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 Help Topics / Giving & Online Giving / Creating Giving Categories

Creating Giving Categories

Donation Categories are used to identify the donor's intentions or what the donor wants the money to be used for. Categories are used for labeling donations on the Giving Screen, but they are also used for categorizing transactions and creating budgets on the Accounting Screen.

  • Creating Categories
  • Editing Categories

Creating Categories

You can view, edit, and create categories by selecting "Categories" on the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Create a category for every donation opportunity for your ministry. To create a new Category, click the "Add" button.

Adding giving catergories

You will first be prompted to give it a name. After you name the Category, you can list it as a subcategory of another Category, as tax deductible, and choose to use it for Online Giving. You can also assign category numbers.

Deductible or not? Donations that are given freely, without getting anything of equal value in return, are usually tax-deductible. This includes things like tithes and offerings, donations for specific church needs (like missions or building funds), and special charitable gifts. Donations that are not tax-deductible include personal gifts given to individuals (like a pastor) or donations for events where the donor gets something in return, like a ticket to a lunch or church program. If you have any questions regarding the deductibility of contributions, ask an accountant or tax specialist.

Customizing your giving category

Regarding subcategories, you may have a "Missions" category. You could then create subcategories for each missionary (i.e. "The Anderson Family" and "The Smith Family") to track donations made to each. To make a category a subcategory of another, simply select the parent category from the "Subcategory of" selection box.

How to assign a subcategory

Editing Categories

Click on the name of a Category or Subcategory to begin editing it. The edit menu will appear to the right.

If you need to delete a category, ChurchTrac will check to determine if that category is in use, either on the Giving Screen or the Accounting Screen. If there are donations or transactions that utilize the category, ChurchTrac will prompt you to reassign the donations in that category to another.

How to reassign donation categories

Categories can be moved into any order you prefer. To change your Category order, select and hold the up/down arrows to the right of the Category name and drag it to whatever position you prefer. Subcategories are sorted in alphabetical order by default.

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