Hello Colleagues!
I hope to hear how other organizations are batching and recording gifts -- My team's current workflow for handling checks/backup that come in the mail is, in my opinion, slow and wonky. I
know there's got to be a better way. If you are recording gifts using digital images, whether they come from a lockbox/caging vendor
or you image your checks and backup,
or you image just your checks, please tell me how you're doing it efficiently!
A little about the state of things here at Oregon State University:
- We do not use a lockbox -- YET -- We're trying to determine if one will be cost-effective, since the majority of our gifts are either virtual or big checks.
- Our current workflow for checks is:
- Day One: photocopy (!) all checks --> deposit using desktop deposit (checks are grouped for deposit in 'batches' of 25) -- deposits logged in a spreadsheet for reconciliation.
- Day Two: (AFTERNOON of the next day) --> gifts are hand-coded--writing designation, donor ID, proposal #, gift type, comments, etc.
- Day Three (morning of the next day) --> Gifts entered in CRM --> system batch numbers entered in reconciliation spreadsheet.
As you can see, the turn-time for checks (the majority of physical transactions we process) is
abysmal. If anyone has a workflow, please contact me using the information in my signature! Or, feel free to respond directly to this post.
Save me.
Jennifer
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Jennifer Liu-Cooper
Director of Gift Administration
Oregon State University Foundation
jennifer.liucooper@osufoundation.org------------------------------