Tribute Type Attribute Description

Vicki Hodel

Hi everyone. Extremely frustrated new member to RE. Hope someone can help me. We were sold on buying RE for the Tribute module. 90% of our donations received on IMO, so this sounds wonderful! NOT!!!  To say it has been a headache is being kind. There is no training for the tribute module, and as good as tech support is, I have yet to find anyone who actually knows about the module.


So I'm reaching out to you for help.


I can create the tribute

I can enter a gift and tag the tribute - doing so in batch, not on the tribute itself

HOWEVER...I did it once and can't figure out how I did it....I cannot get the Tribute to populate the "Tribute type attribute description" field in my batch.  I really need to see this as I am not the only person entering gifts. If I have to go through each and every gift, open it and confirm that a tribute was attached, I might as well just enter them all myself. Which is not smart on soooo many levels right now. I don't want to have to duplicate work.


So hoping someone here has extensive knowledge using the Tribute module.


I have attached a pic of 2 batches for reference. Batch 1877 I created. You can see that the "tribute type attribute description" (TTAD) is filled in. I didn't do that. I never type lastname,firstname. Batch 1883 is an exact layout of Batch 1877.  I used 1877 settings when creating 1883. But nothing populates in the TTAD field.


Please help. Or if someone has links to videos or how-to's.

I'm floundering here and getting nowhere. Spending a ton of $ every month to not be able to use the product.


TIA

Dariel Dixon

This is a limitation of batch.  Unfortunately, there are no fields to have displayed in the batch for tributes.  It's a pain.  I've looked, but I'm pretty sure there's no way to view that information without looking at every record and clicking on the tribute button.  Now, it is possible to set a default tribute, but those fields aren't available as they aren't listed in the gift fields tab in the batch setup.


The fields you are viewing are attributes, and I'm pretty sure those would have to be manually entered.  I can only assume you are using that field because you can't view the tribute information in the batch view.  Otherwise, it is duplicate work and redundant.  

JoAnn Strommen

LOL - I feel your frustration.  I agree that there is some setting somewhere to have that attribute auto fill. The reference field we enter as it pulls into our letters. The attribute, no.  I'm not sure if it only happens when the tribute has been created on the person who the tribute is being made in honor of's record first. 


I don't see anything in user options or config that makes sense to cause that.  Previous dba set up several things that I still haven't figured out how she did. That's one of them.

Vicki Hodel

Thank you both.


JoAnn I agree. It has to be someplace?!  It's a field option when setting up a batch, but I can't find where it is anywhere in a record.  It obviously is someplace because I got it to do it once. I even tried setting up the tribute while entering the gift, and nothing. We also use the reference field both for letters and for our newsletter. 


BB has told me that they are working on a training for Tributes for late fall. Which is no help now. Or I can have private training which is expensive.


I'd love to know how you both hand this? Just have someone enter the donations and hope & pray they got it right?

 

Austen Brown

Hi Vicki Hodel‍ - We utilize the tribute module to track tribute gifts. We do not utilize the attribute field as you do, we track our tribute information in the reference field and on the tribute tab of the gift record.  


When reviewing tribute gifts to make sure that entry is done correctly, you can utilize a gift or constituent query. In regards to learning more about a specific area of RE, I have found that user guides are a wealth of information - I have attached two that may of help to you.  They can be tedious to read at times, but more often than not they contain the information you are looking for. 

Vicki Hodel

Thank you Austen Brown‍.  I do have both of those guides. I guess I will have to run reports before posting donations in order to see that they are completed correctly. 


Just very confusing that there is a field supplied, yet no information populates.


Thanks for all the thoughts.

Potique Johnson

We use the tribute module constantly. Once you know how to use it (they don't make it easy) then it really does help you to keep track of tributes, etc. I have attached some screen shots of the batch “set up” we use. Hopefully this will help. If not, e-mail me pjohnson@mercycare.org and I can try to walk you through it. I'm new too, but I have been taking tons of classes.

Potique Johnson