Payment Methods

For a majority of nonprofit organizations, contributions are the main source of income. Organizations receive contributions as payments or pledges. Payments may be simple contributions or they can be applied to a number of different fundraising vehicles, such as pledges, recurring gift installments, membership fees, event registration fees, and so on. When you receive a payment, its efficient and accurate processing is vital to your business.

You can classify payments as Cash, Check, Credit card, Direct debit, Stock, Property, Gift-in-kind, or Other. Because a payment affects many parts of the program, including reports, acknowledgements, and constituent’s payment histories, you must understand the available payment methods so you classify each payment accurately and consistently.

• Cash – When a constituent makes a payment in the form of currency, select Cash. When you select Cash, the Reference date and Reference no. fields appear. In these fields, enter any special codes and dates your organization uses to track currency gifts, such as the deposit ticket number and deposit date for the currency payment.

• Check – When a constituent makes a payment in the form of a personal or business check, select Check. When you select Check, you can record the check number and date.

• Credit card – When a constituent makes a payment with a credit card, select Credit card. When you select Credit card, you can record the card type, card number, cardholder name, expiration date, and authorization code.

• Direct debit – When a constituent makes a payment through a direct debit of their account, select Direct debit. When you select Direct debit, the Reference date, Reference no., and Account fields appear. In the Reference date and Reference no. fields, enter any special codes and dates your organization uses to track direct debits. In the Account field, select the financial account associated with the direct debit. For more information about how to add an account for a constituent, refer to Accounts.

• Stock – When a constituent makes a payment in the form of stock, select Stock. If you select Stock, you can record the company, or issuer, who issued the stock; the symbol for the issuer; the low, median, and high prices each unit is worth as of the date it is transferred to your organization; and the number of units donated. For more information about additional tasks you can perform with a stock payment, see Stock Payment Tasks.

• Property – When a constituent makes a payment in the form of property such as land or an estate, select Property. If you have a specified subtype for the property, you can enter it in the Subtype field. For more information about additional tasks you can perform with a property payment, see Property Payment Tasks.

• Gift-in-kind – When a constituent makes a payment in the form of a gift-in-kind, select Gift-in-kind. A gift-in-kind is a payment of goods or services for which you can easily assign a monetary value, such as furniture, computer equipment, or time donated by an attorney. If you have a specified subtype for the gift-in-kind, you can enter it in the Subtype field. You can then enter additional information, such as the item name, whether you intend use it or sell it, the number of units, and the fair market value. For more information about additional tasks you can perform with a gift-in-kind payment, refer to Gift-in-Kind Payment Tasks.

Note: In Administration, your system administrator configures the subtypes available for a payment in the form of property or gift-in-kind. If the subtype you want does not appear, consult your system administrator.

• Other - When a constituent makes a payment in another form your organization tracks such as wire transfer, select Other. When you select Other, the Other method, Reference date, and Reference no. fields appear. In the Other method field, select the specific payment method used. In the Reference date and Reference no. fields, enter any special codes and dates your organization uses to track payments made in the selected form.

Note: In Administration, your system administrator configures the payment methods available for a payment in the form of Other. If the method you want does not appear, consult your system administrator.