Does anyone use the event module to track walk-a-thons? If so, how do you handle the donations that come in with each walker? Janine Rauscher Development Associate Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance [Email Removed]

We don't do walk-a-thons, but we have a bike ride in which each cyclists has to register and then bring in at least $400 to ride. We post the gifts to the donors and link the gift to the event and to that participant as an "other donations." The problem is that Blackbaud has yet to write in a summary button for the participant other donations field, despite frequent requests and frequent promises. We get rider totals by exporting from a query and doing subtotals in Excel. We're making it work.

If you have the soluntion # we could add our name to it. Donna Marie Foos Data Base Administrator American Red Cross of Southeastern Virginia 611 West Brambleton Avenue Norfolk, Virginia 23510 757.446.7382 [Email Removed]

I'd appreciate it! Solution ID: BB55110 Karen Burlingame Special Events Support MultiCare Health System 253.403.3095

Janine: The event module has a feature to handle registrant who collect sponsoree pledges: create the participant as a registrant and while doing so, click on the 'Sponsoring Pledges' where you can list all people sponsoring that participant. Karen: Did you thought about using the Event Income Report with the option 'Other Donation' only checked?

Yes! The report is great. I have an event coordinator, however, who wants to print the riders' totals on little cards for check-in day, and the report doesn't export well for merging purposes. I guess I just don't understand why the program has gift summary buttons everywhere else, but not on this tab. Karen Burlingame Special Events Support MultiCare Health System 253.403.3095

The problem I'm running into with the Other Donations area is that the donor name doesn't show up on reports and as far as I can tell, it cannot be queried or exported. The donor name for sponsoring pledges does appear on reports and can be queried/exported. So, if I receive a donation on behalf of a race participant, I can enter it as an Other Donation and not be able to report full info or I can book it as a pledge first, apply it to the pledge during batch, and then I'll be able to report on it. Doesn't this seem convoluted? Sarah Taft Development Officer - Database Manager San Francisco SPCA

To get the donor name (and amount and date of donation) I use a Participant Query. I usually have to do this for one rider at a time calling in complaining of missing checks, so my criteria is: Specific Record of that rider, Event ID, and Other donations equals yes. I output Participant Name, Other Donation Amount, Other Donation Date, and Name. I export, if needed, directly from the query. I THOUGHT that the Event Income Report (under Event Management Reports) showed donor names, but we haven't done the latest upgrade, and that report is giving me an error message. Is that report working for anyone else? Karen Burlingame Special Events Support MultiCare Health System 253.403.3095

But, Sarah, I think the answer to your last question is an unqualified YES. It does seem convoluted. Also (and equally frustrating to me), the Other Donations tab doesn't summarize at the bottom, but the Pledges tab does. Go figure. That lack of summarizing is causing us no end of adding machine or exporting time, but the alternative is to do the pledge and pay it off routine, and I can't bear the thought. Karen Burlingame Special Events Support MultiCare Health System 253.403.3095

Karen, we are still on 7.5 and the field for donor name does not show up under Other Donations in a participant query. When you run a participant query, is Name an option in the Other Donations section? Sarah Taft Development Officer - Database Manager San Francisco SPCA

It's buried. Other Donations, Linked Gifts, Constituent, Name. Let me know if I'm unclear. I can talk it through better on the phone. 253.403.3095 Now, I haven't been able to figure out how to get each donor's address (each gift reports out with the Participant's address instead). If anyone knows, please pass it along! And we did our upgrade today and no, the donor name doesn't show up on the Event Income report. What a drag. I may request it -- they bother to list each gift amound in the detailed report. How difficult would it be to add the name? Karen Burlingame Special Events Support MultiCare Health System 253.403.3095

There is no Constituent section under Linked Gifts. I started a case with Blackbaud in this regard but haven't heard back yet. Anyone else on 7.5 who can check this? Sarah Sarah Taft Development Officer - Database Manager San Francisco SPCA

We're on 7.61. Sorry it's not on the 7.5! Karen Burlingame Special Events Support MultiCare Health System 253.403.3095

We also have a bikeathon. We use a separate system to track the detailed info on the riders but we do track how much they raised in RE. We track this information on the gift record: we put them in as the solicitor for the gift. The reason for this is somewhat historical: the event used to be completely tracked in the separate system. But it's also because the sponsoring pledge system in RE: Events posts pledges to donors accounts (we require the riders to collect donations to ride) and there is no way to split credit for a gift. Hope this helps---I also have a question: do you allow participants to register on-line and, if so, what system for you use for this? We've for NetEvents to be not robust enough for this purpose---it seems great for ticket sales but not so good for the other purchases that often go along with registration (buying t-shirts, caps, etc.) Thanks, Frank Frank Dean Director, Gift Processing The Children's Hospital Foundation

Frank, we have a separate system for collecting registration info -- we use Caspio to collect the data in Access tables and then import it into RE. The bounceback e-mail to all registrants includes the url for our NetDonors donation page. Let mek now if you have further questions. Sarah Taft Development Officer - Database Manager San Francisco SPCA