab to specify how you would like to designate Soft Credits and Matching Gifts. Mark the checkboxes to indicate whether the report will include or exclude records that are inactive, deceased or have no valid address. You can also specify to run the Comparison or Summary version of the report.
Next, click on the Fields tab. To report on the variance by constituency code, select Constituency code as the Field to use (include selected field values if desired).
Click Columns on the left side of the Fields tab to add or remove columns from the report. You can include columns such as number of donors, total given, and average given per donor. (BB137578)
If you want to be more specific about which gifts you are comparing, include selected records on the Filters tab. If you are filtering on selected constituency codes on the Filters tab, take a moment to review Knowledgebase solution BB4821, which explains constituency code hierarchy.
The Gift Types tab allows you to include or exclude specific gift types from the report. A commonly misunderstood option on the Gift Types tab is the option to ‘Use gift balance instead of gift amount’ and 'Calculate gift balance based on date range, campaign, fund, and appeal.’ These options affect how pledges are calculated. If you use gift balance instead of gift amount, the pledge balance will show, rather than the original amount of the pledge. You will most likely want to include pledge payment in the report if this option is marked. If you choose the second option, the balance of the pledge will be determined by the date range on the General tab and campaigns, funds and appeals you may have selected on the Filters tab. For more information about these options, review BB10957.
The Summaries option in this report allows you to compare up to 5 different date ranges. You can use the ‘Autofill Dates’ feature on the Report Periods tab to save yourself from having to enter each date range manually.
Since our sample report breaks down giving by constituency code, it may be helpful to include a graph for a visual interpretation of this breakdown. Graph settings are on the Graph tab. You have the option to include a graph within the report, or use the graph only. There are a number of options for different graph types and columns to include in your graph.
The final step of this report is setting up the Format. You can customize the report by adding headers or footers, and changing the report title. There is an option on this tab that will greatly impact your results if you are basing the report on constituency code. If you click Detail on the left side of the Format tab, you will see two check boxes on the right:
- Include constituent for the Primary field value
- Include constituent for all field values
This option will determine what happens when a constituent has more than one constituency code. If you only want the constituent to be included under the first valid code found, mark the first option. If you would like the constituent to be included for each valid constituency code on their record, choose the second option. One thing to keep in mind with the second option is that the constituent's gifts will be listed multiple times.
The Comparisons and Summaries Report is an incredibly useful report that has countless possibilities. We have only begun to scratch the surface of its capabilities.