Gift codes in Batch Entry

Sara Burtis

Is there a way to reference gift codes in web view? We rely on gift codes for reporting purposes, but I don't see it as an available field when using the batch entry tool in web view. I thought about potentially creating custom fields that could be used to reference the gift code instead of having to go through the database and add them, but I'm not sure if that's a suitable work around.

We want to train our new gift entry coordinator to work in NXT as much as possible, but I'm starting to feel like it will create more work if we end up having to edit batches in database view anyway. Will this functionality become available in the future?

Thanks!

Update in case anyone else is wondering about a workaround-- this is from Blackbaud support:

The batch in Database view is not editable and is just for reference to allow you to print validation reports as needed from the committed/approved batch in Webview. If the gift code for the gifts will be the same, you can query on the gifts approved from the batch in Webview and then do a global add to add that specified gift code to the records.

An easier method may be to just query on the gift from that batch anyway, and from the results of your gift query, you can open the gift there directly so you wouldn't need to open the constituent record one at a time to find the gifts.

JoAnn Strommen

@Sara Burtis We also rely on gift code field for daily reports and for accounting. The absence of this field is one of the reasons we are not processing gifts in web view. Too much of a hassle to enter gifts and then having to edit to get the data needed.

I brought this up at one of the product update sessions but was not given any date when it would be available.

Sara Burtis

@JoAnn Strommen
Well shoot! That's frustrating and disappointing. ?

Karen Diener

@Sara Burtis:

The batch in Database view is not editable and is just for reference to allow you to print validation reports as needed from the committed/approved batch in Webview. If the gift code for the gifts will be the same, you can query on the gifts approved from the batch in Webview and then do a global add to add that specified gift code to the records.

An easier method may be to just query on the gift from that batch anyway, and from the results of your gift query, you can open the gift there directly so you wouldn't need to open the constituent record one at a time to find the gifts.

This is one of the many reasons my clients are not using webview for gift entry. The only exception is if they have automated recurring gifts. The batch process in webview is not very efficient, which is one of the main reasons to use it. I would definitely recommend sticking with database view for entering your offline gifts right now.

Some of the functionality you're looking for is on the roadmap, but I find Blackbaud's latest PUBs to be pretty vague. “Enhanced this” and “improved that" doesn't give details about how it will be enhanced or improved. But I do see “improved batch entry” identified in the October PUB for Q3 of 2024. Since that is months away, I would move your gift processor to using database view batching.

Karen

Sara Burtis

@Karen Diener thanks for the great feedback! We will definitely stick to database view batch entry for now. Fingers crossed that the improved batch entry in Q3 is actually improved ?