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  • 1.  How granular do you get when tracking payment method in your CRM?

    Posted 10-14-2022 08:17 AM
    With all the payment options out there, do you track them all when entering donations? We just expanded our ability to accept donations via Paypal, Venmo, and ApplePay and are considering whether we need to specify these payment methods when entering the gift.

    For gifts made by credit card, we've only ever flagged it as Credit Card (not Mastercard vs. Visa, etc.) and while we do have a distinct Paypal payment method, I'm considering how we want to be able to code these other digital wallet payment methods moving forward. It would simplify the gift entry process if we didn't have to dig for this information within our giving platform since it doesn't come across on the gift notification email, however, I also don't want to miss out on potentially useful information down the road. I'd love to hear what others are doing.

    Thanks!
    Leah

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    Leah Richards
    Director of Advancement Services
    St. John Fisher College
    lrichards@sjfc.edu
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  • 2.  RE: How granular do you get when tracking payment method in your CRM?

    Posted 10-14-2022 08:46 AM
    Reconciliation is much easier if you track payment methods. It's a lot easier to figure out a discrepancy if you know whether it was a Venmo or Paypal or credit card transaction. It may also be relevant to track, over time, how your constituents choose to give, so that you can design payment experiences that serve them well.  


    Thank you,
    Isaac Shalev
    Data Strategy Expert
    Sage70, Inc.
    (917) 859-0151
    isaac@sage70.com

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: How granular do you get when tracking payment method in your CRM?

    Posted 10-14-2022 08:57 AM
    That rings true. Thank you, Isaac. I think it's likely we will be more granular in recording these different payment options. What about distinguishing between credit cards? Historically, that hasn't been done but do you see the same value in distinguishing between Mastercard and Visa within the CRM, even if this can be determined separately from the online giving platform if needed?

    Thanks for the quick reply!
    Leah

    ------------------------------
    Leah Richards
    Director of Advancement Services
    St. John Fisher College
    lrichards@sjfc.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: How granular do you get when tracking payment method in your CRM?

    Posted 10-14-2022 09:25 AM
    CC type is typically easy to track, since it's a field that comes over from the payment processor, and it can be imported to your database as part of the normal import process. I guess it's most helpful when troubleshooting. Recently, for example, we've had several reports of recurring payment problems with a few clients, and it turned out the problem was only with Mastercard transactions. When you're doing that initial troubleshooting, it's certainly helpful to be able to look at the database and see this information, instead of having to look up the transactions elsewhere. There are likely other use-cases, but that's what is top of mind for me in tracking that data. 


    Thank you,
    Isaac Shalev
    Data Strategy Expert
    Sage70, Inc.
    (917) 859-0151
    isaac@sage70.com

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:





    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: How granular do you get when tracking payment method in your CRM?

    Posted 10-15-2022 06:44 PM
    Hi Leah,

    We track gifts made by credit card, check/cash, stock, PayPal, and Venmo in our "payment type" field. We track gifts made via DAFs in our "payment subtype" field. The main reason we are tracking these in such a granular fashion is because that's what our Business Office wants to see. It makes life much easier for all of us during the reconciling process.

    Vidya

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    Vidya Kagan
    Director of Data Management and Research
    Menlo School
    vkagan@menloschool.org
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: How granular do you get when tracking payment method in your CRM?

    Posted 10-17-2022 07:52 AM

    Each of these flavors have different fee dynamics and we keep track.

     

     

    Aaron Forrest CPA

    Senior Director Gift and Donor Services

    University of Rochester Office of Advancement

    585.275.2799 | aaron.forrest@rochester.edu

     




    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: How granular do you get when tracking payment method in your CRM?

    Posted 10-17-2022 11:27 AM
    I can't imagine not tracking the difference in these payment methods. 

    Pay Method as hard-coded (means the system came out of the box to track) options are: 

    • Cash
    • Personal Check
    • Business Check
    • Direct Debit 
    • Credit Card (with the ability to track the card type, exp. etc because we actually use our CRM to process/charge the cards) 
    • Other (includes stocks, wires, and ACH) 
    • Venmo 
    • PayPal


    Further, we track: (our org configured these) 

    • DAF
    • IRA
    • Indirect contributions (such as benevity) 
    • payroll deductions 
    • annuity payments 
    • perpetual trust payments 
    • pooled income fund payments


    ------------------------------
    Cameron Alzubi
    Director, Gift Administration
    Illinois Institute of Technology
    calzubi@iit.edu
    giftadmin@iit.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


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