Importing gifts- Is it worth the hassle?

Carla Seet

I work for a small nonprofit that has seven locations across the country. We started using RE fall of 2015 and it's been a hard transition for our satellite staff. They are understaffed, overworked, and many of them aren't very tech savvy. 


At the moment, each program location enters the checks that they receive, then mails them to HQ to be deposited. We've been playing with the idea of entering all checks at HQ to take some work off their plates and to ensure that checks are entered accurately. The system we've proposed is to have the satellite staff enter just the most necessary information for each check in a shared spreadsheet, then HQ staff will import that into a gift batch in RE. My worries are that the time it takes to set the import up just right won't be worth the time saved and that gifts will import incorrectly or there will be mistakes.


Does anyone else have a similar setup with satellite locations and/or import gifts? I could really use some guidance with this. Thank you!

 

Denise Covington

I used to have local satellite entry when I worked at the YMCA.  It did not work well, so in the end we did centralize.

 
One thing you could do is set up a batch for them to enter gifts in there.  They would then send you the backup with a transmittal with date of entry and check copies (I would have them deposit money electronically at their branch/office and then send you the report if possible).  Then when you get their report, you can review the batch for accuracy, update it if needed, and then commit the batch.

 
I’m not entirely sure this will work for you since they all send the checks into HQ to be deposited unless each batch of checks comes to you with the batch number and then you can manage the date deposited if needed.

JoAnn Strommen

I deal with gifts from our branch Ys. As the 2 branches are very small in size and staff, the only thing they do is a bank deposit for all funds to their local bank.  Paperwork associated with the deposit comes to the main Y as we handle all their accounting, payrolls, donations, etc.  Having them do the deposits seems a bit more fiscally responsible than mailing checks/cash etc. For some events they have a lot of cash.


I receive paperwork related to donations and enter in a separate batch for each Y. I send them pdf of batch report. I also generate their receipts and send email file to them to print on their letterhead and mail.


Importing can be tricky especially for staff members not using RE regularly, even with templates. They may have to deal with creating new records, soft credits etc.


You're asking some good questions. This has worked well for us for over 10 years because of our structure with main Y also doing the accounting. 

Rachel Slager 2

Once it's routine, importing gifts isn't really a hassle, though you have to consider a few things like applying gifts to pledges (you'd need to get the original pledge Import ID.  i used a running list of outstanding pledges to tackle this one.


I think if you want them to enter the gift on their side in a spreadsheet, the recommendation to use a gift batch makes much more sense.  You aren't really saving them labor with the spreadsheet.


However, flip the idea around where your team enters all of the gifts, then you send them the data in spreadsheet form, which then all they have to do is import - that's a winning method. 

Carla Seet

Thank you all for your suggestions!


Denise, I think your idea of having the satellites enter gifts into a batch, then send the checks with the batch number would work best for us. I worry about them doing an import because many of them don't use RE daily and forget the process for things they're not doing on a regular basis. I think it would create a lot of inaccurate and inconsistent gift entry. I'll run this by my team!

Melissa S Graves

How does this actually reduce their workload? If that is truly one of the goals then I don't see it. If it is accuracy, then maybe this process would be helpful but having a second person review a batch before posting is never a bad idea.

Carla Seet

Melissa, it would reduce the satellite staff's workload because right now they have to deal with any troubleshooting that happens if something is entered incorrectly in the batch and they don't have enough knowledge of RE to fix those issues quickly in order to commit the gifts. Many of them are not confident in their RE abilities so when they get an error message when trying to commit, it takes them longer than it would for those of us in HQ who have become experts by entering gifts/committing batches on a daily basis. We don't have the resources to have someone come into their offices and train them and they have so many other things that they're doing on a daily basis, that we need to find ways to relieve their workload anyway.


It would also save time for HQ staff because we end up catching and having to fix data entry errors as we're reconciling income a week after some of those inaccurate gifts were entered in the database. I think this would save us some of that duplicate work.

 

Sunshine Reinken Watson

Check out the free Importacular plug-in. It is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

Carla Seet

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll look into that.

Torie Wright

Carla Seet:

I work for a small nonprofit that has seven locations across the country. We started using RE fall of 2015 and it's been a hard transition for our satellite staff. They are understaffed, overworked, and many of them aren't very tech savvy. 


At the moment, each program location enters the checks that they receive, then mails them to HQ to be deposited. We've been playing with the idea of entering all checks at HQ to take some work off their plates and to ensure that checks are entered accurately. The system we've proposed is to have the satellite staff enter just the most necessary information for each check in a shared spreadsheet, then HQ staff will import that into a gift batch in RE. My worries are that the time it takes to set the import up just right won't be worth the time saved and that gifts will import incorrectly or there will be mistakes.


Does anyone else have a similar setup with satellite locations and/or import gifts? I could really use some guidance with this. Thank you!

 

We use the import-o-matic plug in for large batch entry. I love it.  It DEFINITELY reduces time.  We have one satellite location, and they deposit checks there and send us scans of the checks and documentation that came with the checks so that we can ensure that gifts are entered correctly at the main office.