Hello Tessitura Friends!
We are in the planning stage of a fiscal year end challenge appeal and have decided that we will offer double recognition and benefits to those patrons who give new or increased gifts.
I am having a hard time trying to wrap my mind around how to execute this. I am hoping someone has done this kind of appeal before and has some sage advice for me!
I have thought of two possible ways to do this, but I am hoping there is something tried and true and easier out there.
1. Set up the challenge as a constituent and soft credit the donor for the recognition amount above their actual cash gift. I would set up a challenge payment method so that the payment would zero out the gift entry and nothing would hit the cash GL (we currently do this with in-kind gifts so this is not a foreign concept to us). This would allow me to pull the donors actual cash giving and include or exclude the soft credits as needed.
2. Enter the total of the cash gift plus the recognition amount into the constituent record at gift entry and use 2 different payment methods. I would again set up the challenge payment method and make sure that portion of the "gift" did not his the cash GL. This would give me less flexibility in reporting though and it would not indicate on the constituent record what was a true cash gift and what was purely recognition.
Thanks for any advice you can give,
Rachel Jorgensen
Director of Development Operations
The Atlanta Opera