ETapestry Primer: Accounts And Journal

Throughout my years of working with Blackbaud products, I’ve learned a few basic things: constituents have records; debits and credits are tracked in accounts; and financial activity is recorded with journal entries. That was my understanding until I started working with eTapestry.

Since eTapestry is not accounting software, I was surprised to learn that accounts and journal entries were the foundation of eTapestry data organization.

Just like a file folder, an account is the container for all information related to each one of your supporters, whether donors, volunteers, staff members, or prospects. Knowing how to work with accounts—find, create, and modify them—is the most fundamental task to learn and eventually master in eTapestry. Here are some scenarios when you would create an account:

• You receive a donation from a first-time donor
• You meet someone who expresses interest in your organization and asks to receive your monthly communications
• A volunteer agrees to help with eTapestry data entry tasks

In each account, you would enter whatever information you happen to have about the individuals. For example, the donor’s mailing address, the prospect’s email address, or the volunteer’s phone number and interests. As you learn more about each person, you should record that piece of information, no matter how small it may seem. Changes in career, residency, family, and preferences, for example, can shape the way in which you engage with these individuals.

Aside from this type of general information, you also want to track the interactions that people have with your organization, and vice versa. Accounts in eTapestry have a journal that is designed for this purpose. In the examples above, the donation, meeting, and assignment acceptance are all events that you store in the account journal. Over time, a well-documented journal will help your organization report on progress and plan future efforts. After all, this is why you are using eTapestry, isn’t it?

If you are new to eTapestry, I invite you to review our newly released eLearning course eTapestry: Basics of Accounts. Within an hour, you will learn the key aspects of accounts and journal entries, and how it all ties together. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!