Book Image

Using CiviCRM - Second Edition

By : Erik Hommel, Joseph Murray, Brian P Shaughnessy
Book Image

Using CiviCRM - Second Edition

By: Erik Hommel, Joseph Murray, Brian P Shaughnessy

Overview of this book

CiviCRM provides a powerful toolbox of resources to help organizations manage relationships with constituents. It is free, open source, web-based, and geared specifically to meet the constituent relationship management needs of the not-for-profit sector. Beginning with broader questions about how your organization is structured, which existing workflows are critical to your operations, and the overarching purpose of a centralized CRM, the book proceeds step by step through configuring CiviCRM, understanding the choices when setting up the system, importing data, and exploring the breadth of tools available throughout the system. You will see how to best use this software to handle event registrations, accept and track contributions, manage paid and free memberships and subscriptions, segment contacts, send bulk e-mails with open and click-through tracking, manage outreach campaigns, and set up case management workflows that match your organization’s roles and rules. With specific emphasis on helping implementers ask the right questions, consider key principals when setting up the system, and understand usage through case studies and examples, the book comprehensively reviews the functionality of CiviCRM and the opportunities it provides. With this book, you can help your organization better achieve its mission as a charity, industry association, professional society, political advocacy group, community group, government agency, or other similar organization and position yourself to become a power user who efficiently and effectively navigates the system.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Using CiviCRM - Second Edition
Credits
About the Authors
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Recording a contribution manually


Now that we have configured CiviContribute and have a working knowledge of the key functionality options, we are in a position to look at recording a contribution record. Part of the reason for learning how to record a contribution manually at this point is that it will provide a better sense of the wealth of information that is stored about a donation. This will lay the groundwork for a better understanding of the automation that occurs when online contribution pages automatically record contributions.

Note

Sometimes, the terminology we use to distinguish different actions can be a bit confusing. By manually, we are referring to data entry by your organization staff using the administrative tools, as opposed to contributions that originate from a public-facing form on your site. The administrative interface displays the full range of options available, and so is a good place to start when reviewing contribution creation.

The simplest way to record offline...