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I would like to know how some of you handle shifting historical commitment numbers in your reporting. Scenario #1 - A donor makes a pledge of $100K in 2016 with the commitment to pay $25K per year over 4 years. That $100K pledge would be counted in 2016 commitment fundraising totals. Then, in 2019, the donor falls on hard times and cannot make the final $25K payment so the $25K installment must be written off. After the write off, the 2016 commitment totals that print on reports for year-to-year comparison is now $25K less, causing leadership to question why the numbers changed. Scenario #2 – While a donor is in process of signing a gift agreement for a pledge of $100K to be paid over 4 years, he sends in the first payment of $25K. The payment is entered as an outright gift because we do not enter pledges until the gift agreement is fully executed. Then the following month, the gift agreement is complete. To keep the full amount of the pledge of $100K intact for pledge reminders, largest commitment analysis, etc., the $25K that was entered as outright cash and counted in the commitments for the prior month…or even prior fiscal year, is applied to the $100K pledge (even though the pledge has a later date than the payment). The date of the payment is not changed. It is now only applied to a pledge. As you know, this change moves the commitment from an outright gift at the time it was received to a pledge payment, shifting the $25K that was reported in commitment totals as cash at the time it was received to the commitment total as a pledge when the pledge was booked. This results in shifting numbers from one bucket to another…again, causing leadership to question why. I understand these are reconciliation issues. However, I also see why leadership questions the integrity of the numbers if numbers keep shifting. Please share how you deal with these situations. It would be much appreciated! Jennifer P. Smith Director, Gifts and Records Management Advancement Services | University of Dayton

Thank you, Ron. It has been suggested that we detail the reason for any substantial fluctuations as a footnote to reports. Some leadership members are working under the belief that historical numbers never change. And, having worked in this field for a number of years, that is simply not the case with fundraising commitments. Maybe accounting but not fundraising, which is the reason I reconcile our numbers no less than monthly. Again, thank you for sharing your experience with this issue. Jennifer Jennifer P. Smith Director, Gifts and Records Management Advancement Services | University of Dayton 300 College Park | Curran Place Dayton, OH 45469-7051 937.229.3263 <https://udayton.edu/advancement/give/day/?utm_campaign=advag16&utm_source=sig&utm_medium=email&utm_content=nd> On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 1:41 PM Ron Eisenstein <ron@thesolasgroup.com> wrote: > Hi Jennifer, > > > > Several years back, I worked with a fastidious fundraiser who monitored > the daily changes to the fundraising totals for her area. There were > always valid reasons why the numbers changed. However, the fundraiser > naturally wouldn't know the reasons without us sharing them with her each > time. That wasn't an efficient use of our resource given how frequently > changes occurred. To address her needs, we built a daily report showing > any modifications and reversals processed the day prior, excluding > low-level telefund pledges. That report was delivered at the same time as > another report showing all new giving activity. The new report alleviated > her concerns by sharing modification/reversal details and also served as an > effective communications tool for the entire advancement team. > Furthermore, we wouldn't make any reversals/write-downs over a certain > threshold without first sign-off from leadership, which was another way of > communicating these changes. > > > > In my experience, the scenarios you describe generally involve > illuminating the detailed work of gift processing and then building back > leadership’s confidence in your numbers. Hope that helps! > > > > Best, > > Ron > > > > *Ron Eisenstein* > > Partner > > The Solas Group > > > > *thesolasgroup.com <https://www.thesolasgroup.com/>* | (773) 315-6014 > > > > [image: temp] <https://www.thesolasgroup.com/> > > > > > >
Original Message----- > From: Advancement Services Discussion List <FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG> > On Behalf Of Jennifer Smith > Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 11:44 AM > To: FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG > Subject: [FUNDSVCS] Historical commitment totals > > > > I would like to know how some of you handle shifting historical commitment > numbers in your reporting. > > > > Scenario #1 - A donor makes a pledge of $100K in 2016 with the commitment > to pay $25K per year over 4 years. That $100K pledge would be counted in > 2016 commitment fundraising totals. Then, in 2019, the donor falls on hard > times and cannot make the final $25K payment so the $25K installment must > be written off. After the write off, the 2016 commitment totals that print > on reports for year-to-year comparison is now $25K less, causing leadership > to question why the numbers changed. > > > > Scenario #2 – While a donor is in process of signing a gift agreement for > a pledge of $100K to be paid over 4 years, he sends in the first payment of > $25K. The payment is entered as an outright gift because we do not enter > pledges until the gift agreement is fully executed. Then the following > month, the gift agreement is complete. To keep the full amount of the > pledge of $100K intact for pledge reminders, largest commitment analysis, > etc., the $25K that was entered as outright cash and counted in the > commitments for the prior month…or even prior fiscal year, is applied to > the $100K pledge (even though the pledge has a later date than the > payment). The date of the payment is not changed. It is now only applied to > a pledge. As you know, this change moves the commitment from an outright > gift at the time it was received to a pledge payment, shifting the $25K > that was reported in commitment totals as cash at the time it was received > to the commitment total as a pledge when the pledge was booked. This > results in shifting numbers from one bucket to another…again, causing > leadership to question why. > > > > I understand these are reconciliation issues. However, I also see why > leadership questions the integrity of the numbers if numbers keep shifting. > Please share how you deal with these situations. It would be much > appreciated! > > > > Jennifer P. Smith > > Director, Gifts and Records Management > > Advancement Services | University of Dayton >

Hi Jennifer, Several years back, I worked with a fastidious fundraiser who monitored the daily changes to the fundraising totals for her area. There were always valid reasons why the numbers changed. However, the fundraiser naturally wouldn't know the reasons without us sharing them with her each time. That wasn't an efficient use of our resource given how frequently changes occurred. To address her needs, we built a daily report showing any modifications and reversals processed the day prior, excluding low-level telefund pledges. That report was delivered at the same time as another report showing all new giving activity. The new report alleviated her concerns by sharing modification/reversal details and also served as an effective communications tool for the entire advancement team. Furthermore, we wouldn't make any reversals/write-downs over a certain threshold without first sign-off from leadership, which was another way of communicating these changes. In my experience, the scenarios you describe generally involve illuminating the detailed work of gift processing and then building back leadership’s confidence in your numbers. Hope that helps! Best, Ron Ron Eisenstein Partner The Solas Group thesolasgroup.com<https://www.thesolasgroup.com/> | (773) 315-6014 [temp]<https://www.thesolasgroup.com/>
Original Message----- From: Advancement Services Discussion List <FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG> On Behalf Of Jennifer Smith Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 11:44 AM To: FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG Subject: [FUNDSVCS] Historical commitment totals I would like to know how some of you handle shifting historical commitment numbers in your reporting. Scenario #1 - A donor makes a pledge of $100K in 2016 with the commitment to pay $25K per year over 4 years. That $100K pledge would be counted in 2016 commitment fundraising totals. Then, in 2019, the donor falls on hard times and cannot make the final $25K payment so the $25K installment must be written off. After the write off, the 2016 commitment totals that print on reports for year-to-year comparison is now $25K less, causing leadership to question why the numbers changed. Scenario #2 – While a donor is in process of signing a gift agreement for a pledge of $100K to be paid over 4 years, he sends in the first payment of $25K. The payment is entered as an outright gift because we do not enter pledges until the gift agreement is fully executed. Then the following month, the gift agreement is complete. To keep the full amount of the pledge of $100K intact for pledge reminders, largest commitment analysis, etc., the $25K that was entered as outright cash and counted in the commitments for the prior month…or even prior fiscal year, is applied to the $100K pledge (even though the pledge has a later date than the payment). The date of the payment is not changed. It is now only applied to a pledge. As you know, this change moves the commitment from an outright gift at the time it was received to a pledge payment, shifting the $25K that was reported in commitment totals as cash at the time it was received to the commitment total as a pledge when the pledge was booked. This results in shifting numbers from one bucket to another…again, causing leadership to question why. I understand these are reconciliation issues. However, I also see why leadership questions the integrity of the numbers if numbers keep shifting. Please share how you deal with these situations. It would be much appreciated! Jennifer P. Smith Director, Gifts and Records Management Advancement Services | University of Dayton

I truly appreciate Ron giving me some feedback on my dilemma. Does anyone else have any words of wisdom they would be willing to share? Jennifer Jennifer P. Smith Director, Gifts and Records Management Advancement Services | University of Dayton 300 College Park | Curran Place Dayton, OH 45469-7051 937.229.3263 <https://udayton.edu/advancement/give/day/?utm_campaign=advag16&utm_source=sig&utm_medium=email&utm_content=nd> On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 3:21 PM Jennifer Smith <jsmith4@udayton.edu> wrote: > Thank you, Ron. It has been suggested that we detail the reason for any > substantial fluctuations as a footnote to reports. Some leadership members > are working under the belief that historical numbers never change. And, > having worked in this field for a number of years, that is simply not the > case with fundraising commitments. Maybe accounting but not fundraising, > which is the reason I reconcile our numbers no less than monthly. Again, > thank you for sharing your experience with this issue. > > Jennifer > > Jennifer P. Smith > Director, Gifts and Records Management > Advancement Services | University of Dayton > 300 College Park | Curran Place > Dayton, OH 45469-7051 > > 937.229.3263 > > > <https://udayton.edu/advancement/give/day/?utm_campaign=advag16&utm_source=sig&utm_medium=email&utm_content=nd> > > > On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 1:41 PM Ron Eisenstein <ron@thesolasgroup.com> > wrote: > >> Hi Jennifer, >> >> >> >> Several years back, I worked with a fastidious fundraiser who monitored >> the daily changes to the fundraising totals for her area. There were >> always valid reasons why the numbers changed. However, the fundraiser >> naturally wouldn't know the reasons without us sharing them with her each >> time. That wasn't an efficient use of our resource given how frequently >> changes occurred. To address her needs, we built a daily report showing >> any modifications and reversals processed the day prior, excluding >> low-level telefund pledges. That report was delivered at the same time as >> another report showing all new giving activity. The new report alleviated >> her concerns by sharing modification/reversal details and also served as an >> effective communications tool for the entire advancement team. >> Furthermore, we wouldn't make any reversals/write-downs over a certain >> threshold without first sign-off from leadership, which was another way of >> communicating these changes. >> >> >> >> In my experience, the scenarios you describe generally involve >> illuminating the detailed work of gift processing and then building back >> leadership’s confidence in your numbers. Hope that helps! >> >> >> >> Best, >> >> Ron >> >> >> >> *Ron Eisenstein* >> >> Partner >> >> The Solas Group >> >> >> >> *thesolasgroup.com <https://www.thesolasgroup.com/>* | (773) 315-6014 >> >> >> >> [image: temp] <https://www.thesolasgroup.com/> >> >> >> >> >> >>
Original Message----- >> From: Advancement Services Discussion List < >> FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG> On Behalf Of Jennifer Smith >> Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 11:44 AM >> To: FUNDSVCS@LISTSERV.FUNDSVCS.ORG >> Subject: [FUNDSVCS] Historical commitment totals >> >> >> >> I would like to know how some of you handle shifting historical >> commitment numbers in your reporting. >> >> >> >> Scenario #1 - A donor makes a pledge of $100K in 2016 with the commitment >> to pay $25K per year over 4 years. That $100K pledge would be counted in >> 2016 commitment fundraising totals. Then, in 2019, the donor falls on hard >> times and cannot make the final $25K payment so the $25K installment must >> be written off. After the write off, the 2016 commitment totals that print >> on reports for year-to-year comparison is now $25K less, causing leadership >> to question why the numbers changed. >> >> >> >> Scenario #2 – While a donor is in process of signing a gift agreement for >> a pledge of $100K to be paid over 4 years, he sends in the first payment of >> $25K. The payment is entered as an outright gift because we do not enter >> pledges until the gift agreement is fully executed. Then the following >> month, the gift agreement is complete. To keep the full amount of the >> pledge of $100K intact for pledge reminders, largest commitment analysis, >> etc., the $25K that was entered as outright cash and counted in the >> commitments for the prior month…or even prior fiscal year, is applied to >> the $100K pledge (even though the pledge has a later date than the >> payment). The date of the payment is not changed. It is now only applied to >> a pledge. As you know, this change moves the commitment from an outright >> gift at the time it was received to a pledge payment, shifting the $25K >> that was reported in commitment totals as cash at the time it was received >> to the commitment total as a pledge when the pledge was booked. This >> results in shifting numbers from one bucket to another…again, causing >> leadership to question why. >> >> >> >> I understand these are reconciliation issues. However, I also see why >> leadership questions the integrity of the numbers if numbers keep shifting. >> Please share how you deal with these situations. It would be much >> appreciated! >> >> >> >> Jennifer P. Smith >> >> Director, Gifts and Records Management >> >> Advancement Services | University of Dayton >> >