how do you record workplace giving donations?

Kelly Olson
Kelly Olson
Seventh Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Facilitator 1
in Blackbaud Altru® General Discussions

I am wondering how people record donations that come in through a third party from employee giving / payroll deduction programs from local companies.

We have:

  • the employee (sometimes we know the name and sometimes not)
  • the employer (sometimes makes a matching donation but often not)
  • the agency (Benevity or Your Cause or United Way)
  • the fund that actually makes payment (with Benevity and Your Cause the money comes from a donor advised fund)

I know that we don't need to send a tax receipt because the employee isn't donating directly to us, but I am wondering how you all record these. Who do you name as the donor? Do you use soft credits? Do you use the matching gift feature in Altru to track when the employer matches?

Let's take an example ...

Employee donates $100
Employer matches $50
Total is $150 but Benevity takes a fee so we receive $147 from a donor advised fund

I hard credit Benevity $147
I soft credit the employee $100
I soft credit the employer $50
I then put a matching soft credit on the employee for the $50 that the employer matched.

It makes sense when I write it out but is confusing to explain and train others, in particular the matching gift part. Looking for ideas ... Thank you!

Kelly
with Children's Museum of Sonoma County

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Comments

  • Jami Helwig
    Jami Helwig
    Second Anniversary Name Dropper Participant Facilitator 1

    @Kelly Olson I'm sorry I'm not any help, but I would like to follow and see if there is any input! This is something that I've also been researching.

  • Sarah Andrews
    Sarah Andrews
    Second Anniversary Name Dropper Facilitator 1

    @Kelly Olson
    We've struggled with this, too. Currently, we list Benevity as the Hard Credit/Donor, the employee as the Soft Credit, and the employer as a Matching credit. If you don't already have that as a recognition credit type, you might need to add it. (We do not go through the Matching Gift claim procedure - just select Matching as the recognition credit type.) This way, you can query on the Match recognition type and see only what a Corporation is matching without any direct corporate contributions muddying the water.

  • Debbie McKenzie
    Debbie McKenzie
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant

    @Kelly Olson
    Using your example we would:

    1. Hard credit the employee (enter the $100 as a donation on the employees record) noting in the reference field the donation was via Company Name / Benevity
    2. Use the Altru Matching feature and enter the $50 match on the employers record noting in the reference field the match was via Benevity
    3. Make a journal entry in Financial Edge recording the fees as an expenses

    Benevity is merely the platform, they receive no recognition

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