Funds for Membership

Hi Kathy,

I have often been involved in discussion between Finance and Development departments on the appropriate time to create a new Fund, and I have to say that 18 funds for Membership sounds like overkill.  I also sat in on a few conference sessions in 2011 where I heard other companies advise against too many unnecessary Funds - it's cluttered and if you ever pull lists by Fund, it can be complicated in Future Years.

There are obviously other ways to delineate Membership Level or Organization outside of Funds - firstly by their Membership details, and next by something like source code or designation.

I'd say a good starting point with your Finance department would be to look at their general ledger account codes.  I think a good rule is to only create a new fund if it's a different G/L code.

Good luck!

Thank you, Frances and Beth, for your valuable input.  I, too, am concerned about the implications for reporting in future years.  Our Finance Department would like a separate GL code for each membership level so they can report and track income for each level -- they use a separate financial software program.  I guess it comes down to an organization's business practices?  Who should be responsible for reporting membership income?  Currently, Development uses the membership organization to report and track memberships but our Finance Department is more concerned with the exact income received for each membership level.  And, they want to see reports from us (i.e. Batch Detail Report) that have a separate fund for each membership level so they can reconcile with their remittance reports.  It's a challenge!

Thank you, Frances and Beth, for your valuable input.  I, too, am concerned about the implications for reporting in future years.  Our Finance Department would like a separate GL code for each membership level so they can report and track income for each level -- they use a separate financial software program.  I guess it comes down to an organization's business practices?  Who should be responsible for reporting membership income?  Currently, Development uses the membership organization to report and track memberships but our Finance Department is more concerned with the exact income received for each membership level.  And, they want to see reports from us (i.e. Batch Detail Report) that have a separate fund for each membership level so they can reconcile with their remittance reports.  It's a challenge!