Nonprofit organizations exist to support and raise funds for a specific purpose. A donation is a gift made by an individual, household or organization to a nonprofit. Argenta has a Donation Management System built in to help you track and run reports on donations. Not only is it critical to track your donations, but it's also very important to understand donor patterns.
To get started, choose Fundraising > Donations - from the Argenta dashboard on the left hand side of the screen:
You opens your list of Fiscal Donations. Click the "Add New" button:
This opens the Fiscal Donation Workspace:
From here you will notice there are four tabs of information for this workspace. Lets go tab-by-tab and field-by-field:
1. Donation Details tab:
This tab is where you will enter the details of your fiscal donation. Here you can enter these fields:
- Record Level Permissions - Set As View Only - Placing a checkmark in this box restricts this
record to view-only access unless the user is the user who created the record,
the user is a master admin, or the user is given specific permission to modify
this record on the Record Permissions tab of this
record. Permissions also work by assigning a department, district and/or
precinct. If you have users in your system who are restricted by these
permissions, they will only be able to see records in the
departments/districts/precincts you have granted them access to.
- Record Level Permissions - Lock This Record - Placing a checkmark in this box locks this
record so that users cannot view or update the record unless the user is the
user who created the record, the user is a master admin, or the user is given
specific permission to access this record on the Record Permissions tab
of this record. Permissions also work by assigning a department, district
and/or precinct. If you have users in your system who are restricted by these
permissions, they will only be able to see records in the
departments/districts/precincts you have granted them access to.
- Add This Transaction To The General Journal - If you want to add the transaction to your
financials, place a checkmark in this check box.
- Fund - Argenta uses nonprofit, fund accounting.
Here you can choose which fund the donation will be added to.
- Deposit/Bank Account - Next, select a deposit account from the drop-down list. This is where your funds go when they're received.
- Argenta makes use of the "*Undeposited Funds" account. A good example of using this account is when you have multiple checks you need to deposit. You probably won't deposit each check separately, so you can add them all to *Undeposited Funds, then go to the General Financials > Deposits and create one deposit transaction that can be reconciled in your bank account register.
- Account - Argenta is a double-entry system, so next you must select an account from your chart of accounts to debit the funds.
- If you use the cash accounting method, this would probably be an account like "Donations".
- Send Donor A Receipt - Use this button to email a receipt for this donation to the donor. When you click this button an email is sent to the donor of record.
- Print A Receipt To PDF - Use this button to create a PDF receipt of this donation.
- Donor ID - Use the Lookup
icon to search for and select the donor making this donation. If your donor is not listed you can add a new donor by clicking the Add New 
icon. For help adding a new donor please see our other KB Article - Add Donors. This is a required field. - Donation Date - Enter the date of your donation here. You can manually enter a date or use the calendar selector. This is a required field.
- Donation Amount - Enter the amount of the donation here. This is a required field.
- Payment Method - Select the payment method from the drop-down list.
- Check#/Reference# - You may enter a check or reference number here.
- Payment Point of Entry - You can select the payment point of entry from the drop-down list.
- Donation Code - Select the applicable code from the drop-down list. Your options are: Financial, In-Kind, and 3rd Party Giving. For a fiscal donation, you will select "Financial." This is a required field.
- Donation Type - You can further classify this donation by selecting a type from the drop-down list. If an appropriate type is not listed you can add a new one by selecting the Add New icon.
- Donation Category - You can categorize this donation by selecting a category from the drop-down list. If an appropriate category is not listed you can add a new one by selecting the Add New icon.
- Associated Merchant Fees Expense - If this donation was made with a credit card and
has an associated merchant fee from Stripe, that fee is added as an expense in
the Argenta Business Expense Section. This field displays the amount of
the Stripe fee, for users who have access to Business Expenses, the fee can be
opened from here. If you need to add a fee, you can do so by selecting the
"Add A New Fee" button.
- Receipt Given? - If a receipt was given to your donor, select "Yes" otherwise leave it at "No."
- Thank You Sent? - If a thank you note was sent to this donor, select "Yes" otherwise leave it at "No."
- Chapter - If this donation is tied to a specific chapter within your organization, or you would like to lock this donation by chapter, choose the chapter from the drop-down list.
- Division - If this donation is tied to a specific division within your organization, or you would like to lock this donation by division, choose the division from the drop-down list.
- Department - If this donation is tied to a specific department within your organization, or you would like to lock this donation by department, choose the department from the drop-down list.
- District - If this donation is tied to a specific district, or you would like to lock this donation by district, choose the district from the drop-down list.
- Precinct - If this donation is tied to a specific precinct, or you would like to lock this donation by precinct, choose the precinct from the drop-down list.
- Solicited By (Team Member) - If a specific member of your team solicited this donation, select the Lookup icon to search for and select that team member.
- Was donation given in honor of another person? - If this donation was given in honor or memory of another person, select "Yes" here, otherwise leave this as "No."
- In Honor of (Person's Name) - If this donation was given in honor or memory of another person, enter that person's name here.
- Specifically Designated Purpose Description - If this donation was given for a particular purpose, you can enter that purpose here.
- Is Donation Recurring? - If the donation is recurring, meaning it will happen again on a set frequency, select "Yes" here, otherwise leave this as "No."
- Recurrence Frequency - If the donation is recurring, select the frequency of the donation here. Your options are: n/a, Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly or Annually.
- Auto Input Subsequent Donations? - Choosing "Yes" will add this donation to the auto-recurring scheduler. A
new donation will be added automatically based on the recurrence
frequency you choose. To view all recurring donations, choose Fundraising > Recurring Donations, from the main menu.
- Related Files - Like all other modules and sections in Argenta, you can also add an
unlimited number of related files to this Donation. If you need help adding a file, please see our other KB Article - Add Related Files.
- Notes - If you would like to add any notes to the donation you do so here. If you need help adding a note, please see our other KB Article - Add A Note To The Notes Section.
After you have entered all of these details, click the "Save All Changes & Continue" button before moving on.
2. Associations/Integrations tab:
On this tab you can enter the associations for this donation. If the donation is related to a campaign, event, or program, this is where you will associate to such. To associate the donation to one of these areas, simply click the Lookup
icon for the relation and search for and select the relation you wish to associate the donation to. Make sure to "Save All & Continue" before moving on.
3. Associated Refunds tab:
This tab will show you any refunds that have been issued to this donation. You can issue a refund for the donation on this tab as well. If you need to issue a refund click the "Issue A Refund" button:
This opens the refund panel:
From here you need to enter these details about your refund:
- Partial Refund -Click this if you are applying a partial refund to this donation.
- Full Refund - Click this if you are applying a full refund to this donation.
- Refund Category -
Select a refund category from the drop-down list. If an applicable
category is not listed you can create a new one by clicking the Add New
icon. - Refund Description -
By default, it will reference the original donation but you can change
this description if you choose to. Simply click into the field and enter
a description of your choice or leave the default text.
- Refund Date - Enter the date of refund here. You can manually enter a date or use the date selector. This is a required field.
- Refund Amount - Enter the dollar amount of the refund here. This is a required field.
- Refund Method - You can select the refund method from the drop-down list.
- Check#/Reference# - You may enter a check or reference number here for your reference.
Once these details have been entered, click the "Apply This Refund To This Donation" and the refund will be applied and you will be returned to the associated refunds tab with the refund listed.
4. Record Permissions tab:
This tab controls the record permissions for the Donation.
4. A. View Only Access:
Sometimes you want users to be able to view a record but block them from modifying that record. Individual records can be set to View Only so only master admins and users who are listed here, can edit them. To grant users permission to modify this record simply add them here. Select a user from the "Select A User To Add" drop-down menu then click the "Add Selected User" button to add the user to the view-only access permissions.
4. B. Locked Record Access:
Individual records can be locked so only master admins and users who are listed here can view or edit them. To grant users permission for this record simply add them here. Select a user from the "Select A User To Add" drop-down menu, then click the "Add Selected User" button to add a user to the locked record access permissions.