Streamlining Gift Processing in RENXT

Joseph Strubeck

I'm currently evaluating our gift processing procedures with the intention of overhauling them to meet three objectives:

1. Ensure the timely recording and posting of gifts in RENXT
2. Allow for various methods of gifts to be reviewed and the batches to be committed within a normal business day (for example: manual batch gift entry for checks, ACH and the like; committing credit card gifts through Blackbaud NetCommunity; and also processing automatic recurring gifts and gifts collected through RENXT donation forms which come in as NXT batches.
3. Reduce the complexity of our posting process (basically, the current process requires the operator responsible for the batch to creating the export and upload each batch as a separate posting file to our GL (which is not Financial Edge)

So, my thought is to maintain our current Gift Date (for example if the gift is collected via credit card donation on a Saturday we use Saturday's date for the gift date) but establish a policy to use the GL Post Date and set that as the following business day's date. For example, since today is 7/20/21, all batches created today should have a GL Post Date of 7/21/21.

Set a cutoff time to complete posting batches for the business day that falls within the normal working hours of our gift processing team; anything received or entered after that time should use the next available date for the GL Post Date.

All open batches should be posted by that specified cutoff time; a static query is then run for all gifts posted in Raiser's Edge calling on the GL Post Date (in the example above) 7/21/21.

This query is made available in Web View via a list and shared with the fundraising team to review for accuracy (along with the Director of Advancement Services). Fundraisers can submit questions or suggestions for corrections by 10am the following day (in this example on 7/21) by 10am. The Director of Advancement Services, after her/his review and updates based on any insights from the fundraising team can them create the export and posting file for the GL and upload to the General Ledger.

In essence, as I'm evaluating the existing practices, I'm looking to establish transparency and communication between team members for timely reporting and review for accuracy and at the same time cut out the bouncing between operations for our gift processors. In sending one, complete file of all transactions for a business day, I think we can reclaim some time for certain team members and increase accountability and integrity in our numbers while meeting reporting expectations for leadership.

As added benefits, I think this will allow us to more fully utilize the automatic recurring gift function in NXT and account for those gifts as part of a daily batch. One file based on GL Post Date makes sense to me because we'd have the separate batch work to trace source of confusion or errors, but ultimately one list and one GL transmission file by incorporating all batches on a given day.

I'm running through other scenarios, but thought I'd share this one to see if anyone has tried to build efficiency in their gift processing along with transparency and simplicity. Wondering if this seems possible and welcome suggestions for other considerations as I think through these scenarios. Any input is appreciated!

Austen Brown

Hi @Joseph Strubeck - I have one suggestion that could automate part of your process even further. By utilizing the RE NXT Microsoft Integration to Power Automate you can build out notification summaries to be sent to your team automatically.

For instance, I have built out an automated flow to send a daily gift summary digest to my team each morning that reports out on any gift entered in the last 24 hours; the digest includes hyperlinks to the specific constituent and gift record apart of the summary. By running this step through power automate, I no longer have to manually report out this information and my team has easy access to the gifts entered yesterday each morning. If any changes need to be made within the gift, my team is easily able to respond to the email and communicate those changes directly with the Data Team.

For more information on the Integration with Power Automate and how to build your own gift digest flow, check out the links below. I have also included a link to the Community Showcase where a number of users have contributed a copy of flows or apps they have built through this integration.

• SKY Developer: Microsoft Power Platform Information
• Sharing my Power Automate Flow: Daily Gift Digest Notification
• SKY Developer: Microsoft Power Platform Community Showcase

Joseph Strubeck

Hi @Austen Brown - thanks for sharing this information, I reviewed it today and think this might be a good way to build out that transparency as gifts are entered. Appreciate your taking the time to respond!

Joseph Strubeck

As one additional point where I welcome feedback when I mention in my suggested process:

In sending one, complete file of all transactions for a business day, I think we can reclaim some time for certain team members and increase accountability and integrity in our numbers while meeting reporting expectations for leadership.

One point of clarification: our organization does not use FinancialEdge, so we do not have a direct GL integration. I recall much hesitancy during the suggestion while converting to RENXT in moving away from committing batches separately (from members of my team). I can appreciate that we want the batch work to be kept for integrity of what happened and when it happened. But I welcome insight into what others views as losses in migrating to one complete transmission file in posting the entire day's transactions. (As an aside, in a prior position, I completed a number of efficiency projects in accounts receivable divisions at for-profit businesses and we realized significant time savings in sending single posting files to the GL instead of one for every batch…)