Annual Statement Reports

Becky Watson

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

Faith Murray

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

Yes, they work very well. You can add your Tax ID and organization name in a page footer and your tax language in a report footer. The only reason we don't use them is because we prefer to 1) have our Business Manager's signature on each document; 2) re-word the Fund designation to something more donor-friendly; and 3) use our organization letterhead. So we generally export gift info, tweak the Excel file and then merge into a Word template. But, these are all minor preference issues, and if you're doing thousands the automated version is the way to go.


We only send tax-subtantiation letters to those who request it -- about 50 a year -- otherwise donors just get the tax receipt on the bottom of their individual acknowledgement letters. So we don't have to do thousands.

John Cioni

I just finished creating a 2016 year end statement for our donors. While the annual statement report contains the necessary gift information it doesn't leave a lot of room for customization. We did what Faith suggested and used an export to create an excel file and merged that into word. This allowed us to create a letter type format with with the giving summary in a table. We included the gift date, amount of each donation, the designation or fund and total dollar amount of contributions for the year. Going forward we can use the same template and create a new export for each year. But again it does depend on how many you're creating. If you need specifics I'd be happy to answer any questions.


-John

Becky Watson

Faith Murray:

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

Yes, they work very well. You can add your Tax ID and organization name in a page footer and your tax language in a report footer. The only reason we don't use them is because we prefer to 1) have our Business Manager's signature on each document; 2) re-word the Fund designation to something more donor-friendly; and 3) use our organization letterhead. So we generally export gift info, tweak the Excel file and then merge into a Word template. But, these are all minor preference issues, and if you're doing thousands the automated version is the way to go.


We only send tax-subtantiation letters to those who request it -- about 50 a year -- otherwise donors just get the tax receipt on the bottom of their individual acknowledgement letters. So we don't have to do thousands.

 

Thank you! This is helpful!

 

Becky Watson

John Cioni:

I just finished creating a 2016 year end statement for our donors. While the annual statement report contains the necessary gift information it doesn't leave a lot of room for customization. We did what Faith suggested and used an export to create an excel file and merged that into word. This allowed us to create a letter type format with with the giving summary in a table. We included the gift date, amount of each donation, the designation or fund and total dollar amount of contributions for the year. Going forward we can use the same template and create a new export for each year. But again it does depend on how many you're creating. If you need specifics I'd be happy to answer any questions.


-John


Thank you! This is helpful!

 

 

Becky Watson

Becky Watson:

Thank you! This is helpful!

John Cioni:

I just finished creating a 2016 year end statement for our donors. While the annual statement report contains the necessary gift information it doesn't leave a lot of room for customization. We did what Faith suggested and used an export to create an excel file and merged that into word. This allowed us to create a letter type format with with the giving summary in a table. We included the gift date, amount of each donation, the designation or fund and total dollar amount of contributions for the year. Going forward we can use the same template and create a new export for each year. But again it does depend on how many you're creating. If you need specifics I'd be happy to answer any questions.


-John


Thank you! This is helpful!

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Rudder

Faith Murray:

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

Yes, they work very well. You can add your Tax ID and organization name in a page footer and your tax language in a report footer. The only reason we don't use them is because we prefer to 1) have our Business Manager's signature on each document; 2) re-word the Fund designation to something more donor-friendly; and 3) use our organization letterhead. So we generally export gift info, tweak the Excel file and then merge into a Word template. But, these are all minor preference issues, and if you're doing thousands the automated version is the way to go.


We only send tax-subtantiation letters to those who request it -- about 50 a year -- otherwise donors just get the tax receipt on the bottom of their individual acknowledgement letters. So we don't have to do thousands.

 

What query or report do you use for your export? I'm working on our Board Annual Statements for 2016, but I am having trouble getting it to pull all gifts for the people for 2016. 

Donna Mortensen

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

We've used them the past two years.  We send a personalized cover letter with a signature from our head of school and we attach the report that comes from RE.

 

Faith Murray

Kerry Ayres-Smith:

What query or report do you use for your export? I'm working on our Board Annual Statements for 2016, but I am having trouble getting it to pull all gifts for the people for 2016. 

 

As far as Query, since we don't send these statements out unless people ask for them, we have a "Tax" solicit code on anyone's record who needs to receive one - we pull by that. If you were sending to your entire constituency, I imagine that a Constituent Query based off "Last Gift Date" greater than or equal to Jan 1, 2016 would work as well.


Probably what you are needing is the Export settings. You'll need 2 Export functions:


1) Gifts (criteria: Last Calendar Year, number of gifts to export = 25, or some outrageously large number that nobody ever reaches):

    Gift Date

    Gift Amount

    Fund

2) Summary Information - Gifts - total gift amount (criteria Last Calendar Year)


Be prepared that the Gifts export will export the date, amount, and Fund for each of 25 (or whatever) gifts, making a total of 75 columns for each constituent. However most donors in our database never give past 13-14 gifts in a year, so many columns are empty and it's not really as overwhelming as it sounds. In fact in the Word merge template, I only really put a space for 14 gifts. I can always tailor it if there's an individual that has more than that. Like John, I use text boxes, and my template looks like the attached.

Kate Hudson

We send the Annual Statement Report, but since it isn't super customizeable, we also send a generic letter explaining it.

Becky Watson

Kate Hudson:

We send the Annual Statement Report, but since it isn't super customizeable, we also send a generic letter explaining it.

Thank you, Kate!

 

Michele Jenner

Faith Murray: I have general question on the word merge you do, how do you get each gift listed on each donors letter form the excel spreadsheet?  Its been awhile since i had my excel classes and do not know or remember? 

 

Kerry Ayres-Smith:

What query or report do you use for your export? I'm working on our Board Annual Statements for 2016, but I am having trouble getting it to pull all gifts for the people for 2016. 

 

As far as Query, since we don't send these statements out unless people ask for them, we have a "Tax" solicit code on anyone's record who needs to receive one - we pull by that. If you were sending to your entire constituency, I imagine that a Constituent Query based off "Last Gift Date" greater than or equal to Jan 1, 2016 would work as well.


Probably what you are needing is the Export settings. You'll need 2 Export functions:


1) Gifts (criteria: Last Calendar Year, number of gifts to export = 25, or some outrageously large number that nobody ever reaches):

    Gift Date

    Gift Amount

    Fund

2) Summary Information - Gifts - total gift amount (criteria Last Calendar Year)


Be prepared that the Gifts export will export the date, amount, and Fund for each of 25 (or whatever) gifts, making a total of 75 columns for each constituent. However most donors in our database never give past 13-14 gifts in a year, so many columns are empty and it's not really as overwhelming as it sounds. In fact in the Word merge template, I only really put a space for 14 gifts. I can always tailor it if there's an individual that has more than that. Like John, I use text boxes, and my template looks like the attached.

 

 

Susan Chomsky

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

We send a Year-End Statement and cover letter to everyone who requests it and every monthly donor. The footer on the statement: Thank you for your support!  ~~  Please call  248.967.1500 x110 to notify us of any changes. The footer on the cover letter: P.S. Forgotten Harvest is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.  We include the gift amount and the tax deductible amount. We print the envelopes with a tag: Year-End Tax Documents Enclosed. It actually makes a nice package and is a great way to thank our donors again. 

Christine Cooke 2

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

Yes.  It works very well, you can add your Tax ID number to it.  We include a cover letter talking about all the accomplishments of the year and thanking for their support.

Karen Stuhlfeier

 We also send it with a cover letter and it's alos a good report to use for people who periodically want a record of their giving.

Becky Watson

Karen Stuhlfeier:

 We also send it with a cover letter and it's alos a good report to use for people who periodically want a record of their giving.

 

Thanks Karen!

 

Becky Watson

Christine Cooke:

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

Yes.  It works very well, you can add your Tax ID number to it.  We include a cover letter talking about all the accomplishments of the year and thanking for their support.

 

Thank you, Christine!

Faith Murray

Michele Jenner:  

I have general question on the word merge you do, how do you get each gift listed on each donors letter form the excel spreadsheet?  Its been awhile since i had my excel classes and do not know or remember? 

You have to make sure your column headers in Excel match the merge fields on the template. So once you have your Excel file saved, you would open up your Word template, link it to the data source, make sure your merge toolbar is available, and then there's a button on the toolbar for inserting merge fields into the body of the Word doc. Once your merge fields are in place on the Word doc, then there's another toolbar button for actually performing the merge. You can find a nice tutorial at Ablebits.

Becky Watson

Susan Chomsky:

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

We send a Year-End Statement and cover letter to everyone who requests it and every monthly donor. The footer on the statement: Thank you for your support!  ~~  Please call  248.967.1500 x110 to notify us of any changes. The footer on the cover letter: P.S. Forgotten Harvest is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.  We include the gift amount and the tax deductible amount. We print the envelopes with a tag: Year-End Tax Documents Enclosed. It actually makes a nice package and is a great way to thank our donors again. 

 

Thank you, Susan!

 

Diana Pippin

Becky Watson:

Does anyone use Annual Statement Reports? Is this the best report to use for an annual summary of giving to send to donors?

Thanks!

We use it and it works very well. We export it to Word Editable and then can move the data down to fit on our letterhead.

Michele Jenner

Faith Murray: Thank you, i know how to do  a mail merge.  The issue i am having is takin someones gift info and have it merge to the word doc.  Example. John doe has 12 gifts for 2016 but they are all listed under the same column header in the spreadsheet.  I need to have each gift listed on his tax letter but when i use the merge field it just pulls one gift not all 12 different gift on different dates and amounts.  Does that make sense? 

 

Michele Jenner:  

I have general question on the word merge you do, how do you get each gift listed on each donors letter form the excel spreadsheet?  Its been awhile since i had my excel classes and do not know or remember? 

You have to make sure your column headers in Excel match the merge fields on the template. So once you have your Excel file saved, you would open up your Word template, link it to the data source, make sure your merge toolbar is available, and then there's a button on the toolbar for inserting merge fields into the body of the Word doc. Once your merge fields are in place on the Word doc, then there's another toolbar button for actually performing the merge. You can find a nice tutorial at Ablebits.

 

 

John Cioni

Michele Jenner:

Faith Murray: Thank you, i know how to do  a mail merge.  The issue i am having is takin someones gift info and have it merge to the word doc.  Example. John doe has 12 gifts for 2016 but they are all listed under the same column header in the spreadsheet.  I need to have each gift listed on his tax letter but when i use the merge field it just pulls one gift not all 12 different gift on different dates and amounts.  Does that make sense? 

 

Michele Jenner:  

I have general question on the word merge you do, how do you get each gift listed on each donors letter form the excel spreadsheet?  Its been awhile since i had my excel classes and do not know or remember? 

You have to make sure your column headers in Excel match the merge fields on the template. So once you have your Excel file saved, you would open up your Word template, link it to the data source, make sure your merge toolbar is available, and then there's a button on the toolbar for inserting merge fields into the body of the Word doc. Once your merge fields are in place on the Word doc, then there's another toolbar button for actually performing the merge. You can find a nice tutorial at Ablebits.

 

 

 

Exporting the gift data will put each gift in a separate column in line with the specific donor. This way you can name the column headings Gift 1, Gift 2, Gift 3 etc. When you merge into word you select the merge fields or headings you created. Hope that makes sense.