Batches Not Picking Up Pledge Coding

Amy Stubbings

We are having trouble in batch with the batch template overriding the pledge information. For example, our template says C: Annual Giving, F: Annual fund, A: Tribute Appeal. 
The next gift pays off a pledge with C: Golden Alliance, F: Golden Alliance Income, A: 2015 Year End GA. We expect that when we click "Yes, apply to a pledge" and choose the pledge that has C: Golden Alliance et al, that the template will be overwritten with the coding from the Golden Alliance pledge. That is not happening. What do I need to do to fix it?

John Heizer

When you validate and commit the batch, make sure that the "Automatically apply gifts to pledges and recurring gifts" checkbox is not marked.

JoAnn Strommen

Yes, apply to pledge should overwrite defaults with C/F/A of the pledge payment.  I'm assuming you're getting the option to apply to a pledge as soon as you enter donor name and that you haven't gotten to the C/F/A fields in the batch yet. 


Support may tell you "the batch template is corrupt." 


You may want to try changing settings under Tools > User Options > Batch > Default Batch information  - change option if auto insert by row is selected.  I use auto insert by field.  Don't know if it will solve the problem - just trying to think of possibilities.

Dawn Lowe

If you are using a Batch Template the default fields that you have created in that template will overide all other options.  You will have to manually update those fields or enter pledge in a Batch that does not have set default fields(fields not filled in).

JoAnn Strommen

Sorry Dawn, but I disagree. I have a batch template that I use all the time.  When I enter constituent name and get my business rule pop up saying they have a pledge/recurring gift "Would I like to apply it?" and I click yes the fund/campaign for that pledge/recurring gift immediately populate over any default setting.  I just tested it again to be sure. 

John Heizer

I realized I have misinterpreted the original question.


I think whether the C/F/A in the Batch Gift comes from the Pledge or from the default C/F/A information can depend on User Settings > Batch > Default batch information and on whether the Gift gets linked to the Pledge before or after the C/F/A fields are populated with defaults (determined by those User Settings).

Daniel Bayer

I had this happen in a bunch of batches about 1-2 months ago. I could have SWORN that when I applied the gift as a pledge payment, the defaults were overwritten and the C/F/A info was changed based on the pledge, but instead I got email after email from our Business Office telling me to adjust this gift and that gift to match the pledge. I've since stopped using defaults in the C/F/A (and acknowledgement) fields, which creates a little extra work when entering the batch but hasn't resulted in any problems. I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Dawn Lowe

I had the same issue when I include pledge payments in a mixed gift Batch.  Now I enter pledge payments in a Batch that only includes pledge payments, I leave the Fund and Appeal fields blank so that when I link the payment to the pledge those fields are populated with information from the pledge.

Dawn Lowe

JoAnn Strommen:

Sorry Dawn, but I disagree. I have a batch template that I use all the time.  When I enter constituent name and get my business rule pop up saying they have a pledge/recurring gift "Would I like to apply it?" and I click yes the fund/campaign for that pledge/recurring gift immediately populate over any default setting.  I just tested it again to be sure. 

JoAnn in my experience that's the result that I get each time I record a pledge payment in a Gift Batch where the default fields are not blank. I will have to take a look at my default batch template and see if I am missing sometihng.  In my experience when you have set default fields in a gift batch those defaults stay in place(load automatically for each row), you have to manually hard type new information to overide those set defaults.

Faith Murray

JoAnn Strommen:

Sorry Dawn, but I disagree. I have a batch template that I use all the time.  When I enter constituent name and get my business rule pop up saying they have a pledge/recurring gift "Would I like to apply it?" and I click yes the fund/campaign for that pledge/recurring gift immediately populate over any default setting.  I just tested it again to be sure. 

I have had the same experiences as Dawn. I use templates all the time, for every gift batch entered. My User Options are set to populate defaults at the beginning of a new row, so they are populated first, before I even enter the Constituent ID#. Then when I enter a Constituent and apply their payment to an existing pledge, only the fields that were left blank (no defaults) become populated by the pledge info. I have never seen this as a problem, though, since I always delete the defaults before entering my pledge payments. But, as you pointed out in your first post, you set your User Defaults by field, not row. I have never tried it the other way to see if it would work differently.

Nicole S

I think that John has a good point. There are options on how the default row is applies be it the whole row as soon as you click on it or as you tab through the columns or requiring you to hit F2. This could be where the trouble is. I just attempted to put info in the row and tried applying the gift to a pledge and it did not change the info I already had. I usually have my settings set to fill as I get to each field than by the whole row.

 

How to set batch defaults to auto-insert by field or by row

How to set batch defaults to auto-insert by field or by row ... Options from the menu barSelect the Batch tabIn the left frame, highlight Default batch informationIn the right frame, select ...

Dawn Lowe

Thanks, Nicole, I changed my Batch User Option and I am now able to link gift to a pledge without default fields over-writing existing pledge information, Fund, Appeal etc.

Nicole S

Glad it helped!