Gift Date

Lawrence Rush

What are the pros and cons of the following ways that gift date could be determined?


1. Date the gift is entered in RE.

2. Date the donor gave the gift (check date, date when credit card processed).

3. Date received by our organization.


We are currently split between two systems. We process Online Express and Luminate Online gifts using the date the donor gave the gift (the date the card was processed) and our incoming mail has been tracked based on the date entered into RE (potentially regardless of when the donation came in or was made). We need to choose one definition for gift date.


We have some concerns about tracking donations by the date that the donor gave the gift when it comes to checks. For example, it's October and we receive a check dated for August. By this account we would record the gift date as August (check date) which means that our numbers for each month will change over time sometimes months later. There's also a fundraising component to take into account. Will it create road blocks if we solicit a donor for a new donation in October when they wrote the check out in August, but we didn't receive it until now?


I tend to see tracking gift date as the date that the donor made the donation as more accurate, but I want other people's opinions.


Any thoughts or ideas would be so helpful!


 

Joanne Felci 2

For mailed in checks we use the date gift is entered, except for end of year - we then go by the post date on the outside of the envelope looking for any dated Dec 31 or earlier


I think you nailed it with your comment of the check is dated August but we don't receive it until Oct and how that could mess up monthly recociliation

Jen Claudy

It's additional data entry, but has proven very helpful for us.  We enter three dates, as below, and run all reports on the Post Date.  (We do not have Financial Edge...and currently do not Post the gifts, just use that Date field.)


Gift Date = postmark date if available, date of transaction for online, date of phone call if received via phone, reasonable assumption based on check date if no postmark (we use a lot of BREs, which are often not postmarked)...this really doesn't matter until the start of the month, and most importantly the start of January...if a gift is postmarked 12/31, the IRS considers it a December gift for that donor's taxes, regardless of when it's received by the org or what the donor writes on the check; that's the date that the money leaves the donor's control


Receipt Date = deposit date (or transaction date for online gifts)...from our Finance department, so we can easily find a transaction in one system from data in the other (and we don't use receipts, they're included as part of the acknowledgement letter)


GL Post Date = usually the same as the Receipt Date, unless it's a transaction that needs to be "moved"...so that 12/31 postmarked gift is received on 1/3 of the following year, the deposit date is 1/3 but the Post Date is changed to 12/31...this is the date we use for reporting


RE does automatically add a Date Added date for you (you can't change it) that appears at the bottom of the Gift Record and in the Property Window.  And there is also a Check Date field to record the date the donor wrote on the check.  So you can still retain all of that information. 


I would recommend setting up a system that works for you, and for your Finance Dept (and auditors, if applicable).  Then document your process and the reasoning behind it.  If you are choosing not to go back and adjust past data, note a start date for your new process.

JoAnn Strommen

In my opinion you need to drop using the date on the check as gift date.  Date has no legal meaning.  I can write whatever date I want on a check or leave it blank.  I have gotten blank dates or incomplete checks.  As others pointed out going back to previous months, using that date can really mess with financials. 


You said you "see tracking gift date as the date that the donor made the donation as more accurate" but really they didn't make the donation until they sent it to you.  If I have a $100 bill laying on my desk in August for you but don't send it until October, you wouldn't consider it an August gift. 


For us:

Credit card gift date and GL post date are the date card was processed.  Per IRS that's the gift date.

We us the date checks are deposited in bank as the gift date and the GL post date.  This makes reconciling a lot cleaner.  Generally checks are deposited the day received or the next day. The date on the check and check # are recorded on gift record if ever needed for reference.  Receipt date is date receipt is run using Mail function.


 

Joy park

Online - the date the payment was processed.  99% of the time BBMS will automate the process for you, so you don't have to worry about someone making an online donation at 2:30 am and not getting their tax receipt.  Only very very rarely does BBMS have some sort of "hiccup" that prevents a PDF receipt from going out - not counting for data entry error on the part of the user.  ;)


Offline - the date the bank deposit was made.


 

Margaret Whitaker

Same, we use Deposit Date for the RE "Gift Date" field and Processed Date for Credit Cards in "Gift Date" field.