Hello there
This is my first post so please be gentle!
We're getting ready to transfer onto Tessitura in the next few months. All my regular givers are currently on Standing Orders rather than Direct Debits. I'm debating whether to try and convert everyone onto Direct Debits or to just put new regular givers onto Direct Debits rather than Standing Orders. It's been suggested that DD is much easier to administer on Tessitura than Standing Orders, which are essentially treated in the same way as cash/cheque donations. Will converting to DD mean I don't have to painstakingly check off my bank statements item by item? I just wanted to gather some thoughts from you guys as you're already using Tessitura.
Another question. If donations go to a different bank account than ticket purchases will this have an effect on how I process Direct Debits on Tessitura.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys
Becky
Hi Becky,
The quick answer is yes moving to DD does mean you no longer have to check off your bank statements , you have much more control over the whole process and for membership schemes it makes it much easier to make price changes.
As far as I can figure out standing orders and Tessitura don't really mix, as you have picked up you can get the donations in but in order have an overview of what you expect to get in and what you haven't got that you were expecting you have to enter the pledges fresh each year. With Direct Debits you can auto renew which does cut down the work.
This is quite rambly but please drop me a line if you want more info
Katherine
Same answer as above really... If you can convert them over it would be to your advantage. In addition to the extra control you have with DD's the Gift Aid functionality works much better with DD's. For our remaining Standing Orders (some 200+) we have to retrospectively enter them to ensure the correct payment date is applied. It's a long and labourious task!
We've tried to move these over to DD on numerous occasions but for donors of a certain age their trust is much greater of SO's than DD's so it may be that you will have to operate both systems anyway.
Again - if you have any questions just give me a call. MG