Using the Giving Screen

The Giving Screen allows you to enter contributions for a variety of categories, as well as track pledge campaigns and giving.

Switching from another giving platform? Check out our Importing Contributions article › to help save you time on moving your giving data over to ChurchTrac.

Before Entering Donations, Add or Edit your categories

Every donation must be a assigned to an income category. Select the "Categories" button on the toolbar to create new giving categories or to edit existing ones.

To add a new giving category, click on the "Add" button. Follow that up by giving the new Category a name and click "Ok." Then select the tax deductible status for contributions assigned to that category. This will show up as the default status on the Contributions Entry screen each time that category is selected; however, it can be changed as needed when each contribution is entered.

To edit a category, click on the category that you desire to edit from the list and make the necessary changes on the right.

Giving dates

To enter or edit contributions, click on an existing date or click the "Add" button. A calendar will appear. Select the new giving date and click on "Add Date."

If you enter the wrong date, you can change it to the correct date by selection the "Actions" button.

Entering contributions

Once the date has been created or selected, you can enter or edit contributions on the right side of the screen.

To enter a new Contributor, you can type the person's envelope number (if your ministry uses envelope numbers), or the first few letters of the name into the "Contributor Name" field.

Then highlight and select the name you want to add. In order for names to show up in this field, they must already be entered on the People Screen. To add names not already in the ChurchTrac database, type their name into this field and press enter. It will prompt you to add them to the database.

In ChurchTrac, each contribution must be assigned to an individual. When you have a contribution from a nameless donor, it still needs to be assigned to an individual when entering the amount of the donation on the contribution screen. To record anonymous contributions like this, you must first create a fictitious "person" on the People screen. This person can be named "Unknown Person" or "Offering Plate" or whatever you wish. Just be sure to give this person both a first and last name (like "Unknown" and "Person")

Enter the amount, and then choose a category for the contribution for tracking purposes. Verify if the contribution is tax deductible or not (the default setting for the tax deductible status is designated when the category is created).

Contributions that are marked as deductible will appear on the individual's contribution statement for tax purposes. You also have the option of entering a note in the memo field. The text that you type into the memo field will also appear on the individual's contribution statement. You can use this feature to specify what a particular donation was for, to record check numbers, etc.

Ask People to Give (Without Asking)

Watch our video where we share tips for asking people to give to your ministry (without having to actually ask them).

Watch now ›

Editing & Deleting Contributions

To edit a contribution (other than the donor's name), select the appropriate donation. The edit flyout menu will then appear. To delete a contribution, click on the Delete button. If the donation was incorrectly assigned to a different person, you will have to delete the contribution and re-enter it under the new name.

Entering Non-Cash contributions

In the U.S., the IRS rules state that the donor determines the value of a non-cash contribution. For this reason, we recommend that you enter non-cash donations (In-Kind donations) on the Giving Screen with an amount of $0.00, then add a short memo to describe the item that was donated.

Learn more about In-Kind Donations ›

Creating Deposits (A Plus User Benefit)

When using the Accounting screen, you will need to deposit your Giving batches directly from the Giving Screen. Do this by clicking the "Actions" button and selecting "Create Deposit".

Learn more about Creating Deposits ›

Important Tax Rule: Any "contribution" in which the contributor receives something in return should not be marked as tax deductible. For example, if a person "purchases" a t-shirt, church dinner, or pays for their child to attend youth camp, the deductible box should be unchecked because the IRS does not consider these items to be contributions for tax purposes. If a person donates $1000.00 to be used toward youth camp, and receives nothing in return for this contribution, then that contribution would be considered deductible. If you have any questions regarding the deductibility of contributions, you should ask an accountant or tax specialist.

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