Hi, we are converting to RE7 and plan to change our gift processing. Currently our Finance department send us gifts with batch numbers to enter into our system. We'd like to reverse that and have Development drive the process. Any ideas on how to handle batch entry to reconcile with Finance. Do we use the assigned RE batch number, the batch post date? We don't have the accounting module. Any suggestions would help.

Pete Dragon
Director of Development
PPLA

You might want to check with your auditors first - most recommend that the individuals who handle money are not the same as those who record and acknowledge the gifts because that separation lessens the opportunity for misappropriation of funds.

At my organization, I am the person takes care of donations. The process for us is that I am given the checks that come in the mail every day and I date stamp all of the envelopes and write the Appeal & Fund of the donation on the envelope as well.
Then, once a week, the checks are all copied and the envelopes that correspond with the checks are stapled to the copies of the checks and that is what I keep and what I do my data entry off of.
I enter all of the checks into a RE batch, the number is automatically assigned and really doesn't mean much except to me, if I'm looking for a specific donation later.
I commit the batch to RE and then export that from RE & import the total amount of that deposit into QuickBooks.
At the end of the month, the bookkeeper and I reconcile what I have imported into QuickBooks with what the bank has for us and the deposits we made in that month.
It works pretty well for us, and we were just audited in April, so I know what we do complies with good accounting practices. We just need someone who is not me or the bookkeeper to open all of the checks so that we're not pocketing any of them. I hope this helps :) Becki Allen
Manager of Development & Information Resources

Caris Pregnancy Clinics & Prevention Services
4811 Emerson Ave., Suite 110
Palatine, IL 60067

The gift mail here is handled by Advancement services. We have a designated person open the mail and log the number of pieces and the dollar total. Gift accounting enters gifts in RE and does the bank deposit. The accounts are fed to accounting weekly to be balanced. We have a wonderful working partnership with General Accounting. We work with different software products and currently have no interface. [Email Removed] Ellen Woolley Gift Accounting Specialist Houghton College

I find that system to be a bit inefficient and antiquated. We don't handle large sums of cash in our offices - mostly, checks and credit cards so the old money handling procedures don't really tend to apply. (I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this from some who are big believers) I also do not copy every check and save every envelope - this defeats the whole purpose of having a computerized system. I only make copies of checks on substantial gifts and large gifts that come in without a form or documentation. If I have a form or documentation - I do not make copies of checks as this is redundant with what the bank and RE does (why else record check number, etc...) If I had endless budget for paper and storage and staff to do all of this it might be a different story, but for us the efficiency of using the tools we have works for us. Laurel Quaintance Friends of Bassett Manager,Fund Development Services Cooperstown, NY 13326 [Email Removed] 'please forgive my typing mistakes!'

Unless they are doing it together, I don't understand how having two people (at seperate) times handle the incoming gifts prevents theft. The first person who opens the mail can still steal. And if the first person opening the mail does not keep a log, then the second person processing the checks can still steal. DON'T misunderstand me, I am not judging anyone, because we follow a similar practice. I am just questioning that auditors okay this practice and ours do. And I know at small or one person shops, there may be no other options. Denise Stengl School Sisters of St. Francis Milwaukee, WI [Email Removed]

I forgot to add that we use the Post Date as the date to reconcile with the bank :) It sounds like a lot of people on here have really good suggestions on how to do it as well. You have a lot of different practices to choose from. So I hope you and your organization can find one that works for you. Becki Allen Manager of Development & Information Resources Caris Pregnancy Clinics & Prevention Services 4811 Emerson Ave., Suite 110 Palatine, IL 60067

Our receptionist opens the mail and make two copies of all checks. I get one copy and our bookkeeper gets a copy and the money. The bookkeeper deposits the money and does something else. I enter the copies of the checks in RE and send thank you letters. At the end of the month, I get a final number from the bookkeeper and I compare this to my final number. Usually it is off by just a little. I then take the bookkeeper copies of checks and compare those copies to my RE list. I always find the error and we always match! Theft never occurred to me, however, I guess the receptionist could pocket some of the cash that occasionally comes in, but people usually bring it in with checks and have a total amount written down. I guess at some point an employee has to be trusted. That's just my two cents! The logging each check as it comes in does sound like a good idea, sometimes the bookkeeper's copies of checks/cash don't match the actually cks/cash she has and she freaks out until she realizes she has two copies of the same check and I don't have any. I think a log could help with this, but I think our receptionist would shoot me if she had to write everything down before she copied it. Lara R. Hermann Development Assistant Beloit Regional Hospice [Email Removed] (608) 363-7421

Well here's my cautionary tale. In 1990, I was hired for my first position in the non-profit world and using RE, as the Computer Operator for an organization with a large direct mail drive and at that time alot of people still sent in cash. About a month into my new position, the bookkeeper was arrested for stealing. Apparently for over ten years, she had been opening the mail and making two seperate piles, one for her and one for the organization. In addtion to the police, the postal service was involved in a whole type of "sting" operation to catch her. Anyway, immediately after that, there always had to be at least two people (usually there was more than that) in the same room, opening the mail together. While we don't like to think about it, stealing can happen. Denise Stengl School Sisters of St. Francis Milwaukee, WI [Email Removed]

Hi Pete. I'll add my 2 cents here. Below is our check handling process. I have procedures for RE Batch entry that work for us and I will share with Blackbaud and anyone who wants them may email me directly. GIFT RECEIPT PROCEDURES Daily procedure for receiving checks and cash. ·Receptionist opens the mail and collects all checks and cash. ·Place checks in decreasing dollar value order. Cash bills are placed at the end of the order. ·Make a copy of all checks in decreasing order (three or four to a page) copy the bills as well. ·Date stamp the copy with current date. ·Stamp all checks “For Deposit in the MCF Account”. ·Run two calculator tapes on all gifts to include total # count. ·Make relevant notes on copy concerning identification, address of donor (if different from check information), fund code, for distribution, in memory or honor of, and any special notes. ·Make a copy of the annotated copy. ·Clip checks to deposit copy of checks and give to Finance to prepare deposit. ·Other copy of checks go to Philanthropic Services for data entry into Raiser’s Edge. Our stock gifts are handled in Philanthropic Services in conjunction with Finance and so are credit card gifts. After receipt of all gift types we use our batch entry procedures to process and acknowledge gifts. Once a month Philanthropic Services balances with Finance for all gifts received. Karen [Email Removed] Karen H. Hartt Philanthropic Services & Research Coordinator Maine Community Foundation 245 Main Street Ellsworth, ME 04605 [Email Removed]

Hi Pete, We converted last year to RE 7 and our finance office is on a different system. Here is how it works: 1. Funds are set up in RE with distributions to paths in the GL established by our business office staff. Each transaction has a debit and credit path. 2. Gifts are entered into RE using RE Batch numbers. "Gift date" and "GL Post Date" are the same. 3. Gifts are "posted" to the GL in RE. This creates hard copy paper files with each transaction and a CSV file exported to our network. 4. Advancement Services deposits the checks and circulates batch paperwork. 5. Business office staff import the CSV file to their system and verify it with the hard copy paper files that we've also provided. Basically, the import contains the GL post date, credit number, credit amount, debit number and debit amount (note, not gift amount), batch number and constituent ID. 6. At month end close, I send the business office staff some reports to summarize our transactions for comparison for what is in the General Ledger. By the end of the fiscal year, someone from the business office staff will review these to make sure that everything balances out. Good luck!

Hi everyone, Just a question....Does anyone have RE linked to FE? We do and everything that gets posted in RE is then posted to FE by batch. Finance does bank recs from the info posted over from RE and adds misc journal entries (bank fees, etc..). The development office opens gifts, posts gifts in RE and makes deposits (different people)....Ideally we would enter the gifts from copies and give finance original checks for deposit. Right now, Finance gets copy of info and any problems show up in reconciliation. There never seems to be any problems and it reduces redundant data entry across to areas. We are a SMALL office so we have no resources for multiple people opening gifts, etc.... Having RE & FE linked has been the single smartest thing we've ever done in the 7 years I have worked in the office. Hillary Murphy Financial Administrator Phoebe Foundation

Yes, we are intergrated with FE. Development opens mail and does gift entry including committing gift. Finance actually deposits and posts the gifts. Denise Stengl School Sisters of St. Francis Milwaukee, WI [Email Removed]

Among the different suggestions from the auditors in April, they did say that moving from Quickbooks to Financial Edge would help us out a lot. I currently "Post to the General Ledger" in RE and that creates a file that is then exported to an Access File. So, then I open Access and print out that report (because it compiles the gifts from the batches into ONE deposit amount, rather than listing each individual gift) and when I close the Access file is creates an import file into QuickBooks. It works fine, but if I could just commit the batch in RE and then have it automatically be entered into FE, I think that would be so much easier!! Becki Allen Manager of Development & Information Resources Caris Pregnancy Clinics & Prevention Services 4811 Emerson Ave., Suite 110 Palatine, IL 60067

I forgot to mention that we are linked with FE through the General ledger. We have been using RE7 and FE7 since 2002. Karen Karen H. Hartt Philanthropic Services & Research Coordinator Maine Community Foundation 245 Main Street Ellsworth, ME 04605 [Email Removed]