Transactions and Invoices Module
Transactions
The transactions grid contains information about each transaction, whether that is a membership, invoice payment, donation, pledge, pledge payment, event, or auction items purchase. Information is auto populated from the entries provided in the different donation, event, membership, peer-to-peer, and auction pages, as well as any contributions or pledges entered manually.
All transactions are identified by the type, for example general, in-kind, invoice payment, membership, or event. The grid also contains four columns of data, the For, Fund, Event and Appeal fields, which identify the revenue sources for creating specific views, queries, and reports. These four lists are editable for the organization’s needs. Many organizations will use the “For” field to identify the program, project, or campaign the money is earmarked for, such as the membership services or education program. The “Fund” field is often used to identify the bank account or financial area the money is deposited or designated for, such as the general fund or scholarship fund. The “Event” field can show several sources of revenue that are associated with an event such as a conference or networking event. And the “Appeal” field is often used to capture the responses to invitations, annual renewals, or the source of the contribution like the website or Facebook.
For more information about this grid, see the video “AS Transactions. (password AS2021)”
Invoices
AssociationSphere has a feature to automatically generate invoices for “pay later” membership or event registrations. Invoices can also be manually generated for payments that are not linked to a membership or event purchase. All invoices get a unique URL created so that constituents can pay via credit card with their unique link. Learn about invoices in the video “AS Invoicing. (password AS2021)”
Pledges
Within AssociationSphere pledges are a promise to make a donation in the future and are only used for donations. Once a pledge is created, a pledge payment can be received against the pledge. Pledges can be one-time, or they can be recurring payments made over a specific frequency, like monthly or quarterly payments. Pledges and pledge payments are recorded and shown on the Transactions Grid, but the pledges grid shows a detail view of the pledges with each payment due or a summary view which shows the total amount of the pledge, how much has already been paid and future payment information. For more information about the pledges grid, see the video “AS Pledge Grid & Constituent Tab. (password AS2021)”
Donation Pages
The donation pages grid is where online giving or payment forms are created. The pages can be customized and styled to suit the organization’s needs and there is no limit to the number of pages that can be created. Note these forms are generally used only for donations, but can be used to accept payments not related to a membership or event. To learn more about creating a donation page, see the video “AS Transactions and Invoices Online Donation Form Set Up. (password AS2021)”
Goal Progress
The goal progress grid creates widgets for the organization’s website to show progress towards a goal, for example a thermometer showing how much has been raised towards the annual fund goal. Multiple pages, activities, and contributions can be combined into a single fundraising goal category, such as having a golf tournament, donations, and an auction all be counted towards a campaign goal. To see more about creating a goal progress widget, see the video “AS Goal Progress Widget.” (password AS2021)
Sponsorships
Sponsorships can be established for event levels, membership levels, and general support for the organization. The sponsorship page is where the names of the sponsorships are set up including what tasks (or deliverables) are required, and establishes the follow-ups required for the tasks. To learn more about the sponsorships feature, see the video “AS Sponsorships.” (password AS2021)
Grants
If the organization applies for and manages grants, use the grants feature to enter the information. Grants can be linked to a donation entry when the grant is awarded. To see more about grants in AssociationSphere, see the video “AS Grants.” (password AS2021)
Mail Merge Gift Templates
The acknowledgement (or thank you) letters for general, in-kind, pledge payment and stock donations are created in the Mail Merge Gift Templates. The letters are built similarly to Microsoft Word and utilize the fields available in the gifts grid for the data. To learn more about this feature, see the video “AS Transaction Mail Merge Letters.” (password AS2021)
Mail Merge Pledge Templates
Similar to the Transaction and Constituent mail merge letter templates, the pledge templates use the data in the Pledges grid to produce the letters. Learn more in the video “AS Pledge Mail Merge Letters.” (password AS2021)
Mail Merge Invoice Templates
When using the Print/Email Mail Merge feature in the actions menu for invoices is used, a cover letter must be created for sending invoices. The cover letters are created in the same way as the transaction and pledge mail merge letters.
Invoice Auto Reminders
Auto reminders can be created for invoices and can be sent before or after the invoice due date. There are also auto reminders available for membership renewals and the process is covered in this video “AS Membership Renewal and Invoice Reminder.” (password AS2021)
Invoice Payment Pages
In order to generate invoices, an invoice payment page must be created. Payment pages can be customized, and different pages can be designed for events, memberships, and manual invoices. See the process for creating the pages in “AS Invoicing.” (password AS2021)