Report Roundup: Cash Receipts Journal

Not everyone has a Fenton Crackshell to keep track of their income, which is why The Raiser's Edge has reports like the Cash Receipts Journal, which is used to report on cash and stock/property gifts for a particular date range you specify. Like a lot of reports in The Raiser's Edge, this report can be run in both detail and summary. Both report types include grand totals.

The detail report lists details for each gift. In addition to the columns shown below, you can also add an optional column on the Format tab.

The summary report summarizes totals for each gift type by campaign, fund, appeal, and/or constituent code, depending on the Detail options you select on the Format tab. The report also includes number of gifts and amount subtotals based on the summary field.

To run the report:

1. Open Reports, Financial Reports
2. Select the Cash Receipts Journal
3. On the General tab:
   • Select a date range
   • In the report type menu, select Detail, Summary, or Both
4. On the Format tab:
   • If you are running the report in Summary or Both, select the field to Summarize by under Detail
   • Under Optional Columns, select an additional column to include
5. Click Preview

You can also read about this report in Knowledgebase solution BB79821.

The answer to the Brain Buster in this month's edition of The User's Edge is holes. If Robert adds holes to the barrel, the water will seep out and it will become lighter.

Report Roundup: Comparing Membership Reports

Different reports, or even the same report, can look at a set of data and produce entirely different results based on the report critera. One overlooked checkbox can skew totals. The Membership Statistics by Category report is often compared to the Comparative Membership Statistics report; comparing these results requires a deep understanding of what each report considers.

The Membership Statistics by Category report provides a snapshot of activity within each membership category for a specific time period, and includes information about upgrades, downgrades, total memberships, and income. The Comparative Membership Statistics Report compares the performance of membership categories in selected date ranges. This report includes the number of memberships or members for each membership level and the income generated.

The difference is in the report detail. The Membership Statistics by Category report documents each membership by category and the complete detail of what happened on the membership in the date range. The Comparative Membership Statistics Report shows the start and end totals of the membership categories, without providing additional detail.

Both reports follow the same formula:

Total:
 Memberships prior to (Start)
 New
 Renew Upgrade In
 Renew Down In
 Rejoin Same
 Rejoin Upgrade In
 Rejoin Downgrade In
 Upgrade During Cycle In
 Downgrade During Cycle In
Subtotal = X

Total:
 Renew Upgrade Out
 Renew Downgrade Out
 Upgrade During Cycle Out
 Downgrade During Cycle Out
 Dropped
 Lapsed (Only in the Membership Statistics by Category report, when 'Include only active memberships' is marked)
Subtotal = Y

Subtract for total:
X - Y = End Members as Of...

So, if they reports consider the same records and use the same formula, they should match, right? Here's why they might not:

1. On the Membership Statistics by Category report, you have the option 'Include only active memberships in 'Membership as of' counts'. This is a bit of a puzzle. With this option marked, the 'Memberships Prior To' and 'Memberships As Of' columns will not consider dropped memberships, but the other columns will consider dropped memberships in the count if they are part of the activity in the report. So, if a membership was dropped within your date range, you might see one transaction for that membership in the Dropped column, but the Memberships As Of column will not include a record in the count for that membership. The option to 'Include only active memberships...' is not a filter; it is a tool for analysis.
2. The Comparative Membership Statistics Report has a filter option to include Membership records with a specific Standing. This will include memberships in the report based on their Standing on the day the report is run.
3. If a query is used in one report, it must be used in the other.
4. The date range must be the same in both reports.
5. The filters tab must be the same in both reports.
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This information is also in the Knowledgebase solution BB93723.

News You Can Use: Enhancements in The Raiser's Edge 7.91

After a long weekend I decided to write about something fun and exciting, enhancements in The Raiser’s Edge 7.91.  This version, scheduled for release in late June, has several features that will help your organization and make your users smile.  I’ve already posted about several changes (PCI Update, Password Changes, and Credit Card Changes), please read them if you haven’t.

Export specific attribute descriptions - You’ll be able to export attribute descriptions if the attribute data type is a table.  For example, you may have an attribute for Interests; this has values of golf, soccer, football, baseball, etc.  With this enhancement, you can select which value(s) to export rather than exporting all values.

Drag and Drop Queries into Folders - If you use the Query folder feature that was added in version 7.85, you’ll now be able to highlight and drop queries and drop them into your query folders.

SQL 2008 compatibility - This version of Raiser’s Edge is compatible with SQL Server 2008.  If you use SQL Server 2000 or 2005, these editions are still supported.

There will be more posts about new this version on The User's Edge blog as we get closer to the release date.

Import Ingisht: Soft Credits (Part II)

In my last post, I discussed how to add new soft credits to existing gifts.  Now, let’s look at using import to update the soft credit gift amount on gifts that already have soft credits.

In addition to the fields necessary to add a new soft credit (Recipient Import ID, Gift Link, Soft Credit Amount), the Soft Credit Import ID is required.  This tells The Raiser’s Edge which soft credit amount to update.  The column header for the Soft Credit Import ID is SoftCreditImpID.

In Admin, Import, select Soft Credit from the Gift node. Click New and select the following parameters.
On the General Tab select:
•  What do you want to do? Update existing records
•  What file to you wish to import? Browse to the import file
•  How do you want the system to identify existing constituents? Use the Import ID*
•  What is the format of this import file? Delimited

On the File Layout Tab select :
•  Field Separators and Text Qualifiers: Comma, Quotation
•  Import Field Names: Field names are on the first line of the import file
•  Sample Import Format: Verify the first few rows of the import file
 
On the Fields Tab:
•  Ensure all rows in the Field to Import column are mapped to the correct field in the Raiser's Edge column.
On the Summary Tab select:

•  Create control report. This report lists the criteria fields and operators selected for the import. The report also shows the import name and the directory path where you saved the import.

For more information on importing soft credits see Knowledgebase solution BB53726.  This solution also contains a  sample soft credit import file.

If there is a specific type of import you would like to see discussed next, please leave a comment and I’ll add it to my list of topics.

Import Insight: Soft Credits (Part I)

In the comments section of my post on the basics of importing,  Mary Ellen asked about importing soft credits.  You can both add new soft credits and update existing soft credits in import.  I will discuss the first option in this post.

Importing new soft credits

In this scenario gifts are already in the database and we want to soft credit existing constituents for these gifts.  Before starting we’ll need to know the following:

•  Recipient Import ID - This is the import ID of the constituent being soft credited.  When importing, it tells The Raiser's Edge whose record to add the soft credit to.
•  Gift Link – This is the gift import ID of the hard credit gift. It tells The Raiser's Edge which gift to use as the hard credit when importing soft credits.
•  Soft Credit Amount – This is the amount to soft credit to the recipient (whole or fraction of the actual gift).

Once this information is in an Excel file you can begin.
The column header for the Recipient Import ID is SoftCredRecip, Gift Link is GFTLink, and Gift Amount is SoftCredAmt.  Save the file in .CSV format.

In Admin, Import, select Soft Credit from the Gift node. Click New and select the following parameters.
On the General Tab select:
•  What do you want to do? Import new records               
•  What file to you wish to import? Browse to the import file
•  How do you want the system to identify existing constituents? Use the Import ID*
•  What is the format of this import file? Delimited

On the File Layout Tab select:
•  Field Separators and Text Qualifiers: Comma, Quotation
•  Import Field Names: Field names are on the first line of the import file
•  Sample Import Format: Verify the first few rows of the import file

On the Fields Tab:
•  Ensure all rows in the Field to Import column are mapped to the correct field in the Raiser's Edge column.

On the Summary Tab select:
•  Create control report. This report lists the criteria fields and operators selected for the import. The report also shows the import name and the directory path where you saved the import.
 
Stay tuned for Part II, where I’ll go over updating existing soft credits.