Is there any other organization that uses scanners to aid in the data entry process? We plan to use the scanner to make images of donation checks along with any correspondence that came with the check. Our Gift Coordinators are a little leary on the process change because it seems to be extra steps and more time consuming. We are having trouble coming up with a way to keep the check and correspondence from getting separated. We not only use all cards, letters, obits, etc. that come with the donation but also sometimes require the envelope for address verification. Our data entry staff believes this will take more time to process than our current system. The plan is to use a split screen to input the batch. We are having a hard time getting the staff to get on board with this idea and I have to admit, as the database admin, that I have some reservations also.
How do other organizations handle this type of process?
We don't use a scanner for gift entry, but I use one to scan photos for nametags. I think this would add quite a bit of time to the process. We occasionaly scan documents for e-mailing, and I often scan obits to keep from typing them in. If the original is not very good quality (such as a copy of a clip from a magazine) this can be difficult. Scanning handwritten documents, such as notes, can be tricky since the scanner can't read some people's handwriting.
At this time, we print a copy of the batch report and staple all correspondence with the gifts on the batch to report and store them in notebooks. At the end of the year, we put them in a storage box and keep for the alloted time. I must add though, that our batches are typically small, so if you have a high volume of gifts this wouldn't work.
Elaine Gipson
Alumni/Development Administrative Asst.
St. Andrew's-Sewanee School
I agree with Elaine, I think scanning would consume an inordinate amout of time. We file batch reports in binders by batch number. All correspondence from donors is filed in an accordian file since we tend to receive notecards and small coupons. We also don't file in alpha order other than keeping each letter of the alphabet seperate from the next. We simply drop the correspondence into the file. In the rare instance that we have to pull documentation, it's easy enough to go through the stack and find what we're looking for. We also stopped copying checks unless there was no accompanying documentation from the donor. We switched to this system 4 years ago and it's working quite well and has definitely increased efficiency. We keep the current accordian file and one past year, and we keep the batch reports forever. I'd love to hear what other folks do around record retention, particularly of batch or validation reports.
Hope this helps,
Leslie Heisler
We don't use a scanner as part of our data entry. We make a copy of the check and the correspondence on one sheet that stays with the batch report and the copy of the letter. When our auditors want to look for a gift, we can check the batch number on the donor's record and then pull the batch reports. For the most part it has worked well, but when you are doing several thousand gifts a year, it can get cumbersome to store.
However, our finance department scans all checks in as they go for deposit. They then keep a pdf of all the checks scanned for that deposit. They tell me that it is a nice backup. We are talking about getting a lockbox and having finance send us the pdf instead of the actual checks.
I'd be curious to find out how much time scanning does add to your process.
Melissa Brwon
We scan all of our correspondence like checks and put them in the constituents media file. It is extremely helpful when looking in a record, all the correspondence on all gifts, etc. is right there. You don't have to do any searching. I think this is better than copying because you have less paper to deal with and tt is a much more organized process.
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Andrea Zepernick
Development Assistant
Wesleyan Senior Living Foundation