The User's Edge : Brunson

News You Can Use: Planning and Preparing for The Raiser’s Edge 7.91 Update

Kevin Brunson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:11:00 GMT

The Raiser’s Edge 7.91 is now available! Before you update, review the following important information and take time to plan, prepare, and inform all users at your organization about the changes in this version. Review Important Information about Version 7.91.

Also review The Raiser’s Edge 7.91 FAQs to view common questions other organizations have asked.

View a Recording of the Support Roundtable Webinar highlighting changes in version 7.91 or download a copy of the Powerpoint presentation.

Preparing for the update
The Raiser’s Edge 7.91 changes the way credit cards are stored in your database. This update removes full credit card numbers from the database and stores them in the Blackbaud Payment Service (BBPS). After the update, you will only see the last 4 digits of the credit card number on constituent and gift records.

Organizations that use IATS or ICVerify to authorize credit cards will continue processing as normal.

Organizations that authorize credit cards by printing or exporting credit card data will be unable to do so. You can create an account with IATS or ICVerify to enable credit card processing in version 7.91, or stay on your current version. If you stay on your current version, contact a Qualified Security Assessor for advice on how to secure your credit card data and authorize credit card transactions in accordance with PCI DSS.

Downloading the Update
When you download The Raiser's Edge 7.91, you are prompted to select whether or not to use BBPS to store credit card information.
• If you choose to use BBPS, you will be prompted to create an account. Make note of the account details; the first user that logs into the updated database will need to enter the account details. After creating the BBPS account, you will be able to download the update.
• If you choose not to use BBPS, you will be able to download The Raiser's Edge 7.91 without creating a BBPS account. For more information, review Knowledgebase solution BB700728.

Installing the Update
Before installing the update, we recommend you back up the database.
The first user to log into The Raiser's Edge is prompted to use BBPS to store credit card data or delete credit card data from the database. This prompt appears only once for the first user who logs into the database.
• If you use BBPS to store credit card numbers, you will receive the prompt: Is this a test conversion? Select Yes only if you are updating the database in a test environment. Your credit card numbers will be temporarily stored in BBPS and deleted after 14 days.
• If this is not a test conversion, click No.
If you do not use BBPS, The Raiser's Edge deletes all credit card data from the database. Your organization will no longer be able to enter, store, process, or transmit credit cards in The Raiser's Edge.
For instructions on downloading and installing this update, please see Knowledgebase solution BB700728.

Changes All Users should know about Before Updating
Password Changes – After you update to 7.91 or higher, you'll have to enter your password using all capital letters (e.g., ADMIN1 instead of admin1). After you log in using all capital letters, we recommend that you change your password by going to Edit, Change Password. If you don't change your password, you'll have to keep using all capital letters to log in." Read more about password changes.

Inactivity Lockout– The 15 minute inactivity setting is another change made in accordance with PCI DSS, which requires users to re-enter passwords when a session has been idle for more than 15 minutes. When someone is locked out due to inactivity, processes like reports, mailings, exports, and queries will continue to run, and the user license will still be used.

Changes in NetSolutions
Organizations that accept Recurring Credit Card donations must update to version 7.91 to continue downloading credit card numbers.
• One-time credit card gifts download into The Raiser’s Edge, but the full credit card number is not stored in BBPS. The credit card number displays as (????????????2468).
• Recurring Credit Card gifts download into The Raiser’s Edge and the full credit card number is stored in BBPS. The number appears as (************2468), which enables you to charge future transactions for the recurring gift.

If you stay on your current version of The Raiser’s Edge, you will no longer download credit card numbers. The credit card number field will be blank in The Raiser’s Edge. This means if you accept Recurring Credit Card donations, you will not be able to charge future transactions because you will not have the credit card number.

If you’ve already updated to 7.91, share your experience by leaving a comment below.

Support Roundtable: The Raiser's Edge 7.91: View a Recording!

Kevin Brunson — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:51:00 GMT

If you haven’t been able to attend one of the webinars for The Raiser's Edge 7.91, view a recording of a previous webinar.

You can also download a copy of the PowerPoint presentation; please be sure to share this with other users at your organization.

Support Roundtable: The Raiser's Edge 7.91: What You Need to Know

Kevin Brunson — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:15:00 GMT

Join us for our upcoming Support Roundtable The Raiser’s Edge 7.91: What you need to know to answer all your questions about the changes in The Raiser's Edge 7.91. These hour-long sessions will include a presentation on the changes and a question and answer period. We will hold multiple sessions to accommodate the high level of interest in these changes and will add more sessions as needed.

Here's the schedule (all times ET):

Thursday, July 23 at 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, July 29 at 11:00 a.m.
Monday, August 3 at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 6 at 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 11 at 11:00 a.m.
Friday, August 14 at 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday, August 18 at 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 20 at 3:00 p.m.
Monday, August 24 at 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday, August 26 at 2:00 p.m.

If you have questions already, check out The Raiser's Edge 7.91 FAQs to see the top questions about the latest version. We're looking forward to meeting with you in these roundtables and setting your minds at ease on all these new changes in The Raiser's Edge!

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

Kevin Brunson — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:27:00 GMT

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)

Kevin Brunson — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:47:00 GMT

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)

Kevin Brunson — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:41:00 GMT

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 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.

News You Can Use: Important Information for Organizations Who Process Credit Cards by Exporting or Printing Credit Card Numbers from The Raiser's Edge

Kevin Brunson — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:38:00 GMT

This applies to organizations that store credit card data in The Raiser’s Edge, and authorize credit card transactions by exporting or printing credit card numbers. If your organization uses IATS or ICVerify to authorize credit cards in the Batch module, or you don't use The Raiser's Edge to store credit cards, these changes do not affect you.

As a result of new credit card regulations covered under PCI, The Raiser’s Edge 7.91, scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2009, will no longer store full credit card numbers. To achieve compliance Blackbaud has removed storage of full credit card numbers from all products, including The Raiser's Edge 7.91.

In The Raiser’s Edge 7.91 full credit card numbers are replaced with reference tokens. These tokens map to the full number stored in the Blackbaud Payment Service (BBPS). Only the last four digits of credit cards will display on constituent and gift records and in the Batch module. Credit card numbers will appear as 12 asterisks followed by the last four digits of the card (i.e. ************7864).

After installing this update, you will no longer be able to view, print or export full credit card numbers, or authorize credit cards by printing or exporting credit card data.

To authorize credit card transactions in The Raiser's Edge, you must create an account with a supported credit card processor. Current supported processors for The Raiser’s Edge are IATS and ICVerify.
• IATS is an online solution that has a direct interface with The Raiser’s Edge. To create an account with IATS or to learn more, please see Knowledgebase solution BB142121.
• ICVerify is a third-party software application that is installed on any workstation you use to authorize credit card transactions. For information on purchasing ICVerify, see Knowledgebase solution BB126. If you use ICVerify you must be on version 4.03 SP2 or higher.

If your organization selects to remain on your current version and continue processing credit cards by exporting or printing credit card numbers, we strongly recommend that you contact a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). A QSA can advise your organization on how to secure your credit card data and authorize credit card transactions in accordance with PCI.

To learn more about PCI or to take the PCI self-assessment questionnaire, please visit the PCI Security Standards Council's website.

We will continue to provide information about PCI compliance on our PCI compliance page, our PCI Compliance blog, and in our newsletters. Subscribe to the PCI Compliance blog RSS feed to be notified when new posts are made.

For even more information, check out the PCI FAQs. The FAQs are updated as additional information becomes available.

Tips and Tricks: Electronically Process your Direct Debits with IATS Integration

Kevin Brunson — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:40:00 GMT

EFT, or Electronic Funds Transfer, is the banking system by which transactions, such as deposits or bill payments, are made through computer databases. The process takes place electronically and requires minimal paperwork; all or most paperwork and bookkeeping is done online.

If your organization has the EFT module, you can use a new integration with IATS to electronically process direct debit transactions directly from The Raiser’s Edge. This works like the current IATS integration for credit card processing. With direct debit integration you receive rejection codes for direct debit gifts that are incorrectly formatted (for example ‘Wrong Format’ if a bank account number is missing). You can then correct any issues and process the direct debit again rather than waiting several days to hear about the rejection from your bank. You won’t receive authorization codes in your batch, but you will be able to log into your IATS account and view direct debit gifts as they are processed. With IATS direct debit integration you’ll no longer have to export your EFT direct debit transmission file and manually transfer it to your bank by FTP, email, or other less secure means.

To use the new IATS direct debit integration, you’ll need to be on The Raiser’s Edge 7.85 patch 6 or higher. To download this version, go to our Downloads page. Next, you’ll need an IATS direct debit account. If you don’t have an IATS direct debit account email reprocessing@ticketmaster.ca or call 1.866.300.4287.

Once you have your IATS direct debit account, you'll be ready to enter your gifts into batch or automatically generate transactions. After your gifts are entered in batch, select Tools, Create EFT Transmission Files on the batch data entry screen. Under Direct Debit Transmission File, mark the Create direct debit file checkbox and select IATS. In the Account drop-down, select your appropriate IATS account. In the Control Report field, select the option to Create control report and mark Print or Preview. Click Create Now.

If you use IATS direct debit integration to process your direct debit donations, leave a comment letting other organizations know how you use this feature.

News You Can Use: Exciting Password Changes on the Horizon

Kevin Brunson — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:54:00 GMT

You asked, and we listened. With more emphasis on security these days, several password changes are being implemented to help you further secure your Raiser’s Edge database. The Raiser’s Edge 7.91, scheduled for release in late Q2, will include exciting password changes to look forward to.

Changes include:

You can optionally force users to change their passwords (my favorite new feature ). With this option you can force users to change their password on a regular schedule that you define! If you use this feature, you’ll be able to define a number of days before uses are prompted to change their passwords. You can optionally lock users out of the database if they enter incorrect passwords. If you use this feature, you can select how many times the user must enter an incorrect password before they are locked out.

You can also specify how long they must wait before they are able to login again.

Other changes include:

Passwords must be at least eight characters, consist of numbers and letters, and must contain at least one capital letter.
Users will be unable to re-use their previous four passwords.

Finally, after updating to version 7.91 or higher, existing passwords from version 7.85 and below must be entered using all capital letters. This means that the first time all users at your organization log in, they must enter their password in all capital letters (e.g., ADMIN1 instead of admin1). If users don’t update their password they must continue entering their old password in all capital letters. After logging in to version 7.91 for the first time, we recommend users immediately change their password by selecting Edit, Change Password from the menu bar. Please share this information with all users at your organization so they can log into The Raiser’s Edge after the update.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks and months for posts on other enhancements in version 7.91.

Import Insight: The Art of Importing

Kevin Brunson — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:07:00 GMT

“Importing is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get”. That might not be the exact quote, but there are many types of imports, each with its’ own flavor. Some imports are complex and require more information such as linked fields, while others are simple. Some imports allow importing the same field multiple times, such as phone numbers which use extensions. Sometimes you might not have the unique ID (Import ID, Constituent ID, or SSN) of records in your database. Other times you might not be importing new records, but instead making updates to existing records in your database.

My next few posts will focus on importing, and will touch on some of the above scenarios.

Let’s start with a simple import. This is a long post, but stick with it; you'll see importing is much easier than it sounds. In this example we'll import new constituent records with an addressee and salutation, address, phone number, and email address.

You can create a new file in Excel, or you can follow along using this pre-configurated import file (save the file to your desktop). In the first row of the file we need to add our header fields. These fields will map the fields from the import file to the appropriate location in the database.
ImportID, KeyInd, Titl1, FirstName, MidName, LastName, OrgName, PrimAddID, PrimSalID, AddrImpID, PrefAddr, AddrType, AddrLines, AddrCity, AddrState, AddrZIP, PhoneAddrImpID, PhoneImpID, PhoneNum, PhoneType, PhoneAddrImpID, PhoneImpID, PhoneNum, PhoneType

Note: you can type whatever text you like as your import headers; however, the advantage of using the Raiser's Edge headers is they will automatically map to the correct fields later. If you choose to use your own headers, you will have to map your headers to the appropriate fields later in the process.

Brief information on some of the header fields above.

ImportID - you don't have to use the Import ID, you can also use Constituent ID or Social Security Number. For new records you can leave this blank if you want, or you can assign your own value.
KeyInd - this tells Raiser's Edge whether the record is an individual or organization (use 'I' for individuals and 'O' for organizations).
PrimAddID and PrimSalID - this is the format to use for addressee and salutation. To get the desired value go to Configuration, Addressee/Salutations. Select File, Preview, Addressee/Salutations Report. Note the ID number on the report next to the sample addressee/salutation.
AddrImpID - this is the import ID for the address record. If you are going to also import phone numbers, we need to assign this value now, so we can link the phone number to this address. We will talk about linking phone numbers to addresses in the next bullet.
PhoneAddrImpID - use this field to link phone numbers to addresses. The field value must match the import ID of the address (AddrImpID) field.

After adding the header fields on the first row of the import file we can begin adding information for the new records on the 2nd line of our file, for example:
C897,I,Mr.,James,C.,Maple,,6,16,A345,Yes,Home,347 Campbell St/nApt 2,Atlanta,GA,30096,A345,P246,4048975623,Home,A345,P247,4048795621,Cell Phone

The commas above represent a new cell in your excel file. So 'C897' should go in the first cell with the header 'ImportID'. 'I' should go in the 2nd cell with the header 'KeyInd'. So on and so forth. If there are two commas together with nothing in them, that represents a blank data cell for that field. Your file should appear like this:

Continue adding records by going to the next line in the file.
When finished, save your file in CSV (comma separated values) format and close the file.

To import these records go to Import, select Constituent from the Constituent category and click New.

On the General Tab select:

What do you want to do? Update existing records
Options: Import records not found as new records and Use duplicate criteria for new records
What file do 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

Note about the above selections. I selected to 'Update existing records' because it's possible records in our import file may already exist in the database. By selecting to update existing records, and then 'Import records not found as new records and Use duplicate criteria for new records', we are using the tools in Raiser's Edge to try to prevent duplicate records.

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.
Check the Extensions column. Groupings of phone numbers in the file must share the same extension.

The fields tab should appear like this after the fields are mapped:

One item to point out on this screen is the Extension column. This column is used when the same field is being imported multiple times. In this example we are importing multiple phone numbers. The first set of phone fields will have a value of '00' in the extension column, the second set will have value '01'.

On the Summary Tab:

Check the appropriate checkboxes. At the least, I suggest marking the Create control report option. The other options can also be helpful depending on what you are importing.

Note about the options on the Summary Tab.
The 'Create exception file of records not updated/imported' option is good to check in the event that you have exceptions during the import process, this option will create a new file with any exceptions. For example, maybe a required field is missing on some of the records in your import file, selecting this option will kick the record into a new exception file. You can then open the file of exceptions, make any required changes, and then import the exception file.
'Create an output query of the records imported'. Use this option if you need to do a mailing for the newly added records. You can use the output query in the Mail or Export module to create your mailing.
'Create an output query of the records updated'. Similiar to the above option, but this is for records that have updates made to them.
'Create control report'. As a general rule I suggest always keeping this checked, it is great tool to confirm the results of the import.

For more information on a simple import like this one, please check out Knowledgebase solution BB5765, which provides more details and a link to the sample file from above.

Stay tuned for the next post in the importing series.

If there is a specific type of import you would like to see discussed, please leave a comment and if there is a majority, I’ll try to focus on that next time.

Report Roundup: Do you send donors Annual or End of Year Tax Statements?

Kevin Brunson — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:08:00 GMT

My wife and I support several nonprofits throughout the year. Each time we donate we receive an acknowledgement for our donations. What we don't seem to consistently receive is an end of year statement, detailing the amount and date of the donations. We receive a summary of sorts from some of the nonprofits we support, but not all.

An easy and efficient way to do this in The Raiser's Edge is to use the Annual Statement Report. This report itemizes each constituent's gifts, providing everything he needs for tax purposes. Each constituent's information appears on a separate page. The report includes the donor's name and address, gift date, gift type, gift amount, receipt number, receipt amount, and total receipt amount.

Here is a sample layout of how the report appears

So at the end of the year when it comes time to issue your donors an annual statement detailing their giving for tax purposes, save yourself some time and headache and let the Annual Statement Report do the work for you! Leave your ideas in the comments.

For more information about the Annual Statement Report, check out Knowledgebase solution BB77534.

Mail Musings: Streamline your Acknowledgement Letters

Kevin Brunson — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:30:00 GMT

Do all of your donors receive the same level of treatment? Does the donor who gives toward the Building Fund get the same letter as the donor who gives toward the Disaster Relief Fund? I’m sure you would say no. So why should all of your donors get the same boilerplate acknowledgement letter? The Raiser’s Edge has the ability to let you select a field and make multiple versions of a letter, based on that field. This gives you the ability to get really creative in your acknowledgement letter.

The end result is each donor will receive a specialized acknowledgement letter based on the letter code, or other field, that is used as the condition. The donor who gave toward the Building Fund receives an acknowledgement focused on the efforts of the new building. The donor who gave toward the Disaster Relief Fund receives an acknowledgement focused on regional and worldwide relief efforts.

To get started, decide which field is best to use for your condition. For this scenario, I am going to use the Gift Letter field. When donations are entered into Raiser’s Edge through Records or Batch, make sure each gift is coded with the correct Gift Letter code.

In Mail, open Donor Acknowledgement Letters. Set up your criteria including filters and date ranges. Click the Send to Word merge wizard button at the top of the window. If prompted, name and save the Mail parameter and click OK. Click Next to export the data file. Select to Perform a conditional mail merge, and click Next. The Choose your conditional field screen appears, select the field to use (in this example ‘Letter’), and click Next.

The Create merge documents screen appears, click New Document to add your first conditional acknowledgement letter. On the Conditional Merge Document screen select the condition (for example, equal to), select the value from the drop-down, and enter a description for the letter. Click Edit merge document to open the new letter in Word.

Word opens to a blank merge document in which you can type the text of your letter. When finished, click Save and Return to RE7. Click OK to return to the Create merge documents screen.

While on the Create merge documents screen, you can repeat this process to create as many conditional letters as you need.

When all of your letters are created, click Finish to merge them. If you are prompted, enter the name and location of the conditional merge documents, and click OK.

Word opens, and the finished merge letters print to screen, so you can now review and print the letters from Word. The end result is each donor receives a letter specific to the Letter code on his gift.

For more information on running conditional donor acknowledgement letters, check out Knowledgebase solution BB97661.

Does your organization use conditional merges to issue acknowledgement letters or other mailings? Do you have any suggestions for your fellow Raiser's Edge users? If you do, please leave a comment on this post.

Mail Musings: One Way to Consolidate

Kevin Brunson — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:54:00 GMT

A little over a week ago I was at the Charleston Conference speaking with clients in the Customer Support booth. (A little shout out, if you were at the conference and stopped by, it was nice meeting you and getting to know a little more about your organization). One thing I noticed while speaking to clients is there were a lot of questions that focused on one major theme: the Mail module. There were questions on Labels, Envelopes, Donor Acknowledgement Letters, Receipts, etc. So in light of the number of questions about Mail, I decided that my next few posts will focus on mailings.

To get started, I wanted to talk a little about Consolidated Receipts. As we are close to the end of the year, I thought this was a good topic to start with. Consolidated receipts are exactly what they sound like; they combine all of the donor's individual gifts into one receipt. So if a donor gave 5 gifts over the year, instead of getting 5 individual receipts, the donor would receive one receipt with the total gift amount. For donors who don't want to receive individual receipts for each donation (for example, monthly payroll deduction or recurring direct debit or credit card donors), consolidated receipts are a great solution.

The first step is to set up the donor’s record to receive consolidated receipts. To do this, open the donor’s record and go to the Bio2 tab. In the Receipt type field select Consolidated receipts, and save the record. To create and send your donors consolidated receipts, use the following steps:

Create a query of constituents with a consolidated receipt type.
Add the desired output fields and check the query results. Save and close the query.
In Mail, create a new Receipt parameter set.
On the General tab, select the desired receipt type. If using pre-printed receipts, select Pre-printed receipts. If creating a custom receipt in Microsoft Word, select Create custom data file.
Select to Include records from the query created in step 1.
On the Fields to include tab, select the fields that you want included on your receipts.
Complete the remaining tabs to create the receipts.

The end result is each donor will receive a consolidated receipt that summarizes his giving for the date range for which you ran the mailing. For more information on running consolidated receipts, check out Knowledgebase solution BB29002.

Does your organization use consolidated receipts? If so, do you have any suggestions for your fellow Raiser's Edge users? If you do, please leave a comment on this post.

Gift Gab: Recurring Gift Amendments

Kevin Brunson — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:41:00 GMT

There are some great tools in The Raiser’s Edge that will help you track regular donations and their activity (upgrades, downgrades, schedule changes, etc.). When I say regular donations, I'm talking about the Recurring Gift type in The Raiser’s Edge. If you don’t use Recurring Gifts, these are a great way to record weekly, monthly or any regularly scheduled donation. If you use the EFT module you can use Recurring Gifts to process both credit card and direct debit payments. If your organization uses Recurring Gifts to track regular donations, there are built in tools to help you track any changes.

Let’s say your organization runs an upgrade campaign asking regular donors to increase their donation amount. For example, an individual currently gives $5 monthly via direct debit. You want to increase this to $7.50 a month (an extra $30 a year but you get the idea). You first need a way to track changes to recurring gifts. Amendments are used to track upgrades, downgrades, or schedule changes for recurring gifts. To add an amendment open the constituent's existing recurring gift and go to the Amendments tab. On this tab enter the new gift information, including the new amount, fund, and/or schedule information. Save and close the Amendment. For more information on adjusting a recurring gift, see Knowledgebase solution BB118815.

To report on the success of your organization's upgrade campaign, run the Recurring Gift Amendment Report. This report allows you to see all or selected amendments during a time period. You can filter the report using standard report filters (Campaigns, Funds Appeal, etc.) On the Columns tab in the report setup, select what additional information you want to see on the report. I suggest including 'Previous Amount' so you can see the previous donation amount next to the new amount. For more information on the Recurring Gift Amendment Report, check out Knowledgebase solution BB264201.

If you use amendments to track upgrades to recurring gifts, leave a note letting other organizations know how you use this feature.

News You Can Use: PCI DSS Compliance

Kevin Brunson — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:08:00 GMT

The talk of the town is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). For those of you who haven’t heard of PCI DSS, you’re in the right place!

At its heart, PCI DSS is a set of standards developed and enforced by the credit card industry designed to keep credit card data secure. PCI DSS covers all aspects of an organization including policies and procedures, network infrastructure, firewalls, hardware, and more. To learn about PCI DSS, I suggest checking out the PCI Security Standards Council website. Their website provides a wealth of information about PCI DSS. Tge website is a self-assessment questionnaire that can help assess your organization’s readiness.

We are currently developing applications that adhere to the Payment Application Data Security Standards (PA DSS). Using PA-DSS applications is one way that we can help you work towards your PCI Compliance. All Blackbaud applications that store or process credit card data are in the process of being validated against PA-DSS guidelines.

Additionally, our hosting environment is being evaluated against PCI DSS. This environment hosts applications such as The Raiser’s Edge, NetSolutions, and Blackbaud NetCommunity.

To stay up to date with our efforts on helping you become PCI DSS compliant, visit the PCI Compliance blog. It is our goal to consistently update the PCI blog to keep you informed about what is going on at Blackbaud and with PCI DSS. I suggest adding the blog to your RSS reader so you’ll be notified when new posts are made.