In June, 2005, more than 300 TntMPD
users submitted questions about TntMPD. These questions were summarized and
answered below. The parenthesis indicate the number of
questions in that section.
Training / I
want to learn more! (3)
Help with mail
/ email merge (1)
Macintosh / Palm /
PocketPC (1)
Managing Gifts /
Acct Transfers (7)
Technical /
Backup / TntSync (9)
Note: Several people asked about help with Synchronizing with Outlook.
This is a complex task that requires practice and trial & error. It is not
covered in this FAQ document.
I want to use TntMPD more. I’m new
to TntMPD. There’s a lot I don’t understand.
How can I learn more? What kind of training is offered?
There is no official training
program for TntMPD. For Campus Crusade for Christ staff, we will be offering
two optional seminars during the National Staff Conference in July, one for
beginning users and one for more seasoned users. Unfortunately, both of these
sessions will only be an hour long, so you can learn some things but not get in
depth training.
We
are developing several one page “Handy Reference Guides” on some key features
and topics to help users make the most of those specific issues without
consulting the full user guide. These will be handed out at the CCC staff
conference seminars as well as at the CTO booth at the Ministry Fair. They will
also be available for download (in July) from the TntMPD website www.tntware.com/tntmpd.
The
most comprehensive resource is Exploding
TntMPD, which covers all but the most technical features of TntMPD.
I downloaded Exploding TntMPD from the web, but it’s too big to print. How can I
get a printed version?
The latest version of Exploding TntMPD is always available on
the TntMPD website. If you want a printed version but don’t want to use your
own printer, you can email the file to a local print shop such as FedEx Kinko's
and they can print and bind it for you.
Is there a phone number I can call
for tech support or with questions about TntMPD?
No. There is currently no one
available to offer phone support at this time. If you sense God leading you to
help develop a customer support team for TntMPD, many people will thank you.
Mail Merge is covered in detail in Exploding
TntMPD, Chapter 6.
Many users expressed a desire to know more about this. In brief, TntMPD allows
you to use the Tools | Mail Merge
feature to take your TntMPD contact information and use that as the source data
for Word documents/labels/envelopes, etc. It is possible, for example, to have
a Thank You note or a single envelope Word template and do one at a time. Or it
is possible to create your prayer letter in Word every month and use Mail Merge
to create your entire prayer letter list. This process is covered in detail in Exploding
TntMPD, Chapter 6.
To
merge with Publisher, you have to export to a file as TntMPD does not link with
Publisher.
Macintosh &
Palm/PocketPC TntMPD
The overriding desire of Mac users
is a Mac version of TntMPD. Unfortunately, creating a Mac version would require
a programmer devoted solely to that effort. A growing community of Mac
developers is currently considering how a solution could be developed for the
Mac to help missionaries with MPD. A handful of people also asked whether there
was any possibility of having a Palm or PocketPC version of TntMPD. Again,
there are currently no programmers available to support those products. In the
meantime, only a PC version of TntMPD is available.
Lookups are what you use to sort
your contacts into smaller lists. The default group is Everyone, which is your entire list of contacts. Lookups are basically a
database query TntMPD runs for you on your database. This is covered in Chapter
3 of Exploding TntMPD. We are also
producing a one page Handy Reference
Guide specifically on Lookups.
What are the basics of doing
lookups?
TntMPD allows you to do a lookup
either on your whole contact list or starting with the group you have
displayed. You often have to do multiple lookups to get the final group you
want.
Replace the current group: Looks
at all your contacts and creates a new group based on the results. For example,
you could look up all contact who live in
Lookup within the current group: Only finds contacts within the current group who meet the desired
criteria (explained below). Example: With your contacts from
Add to the current group:
Only looks at contacts not in the
current group who meet the desired criteria, then adds
those contacts to the existing group of contacts. Example: You decide to add
Take away from the current group: Looks at the existing contacts, then removes those who meet the desired
criteria. Example: You remove all contacts who are not financial partners. You
now have all financial partners from
There are three basic types of
lookups: By Field, By List, and Custom. Most of the lookups that appear on the
Lookup menu are actually just pre-written “By Field” lookups.
1.
By Field: You ask TntMPD to look at the set of contacts
(current group / not in current group as explained above) and ask a question
about them. For example, you could look up all partners by State.
2.
By List: When you select this lookup, a dialog box will show
you a list of all contacts in the current group. You can then check each one
you want. This is a handy way to take a group and create a special lookup of
just selected people. A long example:
I recently sent a CSU ask to all my partners but excluded some of my top 20 ministry
partners because I was going to personally challenge them to give towards a
vehicle purchase we needed. So I took my Prayer Letter favorite lookup to get
the first group; then I did a lookup By List, clicked “Check All” and then
manually unchecked the 13 people I did not want to receive the CSU ask. Had I
only wanted to exclude my top 13, I could have taken the current group, then
did a new lookup to take away all partners whose gifts were $x or above. But
since I was individually choosing 13 of the top 20, this was the only way.
3.
Custom: You can write complex queries with multiple
criteria. An example is shown right in the box. This takes some trial and
error. Incidentally, to learn more about lookup query syntax (that is, the
language TntMPD uses to do custom lookups), edit a lookup favorite and see how
TntMPD wrote the lookup.
When I do certain lookups, the
results appear in a random order instead of in alphabetical order. How do I
change that?
If you save the lookup as a
favorite, you can then modify the favorite to sort in alphabetical order.
1.
Save
lookup as a favorite (Lookup | Favorites | Add Current Lookup to Favorites)
2.
Select
Lookup | Favorites | Edit Lookup Favorites
3.
Select
the lookup you want and click Edit
4.
On
the dialog box in the Order field, type “FileAs”.
This will make the contacts’ FileAs field the one
that is sorted.
5.
Click
OK
How do I keep my list of partners
separate from people I am working on challenging to join my team?
The pre-defined lookup Call for Appts
will return all contacts who have not made a decision
(whose MPD Phase is less than PARTNER-Financial).
The current group doesn’t show all
that I need. Does “Group | Delete Group” eliminate that group so I can create a
new one?
No! Group | Delete Group actually DELETES the contacts from your TntMPD
database! That is why TntMPD requires you to type DELETE so you do not delete
them accidentally. To view a different group, just do a lookup that “Replaces
the Current Group”. You may also find it easier, logically, to start with your Everyone group and then do lookups from there.
I’ve done five lookups in a row to
get some specific information, and on the last one I accidentally forgot to do
“Lookup within the Current Group” and now my new group includes a bunch of
people I don’t want. Can I go back or do I have to start my lookups over again?
Does TntMPD have a “back” feature to go backwards?
This happens to a lot of
people—even expert users. Your only option is to start over.
Does TntMPD have a way to show a
default lookup when I open? I usually want to see my support team.
The default lookup is “Everyone”. New
users find that confusing because they are not used to seeing names of people
who have not been on their list for years. You can get into the habit of
opening, then immediately selecting the favorite you want.
(Tip: If
you are looking for a specific contact in your contact list, you can click in
the list of names and just start typing. TntMPD will automatically go to that
letter of the alphabet.)
Can I lookup contacts who gave
during a certain time period in the past?
Yes. For complex queries like this,
you would have to use a “Custom” lookup. The following custom lookup would
return all who gave in March 2005:
(ContactID IN (SELECT ContactID
FROM Gift WHERE GiftDate >= #3/1/2005# AND GiftDate < #4/1/2005#))
Chapter 4 of Exploding TntMPD covers tasks and history at length. There is also a
one-page Handy Reference Guide (available 7/1/05) on tasks and history.
What is Gift Automation (or auto
tasks)?
As noted above on the Late Donor Report question, prior to
TntMPD missionaries had to comb through their printed statements not only to
see donors who were late, but also those who had given a gift that was not
equal to their normal pledge. These gifts could either be doubled (to make up
for a missed month), or a regular gift with some extra, or could indicate a donor-initiated
pledge change.
TntMPD
has a special feature called Gift
Automation that automatically creates a Thank You task whenever a donor
gives a gift that TntMPD thinks may indicate something above and beyond normal.
Here are some basics about Gift Automation:
1.
Gift
Automation features are found in the Tools
| Options dialog box. You can turn Gift Automation on/off (“enable”) if you
do not use TntMPD to manage tasks.
2.
On
the Gift Automation tab you can choose which gifts create auto-tasks, such as
:
a.
FIRST gift—when a donor gives their first pledged gift;
TntMPD will also check the “pledge received” check box if you choose.
b.
RECONTINUING gift—when a donor misses a certain amount of time
(usually 2 months, but you decide) and then gives.
c.
LARGE TIME FRAME—alerts you when a periodic partner (e.g.,
semi-annual, annual, bi-annual) gives their gift, no matter what the amount.
Some missionaries send a thank you every time these partners give, especially
if the amount is substantial.
d.
EXTRA—This appears as “MORE” on the Gift Automation tab and
would be created when a partner is current on their pledge yet gives a gift
greater than their pledge. This suggests to TntMPD that they have given an
extra gift. Note: A gift LESS than their
pledge would not create a task.
e.
SPECIAL gift—Only for those who are
NOT pledged partners, and this task is created any time these people give a
gift, no matter what the amount.
My task list is huge! Why has
TntMPD created a task for every single gift I have received, even from people
who give every month?
It is critical that each regular
donor have an MPD Phase of “PARTNER-Financial” and have a pledge amount and frequency. (Incidentally, TntMPD has a
special program that won’t let you assign PARTNER-Financial without also
assigning a pledge amount or vice versa). Without that pledge amount, TntMPD
views each partner’s regular gift as a SPECIAL gift deserving a thank you.
How do I record that I sent a
contact a gift, such as a Christmas CD? How do I record when a contact sent a
tangible gift, such as clothes for a new baby?
Log a history event (a completed
task) using LETTER and DONE or RECEIVED. Then in the description write “GIFT:”
to indicate what you sent or received.
I’m way behind on my tasks and know
I will never complete them all. How do I delete a whole block of incomplete
tasks?
Using normal Windows navigation,
you can select a block of tasks by clicking on the first one (not the checkbox
but the written part), then press & hold SHIFT, and click on the last. Or,
you can select multiple, unconnected tasks by selecting one, press & hold
CTRL, and click on each additional one. The put your cursor
in any of the highlighted area, right click and select DELETE. TntMPD
will give you a chance to log them as complete or not.
How can I see a list of tasks I
completed recently for all my contacts? For example, Who
did I write Thank Yous to this week?
The number of such combinations
would be infinite, so it is impossible to create tables and views for
everything. But you can use Lookups to narrow down the contacts in your list.
Behind the scenes, TntMPD records the “last” date of various activities, such
as Last Gift, Last Thank, Last Activity (of any kind), Last Appointment, Last
Letter and more. To find the recent thank yous, use
the Lookup | By
Field to lookup those contacts whose “Last Thank” was more recent than your
desired date. If you wanted a distinct time frame in the past (like last year),
you could lookup all contacts whose Last Thank was greater than 1/1/2004, then
do a second lookup and click “Lookup within the current group”, and lookup Last
Thank less than 12/31/2004.
What are Appeals?
The Appeal Tracking feature is one of the best “extra” features of
TntMPD. It allows you to record every special ask you send and combine the
results of that special ask; gifts given in response to a special appeal do not
figure in to pledge calculations, so a regular giver who gives a large special
gift will not suddenly have an extraordinary monthly average. Appeals are
covered in Chapter 5 of Exploding TntMPD.
What are the basics of an appeal?
1.
You
create the appeal using the Tools |
Appeal Tracking menu item, or you can setup appeals at various places
wherever the “Setup Appeals” button appears.
2.
When
you send an appeal to all of your financial partners, you select the specific
appeal from the drop-down box on the description. (Tip: You can log a history
event for your entire support team all at once by selecting Group | Log History.)
3.
When
a gift is given in response to the special ask, you right-click on the gift (on
the MPD tab) and select Edit Gift.
4.
On
the Gift Details box, you can assign some or all of the
gift to the specific appeal. In this particular example (below), half of this
$200 gift was given in response to the appeal.
5.
This
does two things. First, the gifts assigned to appeals do not affect your monthly support/pledge calculations on the
analysis tools. Secondly, you can view the totals in response to your appeals
(how many letters you sent, how many gifts you received, and the total dollar
amount):
How do I manually enter a gift, and
when would I want to do that?
This applies primarily to
missionaries who can connect their TntMPD database to their organization’s
or who receive a .tnt or .tntmpd
file from their organization. If you manually enter all of your gifts, the
answers in this section may not be as relevant.
There
are two primary instances when you would manually want to record a gift you
have received:
1.
The
gift is a personal gift and the donor will not receive a receipt from your
organization and they cannot deduct it from their income taxes (in the
2.
The
check was made out to your organization but mailed to you (this is often the
case with an appeal). By recording it in TntMPD before forwarding it to your
organization, you can have the automatic task created (see FAQs about Gift Automation in the Tasks section
below) and ensure that the gift is credited appropriately to your
account (see next question).
How come when I manually enter a
personal gift, TntMPD tries to delete it a month later?
If you can connect to your
organization’s donation database, then TntMPD attempts to keep your TntMPD
database in sync with your organization’s donation data. As a result, when you
record a gift that you then send in to your organization, TntMPD will attempt
to match it. It assumes that if the gift is not posted within 30 days, then the
gift was in error and wants to delete the gift to maintain the accuracy of your
database. It’s important when you see this Delete message (when you sync) that
you ask, “Why?” When you remove the check box indicating that you want the gift
deleted, TntMPD will ask you “Why?” It may be because your gift was not
correctly credited. Or, it may be because the gift was personal but you checked
þ Available on Web when it wasn’t. For more information,
check
out this FAQ article [Click here].
It
is possible for a gift to not be personal but still not be available on the web
(next question).
When would I manually create a gift
that is not a personal gift and not available on the web?
This can vary from organization to
organization, but here are some examples of gifts that may not sync with your
TntMPD database (remember in each of these cases to uncheck the “Available on
Web” checkbox):
1.
The
gift is an internal transfer from another missionary in your organization, and
your organization does not process those gifts through it’s
donation system. (Several people asked if such transfers can be recorded
automatically, and the answer is “No.”). If you receive this transfer
automatically each month, you can create a recurring task to remind you to
enter the gift.
2.
The
gift is a stock gift that is not processed through the donation system
directly. Because of the multi-step process of selling securities, some
organizations will receipt the donor for the stock gift, then sell the security
and credit the missionary’s fund account using an accounting transaction rather
post it through the donation records directly.
3.
The
donation is credited to another contact, such as a church (see next question).
I have several donors who give
through a church. The church sends the check and sends me a summary of donors.
How can I credit the individual contacts in my database?
You can manually Add a “negative” gift that in effect backs out or reduces the church’s
gift. Then Add a gift for each person who gave, and
be sure to uncheck the “Available on Web” check-box. Note that the amount you
reduce from the church does not need to be 100% of the gift amount; it only
needs to equal the amount you are crediting to other contacts.
I can connect with organization’s
database. How can I see my account balance without synchronizing the accounts?
When you press the Gift Input button, TntMPD will
automatically attempt to connect to your organization’s database. You should
see your account balance at the bottom of the first screen. You can then click
“Cancel” and not synchronize.
Is there a report I can run that
will tell me how many personal gifts I have received this year? This will help
me make sure I do not exceed my organization’s limits.
You can run the Tools | Contribution Report to see all
gifts given over the past 13 months. You can then change the number of months
and uncheck the non-personal gifts. Press “Update” and run the report again to
see only personal gifts for the time period you’ve chosen.
I was notified by my organization
that I had received a gift two months ago that was accidentally credited to
another missionary, then corrected and credited to my account. How come it does
not show up?
When you synchronize with your
organization, TntMPD automatically goes back about three weeks prior to the
last time you synchronized—whether that was yesterday or two months ago.
However, when your organization adjusts a gift, they may have the adjustment
date as the original one. To catch any adjustments, you may want to
periodically set the start date on the synchronization for several weeks—or
months—prior to the start date TntMPD selected. Don’t worry about duplicating gifts;
you could set the calendar back a whole year and TntMPD would still recognize
only gifts that it did not already have.
When would I delete someone from my
contact list?
Maybe never! If a contact has given
in the past but does not now (and may even be deceased), deleting that contact
will also remove their gifts from your database. Also, if you have a contact who did not join your team, you may receive their name again
as a referral many years later. Keeping them in your database will make it
possible for you to see your past interaction.
So what do I do with someone who is
“ancient history” on my team?
Change their MPD Phase to “Not
Interested” or “Never Ask”.
I have 100 people who give and another
100 who get my letter but don’t give. It seems weird to have 700 contacts in my
list.
It can seem strange, especially if
you have been used to managing only the 200 for a long time. But keep in mind
that the one of the many benefits of TntMPD is how it helps you keep a record
of all your activity for MPD, not just what is currently happening. You
can use a favorite lookup to create a lookup of your current partner list and
in that way easily ignore people who are not currently partners.
Two of my donors just married each
other. How do I combine their contacts in my database? OR, I have a donor who
gives sometimes personally and other times from his company; how do I keep
these gifts combined?
You can only merge contacts if you
can connect your TntMPD database to your organization’s database. Select the
contact you want to eliminate. Then go to Contact
| View Org Info (it may actually show your organization’s initials instead
of “Org”). Right-click
on their account number and select “Link Account to Different Contact”.
TntMPD will then show a list of all contacts. Choose the other person and click
“OK”. TntMPD will then move all gifts from that account to the new contact. The
old contact will then have no information and you can delete that contact.
Unfortunately, I have a ministry
partner (couple) who recently divorced. One (or both) of them are still giving.
How do I manage that?
You will need to modify the contact
information for the donor who keeps the existing account, and create a new
contact for the other one. And pray for them a lot.
One of my ministry partners moved
but didn’t tell me. They give electronically, and I didn’t realize they had
moved until my newsletter was returned with an expired forwarding order! How
could I have known about this?
It is not uncommon for a donor to
move and not notify the missionaries they support, particularly if they give
electronically. However, these donors are more likely to notify the
organization because they view that relationship on a more official level, such
as a bank account or magazine subscription.
If
you download donation data from your organization, TntMPD alerts you any time
your TntMPD address and/or phone number is out of sync with the information on
your organization’s database. It does this by highlighting the address and/or
phone in bold RED.
In
some cases, you want them not to match. For example, if the donor gives through
their company but you send the newsletter to their house, there would obviously
be a mismatch. Therefore, you can click on the bold red address/phone which
will open the Contact | View Org Info dialog
box. You can then choose which address/phone you want to keep. The
address/phone will then return to normal until a future change creates a new
mismatch.
Conversely, a partner notified me
that they moved. Can TntMPD transmit the change to my organization to update
the organization’s information?
No. You’ll have to contact your
organization’s donation department yourself.
I don’t really understand all of
the MPD Phases. Do they really matter?
Yes, they do matter, especially the
PARTNER-Financial phase. A contact’s MPD Phase impacts how their gifts are handled/reported.
Sometimes I have to change the MPD
Phase and other times TntMPD asks me if I want to change it (after I have
completed some kind of task). Why doesn’t TntMPD just create a new task for me,
like auto-create a follow-up task after I have sent a Support Letter?
It would be impossible for TntMPD
to guess what your next task might be, because a contact’s response to a letter
or phone call could vary greatly.
What is the Next Ask box for?
The “Call for Appts”
lookup uses this date. Let’s say you’re calling someone and they request for
you to call back next week. You set the “Next Ask Date” to next week, and the
“Call for Appts” lookup omits them until then. Let’s
say you meet with the person and they are interested in your ministry, but are
not financially able to give at this time. They mention that it’s ok to call
them back in a year. You either schedule a task, or set the “Next Ask Date”. If
you set the “Next Ask Date” you can lookup all the contacts who are ready to be
asked again next time you’re in their city and meet them personally.
What is the “Likely to Give” box
for?
Some users would assign this code
to people who are likely to respond to special asks rather than sending an
appeal to everyone. It is also used to initially segment your list when you’re
getting started raising support. The “Call for Appts”
lookup will sort in part based on this field.
Why is there only one “cell”
number? Both the husband and the wife have separate cell phones.
The available phone number fields
are based on standard Outlook fields. This allows for more seamless
synchronizing with Outlook. Outlook contacts, unfortunately, are not really built
for married couples but rather singles. Your best option is to use Mobile phone
for one and Car phone for the other. You
can also add a small note (after a “~”) to help indicate which number is for
whom.
How can I keep more information
about my partner’s children? The box seems so limited.
It is limited. But here are some
ideas:
1.
Record
name and birthdate in the Children field: “
2.
Record
biographical information about them in your Notes tab.
3.
Use
completed tasks (History) to record discussions about the children, and write
“CHILDREN NOTE” in the description field.
Why isn’t there a “Send Email
Newsletter” check box? Several of my donors want to get my newsletter
electronically and I have had to use one of the “User” fields to do that.
That’s a good solution—that’s why
the User fields exist: to allow you to create custom information. You can then
create a Lookup favorite to find that group separately from your “Send
Newsletter” list that you might use for your mail merge.
How often should I backup my TntMPD
file?
OFTEN. If you use TntMPD daily or weekly, you should backup
every week. If you use it less frequently, backup at least monthly.
Why should I backup my file?
Remember that the value of using
TntMPD is to record the relationship activity with your ministry partners. Your
TntMPD file contains valuable personal information, historical giving data, and
all the completed tasks for each of your contacts. While you may be able to
replace the giving history with records from your organization, it would be
impossible to replace task information.
What’s the best way to backup my
file?
Your TntMPD database is a
self-contained, single file. So all you need to do is use your Windows Explorer
to create a copy. You may want to have a special backup directory in one of
your folders. Note that while it is a good idea to have a backup copy right on
your computer, it is also very important to have a backup on a CD or portable
USB drive in case your hard drive crashes. Unfortunately,
too many missionaries have lost months—or years—of ministry activity because
they did not backup their database. We cannot stress how important it is to
backup your file regularly.
How do I transfer my file from one
computer to another?
Simple. Just take your backup copy and copy the file to the
other computer. You need to have TntMPD downloaded onto that computer also. If
you are using two computers regularly (such as at an office and at home), you
can keep the two files synchronized using TntSync.
What is TntSync and why would I
want to use it?
(TntSync is covered in detail on a FAQ on the TntMPD website. This
answer is simply a quick overview.)
Any time you use your TntMPD file
in two separate places at the same time, you need to use TntSync to keep the
files matched. There are two primary examples of when you would have two
databases working simultaneously:
1.
You
and your spouse both do MPD work, on separate computers. You use TntMPD sync to
keep each other’s databases synchronized. (Tip: If you and your spouse both do
tasks, create a special description code that indicates who completed the task.
See the Tasks & History Handy
Reference Guide, available July 1, 2005, for some ideas on how to do this.)
2.
You
work on TntMPD in two separate locations, such as at an office during the day
and at home on nights and weekends. You have two options in this case. You
could manage the files separately and then use TntSync to match them up. Or,
you could work on one, take the file with you and copy it to your other
computer, work on it, take the file with you, etc. Although this method is more
cumbersome, it also has the added benefit of giving you a current backup, off
your computer, on a regular basis.
Can my TntMPD file be password
protected?
No.
Can I check TntMPD remotely without
having my computer, such as when I am traveling?
No. The TntMPD database is a
dynamic file that only runs from the computer you connected it to.
How come TntMPD doesn’t have any
Print commands? How do I print task lists or maybe even an entire list of
ministry partners to take with me on a trip?
Frankly, there just hasn’t been
enough time to add built-in printing into TntMPD. Also, it’s so easy to export
your data to Word or Excel and print from there. All of the information in
TntMPD can be exported as a text file. In fact, many items such as the Contribution Report and Task List can
be sent directly to Excel.
You
can send any list to a file and open it in Excel. For example, to print a list
of just your ministry partners (and not the other 300 people in your database),
use your lookup to get that list, then select File | Export Current Group.
How can I use TntMPD with Access
and why would I want to do that?
TntMPD is built on Access tools.
You can view your entire database, such as all tasks ever completed, by
selecting Tools | Access | Link Access
Database (or just by clicking the Access button on the button bar). Linking
your TntMPD database with Access can allow you to use Access’s powerful query
tools. You probably need to have some Access experience to benefit from this
feature, and you want to be especially cautious about modifying any data in
Access.
How can I view all of the giving
for the last 12 months?
Use the Tools | Contribution Report to see a table of all giving. Once the report is run, you can change the number of months, and
also change whether it shows personal or not and web gifts or not.
What is the Late Donor Report? Why does the Late
Donor Report show contacts who are not late? Why
doesn’t the report show me someone is late until they are really two months or
more late?
The Late Donor Report is another of the nifty bonus features of TntMPD;
before TntMPD, missionaries had to meticulously review printed reports to
identify partners who were behind on their pledge. When a regular giver misses
a month—or several months—a wise missionary will take the time to contact that
donor and seek to find out why. The donor may have simply become extra busy and
forgotten. Or they may not have received a receipt and return envelope from
their last gift. Or they may have a personal/family issue which has distracted
them from their normal routine, in which case you may have an opportunity to
minister to them through prayer and encouragement.
The
Late Donor Report has four separate
lists of contacts. All of your financial partners will appear in at
least one box on the report.
1.
Outstanding Pledges. This is a contact whose “pledge received” check box
is not checked. Typically this only happens with a contact who has not given
their first gift, but it could also occur when a partner indicates they will
increase their pledge. You uncheck the “pledge received” check box so that the
first increased gift will generate an auto-task to write a thank you.
2.
Not more than 30 days late. Anyone who is current on their pledge, and when
their next due date is. For a monthly donor, that date is 30 days from their
last gift, and their name will stay in this box for another 30 days (because a
donor’s gift will often be 35 or 45 days between gifts, yet still be given in
the correct months).
3.
30-60 days late. These are the donors you need to contact right away.
4.
More than 60 days late. You should have contacted these partners prior to
the time their names moved into this box. If a donor persists in this box, at
some point you will have to determine whether they are actually a financial
partner or should be moved to a different MPD Phase.
Because
donors who do not give through direct deposit do not always give on the same
day each month, TntMPD has special calculation features to help determine when
a financial partner is delayed. These calculations are pretty complex and can’t
be explained here, but basically, if a donor is a regular giver, TntMPD
calculates their next due date based upon the receipt of a gift. If they are a
monthly giver, for example and give on the May 20th, then TntMPD calculates the
next gift due on June 20th. Because they may give on June 21st—or 30th—TntMPD
does not automatically indicate they are “late” when that 30 days has passed.
They actually have another 30 days before they show up as truly late. Some
donors give very sporadically—one month’s gift may show up on the 2nd and the
following month on the 30th. Though almost 60 days passed between the gifts,
both were in the correct months.
Why does TntMPD show a donor as
“Current” even if they missed two months and then gave?
The giving patterns of some
partners can be so complex that TntMPD really cannot anticipate and respond to
every possible giving pattern. For example, if you have a partner who pledged
to give every month but really only gives 5 or 9 times per year, you are in a
dilemma: Either they show up as behind on their pledge several times per year,
or you change their MPD Phase to PARTNER-Special and get an auto-task every
time they give.
Although
TntMPD will restore a partner to “Current” as soon as a gift of their pledge
amount is received, no matter how many months have passed since their last
gift, you can get a good idea of a
donor’s ‘true pledge’ by looking at their average monthly on the Contact View.
For donors who simply do not give every month (or quarter or whenever) but
still give regularly, this amount is a better reflection of their financial
partnership with you.
Note that while a partner may appear as current even if they missed a
couple of months, TntMPD offers Gift Automation to alert you when a
pledged donor resumes giving after stopping. This is covered in the Tasks FAQs.
Also, note that on the Analysis screen, you can break down the total average
monthly giving by those who have a pledge and those who don’t. If the average
monthly giving of those who pledge is much less than total pledges, you have a
problem. To lookup all donor’s giving less than 80% of
their pledge, you may do a custom lookup like this:
AveMonthlyGift < (MonthlyPledge
* .8)
Why don’t the graphs on the
Analysis View look like the ones I see on my organization’s reports?
TntMPD is being used by
missionaries in more than 40 organizations. The reports and graphs are designed
to give a quick summary of assorted giving and contact information. It would be
impossible to create organization-specific reports or graphs.
We use TntMPD to track donations
given to our operations account in addition to our personal ministry account.
How come the charts and report do not offer greater flexibility for that
purpose?
Presently, the primary audience for
TntMPD is missionaries and their personal ministry accounts. Although some do
use it to manage the relationships and giving into operational accounts—because
it is so easy to do so—there is not currently a sufficient need among users to
create more complex reporting. However this is a planned area of growth for
TntMPD in the coming years ahead.