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Dealing with Gifts using TntConnect

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Dealing with Gifts using TntConnect

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Suggestions for dealing with different types of gifts (financial and non-financial).

Gift Type

Description

Ideas on recording them in TntConnect

Gifts from pledged donors (PARTNER-Financial)

Regular Gift

In fulfillment of a pledge

Do nothing! TntConnect handles this one perfectly.

Extra Gift

Less than the partner's normal pledge amount

TntConnect will not recognize this as an EXTRA gift but will instead create a task to "research the gift which is LESS than the regular amount".
If the donor sent/gave you the gift directly, record it in TntConnect using Add Gifts before forwarding it to your organization.

Extra Gift

MORE than the partner's normal pledge amount

If donor is current on their pledge, TntConnect will recognize this as an EXTRA gift and automatically create a Thank You task.
If donor is behind on their pledge, TntConnect will assume the donor is making up for missed gifts.
If the donor sent/gave you the gift directly, record it in TntConnect using Add Gifts before forwarding it to your organization.

Recontinuing Gift

Regular partner gives again after missing 2 months or more since their last gift was due

TntConnect will typically recognize this as a Recontinuing gift and automatically generate a Thank You task.
You can change the length of time for the automatic action in Tools | Options

Sporadic Gifts

Pledged donor who frequently misses their frequency. For example, they are a monthly partner but only give seven times per year.

This is a difficult situation. You have three options, but none work perfectly:

1.Keep them as a PARTNER-Financial and accept that their average monthly gift will be below what their pledge monthly should be; also, you may get a RECONTINUING thank often. (Better for infrequent missed gifts.)
2.Mark them as a PARTNER-Special since they are not consistent enough to be counted as a Pledged giver. Then you will receive a SPECIAL thank every time they give. (Better for frequently missed gifts.)
3.Mark them as a PARTNER-Financial, but make their monthly pledge equal to their approximate average monthly gift rather than their stated pledge amount. (Helps keep average correct, but results in many auto-tasks.)

Split Gifts

Gift is part pledge, part special.

You can only split a gift IF the gift was given in response to an Appeal.
Split the gift on the Edit Gift screen, telling TntConnect which portion is pledge and which is special, as well as which appeal it is associated with.

Gifts from anyone who is not a PARTNER-Financial

Special Gift

Of any amount

Do nothing! TntConnect handles this one perfectly.

Other gifts (Could be from any contact, including pledged partners)

Personal Gift

Typically cash or check made out to missionary.

If your ministry has limits on personal gifts, make sure this gift falls within those guidelines.
You can add the gift using Add Gift (in the Gifts list on the TNT Tab). Be sure to check the "Personal Gift" box.

Non-Web Gift

 

Internal Gift from another missionary

A gift that is part of your support, but for some reason is not processed by the donation system that TntConnect connects to.

Some gifts may be processed by your organization but not appear in their gift download (for example, non-cash gifts that are receipted but not processed in their donation system).
Account transfers from other missionaries within your organization may be processed in your ministry's accounting system, not its donation system. Therefore, they will not download like other gifts.
In both cases, manually enter the gift using Add Gift. Uncheck the "Available on Web" box.
If the account transfer is a recurring gift, you may want to set up a recurring task to remind you to enter it.

Tangible Gift

 

Such as a birthday or wedding present, a vehicle, or anything else that is not money.

The best way is to use the "Present" task type. This allows you to use the powerful history search/filter features to find presents in the future.
You could enter this using Add Gift (on the TNT Tab), and keep the amount as $0. Then write a description of the Gift on the Memo line. This keeps the gift in your Gifts list on the TNT Tab.
If the gift is significant (for example, a vehicle), then you may want to add a line in the top of your Notes tab indicating this, so you will remember it when you select this contact.

Gifts given FROM you to a ministry partner

Any gift

 

Any time you send a gift to a ministry partner, whether it is a token gift related to a recent ministry project, a baby or wedding gift, etc., you should record it using the Present task type in your History tab.

Other Gift Issues

Deleted Gift (deleted by TntConnect)

During the Gift Input process, TntConnect alerts you it is going to delete a gift already in your database.

This could be caused by several different things. You will have to figure out which one at that moment:

You manually entered a gift that was not available on the Web, but forgot to uncheck "Available on Web". TntConnect automatically deletes any "Available on Web" gift that does not post within 45 days.
You manually entered a gift and forwarded it to your organization, but it was never processed and/or credited to your account. OR, you entered it for the wrong amount and TntConnect did not recognize the web gift as the same one. Follow up with your organization.
Your organization adjusted/corrected/deleted a gift you already downloaded. TntConnect is simply synchronizing your database to make sure it matches.

Deleted Gift (deleted by you)

You deleted a gift, but it keeps reappearing when you do a Gift Input.

You cannot delete a gift that appears in your organization's donation system. Only your organization can modify gifts in their system.
Sometimes this occurs when you have a donor who gives via a church or foundation, and then manually delete the gift. Again, this means TntConnect's gift record will not sync correctly with your organization. A better way to resolve this is to enter a negative gift for the church/foundation (not Available on Web), then manually enter the gifts for the actual donor (not Available on Web).

Gift Maintenance

Annual Sync adjustment

 

Because TntConnect by default only goes back about 3 weeks from your last Gift Input, this means that TntConnect will not catch adjustments your organization makes to gifts older than that time frame.
Once a year or so, it may be helpful to make your start date a year back and re-sync all the gifts you received in the last year. You might be surprised at the adjustments you see!