Recurring Gift Reporting

Bernie Fitzsimmons

We're having a problem with recurring gift reporting. Because they are entered in NXT as the amount to charge per period versus the total commitment, our forecasting totals are undervalued. Previously, we entered pledges for the appeal period, e.g. $500. With NXT recurring gifts, it's entered as $50/month for 10 months. Therefore, $450 expected gift forecast disparity. Please advise. Thank you.

Lee Grisham

@Bernie Fitzsimmons I didn't think they allowed you to put an end date for the donations? How would it only give you the expected revenue if so?

JoAnn Strommen

@Bernie Fitzsimmons have you looked at Reports > Pledge and Recurring Gift Reports > Cash Flow Report? KB article 40418

Faith Murray

@Bernie Fitzsimmons
@JoAnn Strommen is on target with the cash flow reports - that's about the best you can do. An alternative is to pull a report of the recurring gifts themselves and multiply the gift amount by 12 months.

However, I think the reason RE doesn't include recurring gifts in forecasts is because there's a larger issue with the reliability of recurring gifts. While it's true that monthly donors are far more loyal than one-off donors, a monthly donor has a high fall-off rate compared to traditional pledges. A pledge carries a legal commitment, and most donors will carry through to the end. Monthly donors know there's no permanent commitment (which is part of the appeal), plus you're at the mercy of credit card declines. So any revenue projection is going to be tentative at best.