Policy/Procedures

Hello My Favorite Community,

My name is Monica Dwight a 27yr user of Raiser's Edge and currently the DBA at Midlands Technical College Foundation.  Here is my current plight.  Is it standard/ best business practice to Seek advisement from the "Assigned MGO" of the donor when any of the following scenarios come up?  Or does anyone have a if this do that procedure in place?  All comments are welcomed.  Thank you.

Policy/Procedures:
Do you have a policy/procedure in place for (if this, do that?)
I’ve been charged with presenting a best practice procedures for the following scenarios:
Checks – What is the standard practice when accepting donations from “Married Donors”?
Two names are on the check:
  1. Which spouse gets the credit?
  2. Is this a joint gift? If so, is the amount split or full credit?
  3. How do you handle Soft credit? – What’s the amount applied?
Data Entry – When a record is created with spouse information… What is the standard practice?
  1. Married Couples
    1. Should each donor have their own record?
 
  1. Events
    1. Should Participants be added as a Constituent?
 
  1. Batch Process
    1. Who reviews for accuracy? How are batches reviewed for accuracy?

Comments

  • Hi Monica Dwight‍,


    This is a fantastic best practice question.  I noticed a peer has not responded yet.  This community is just getting ramped up and doesn't have as many members.  I see your question is connected to Raiser's Edge as well Higher Ed.  Would you like me to move this question to the Raiser's Edge Community to see if you get more replies?


    In harmony,

    Elizabeth

    Blackbaud Community Management Team
  • That
    would be great Elizabeth.  

     

    This
    will be the second time it’s been moved; however, I hope to get
    some replies.   Thank you for your help.

     

    M.

     





  • Hi. Not sure if ours if "best practice," but I'll at least articulate our policy

    1) Two names on the check/Married donors: The husband's name is listed as primary, unless specifically requested otherwise. The spouse section of the record is completed with the wife's information. We default to assuming it is a joint gift and the software applies a soft credit. 

    2) In the event of the husband's passing we mark him as "deceased" and RE will automatically move the surviving widow into the primary position. 

    3) The only issue we have found with this policy is when checks that were generated from the donor's Bank Bill Pay, and the wife's name is primary on that account. We only see her name. We either have to remember to apply it correctly, or establish a specific rule on that file that will remind the data entry person to apply it appropriately. 


    … Married Couples: One account (unless specifically requested).

    … Events: We don't use this feature, but you will want to capture attendees as constituents. Perhaps you can manage them by assigning Attributes to control how you communicate with them?

    … Batch Process: We receive the donations in the Business Office, where my assistant creates the batch on a spreadsheet which provides both a Summary and a Donation Detail sheet. It is then passed to the Development Clerk who does the data entry and creates the donation receipts. The two offices cross check for accuracy. The business manager (myself) makes the deposit.
  • Second time!  You are a trooper.


    Thank you Mark Stevens‍, for your answer!


    Now, I can keep it in the Higher Ed Community!


     
  • Good
    morning Mark,

     

    Thank
    you for your input. I will add these to the responses I did
    receive.  It’s always a slippery slope when trying to create
    policies for all the different types of scenarios, but it would be
    ideal for capturing the most seen cases.  Thank you again for
    your help.

     

    M.

     





  • Yeah,
    I just received Mark Stevens’ reply, and I’ve added it to my
    research.  Thank you again.

     

    M.

     

  • Monica Dwight‍ ,


    One more option, is to search "core policy and procedures" on the Blackbaud Community home page.  I just did and it returned 14 links.  Most were job postings, but a few were threads with best practices.


    All the best,

    Elizabeth
  • Bryna Gleich
    Bryna Gleich Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 3 Name Dropper Participant
    If you try the search that Elizabeth mentioned, consider Sort by = Relevance instead of Most Recent too. 

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