The BMT's New Look!

We're excited to announce the upgraded Batch Manager Tool! With this enhanced version, you'll notice a more streamlined manual entry process, enhanced privacy controls, quick and efficient processing of pledges, and more to better serve all ministry partners, both Protestant and Catholic.

And while we've upgraded the tool to work better for you, many of the processes you've learned to use the BMT have stayed the same - think new look with new capabilities, same great tool.

Manual Check Entry

• Good news for our smaller churches - you can now manually enter cash and checks into the Batch Manager Tool!
• You can enter an item number or check number without having to access the ABA and Account Number fields.
• We've removed the preview of the check image, account number, and routing number fields. Now you can just enter what you need to enter without the image and fields taking up all your screen space!
• We've reordered the fields so that they make more sense. Now you'll find your Donor record first, then enter the amount, and then add your donation distribution details and memos. And don't worry, you can still tab through your fields!
• When entering donations, the form stays open until you click Close, select a different payment type, click the Expand All/Collapse All toggle, or click outside of the new donation.

Pledge Batching

• We know that for annual appeals, the pledge amount is just as important as the paid amount. That's why you can now batch pledges in the Batch Manager Tool! Use the Pledges & Donations tab to create a new batch of just pledges or pledges and donations (that's right, you can add donations and pledges into the same batch!). This way, you can add several pledges to your system at once, reducing the time spent entering pledges, and ensuring your bottom line is as accurate and up-to-date as possible.
• With more power comes new responsibility - we've added a new security role specifically for pledge batching! The Batch Manager Pledges security role is an add-on role that grants Batch Manager Administrators and Operators access to the new Pledges & Donations tab. Administrators with this role receive full access to all pledges and pledge batches, while Operators can only access the pledges and pledge batches they created or were assigned to.
• When you batch pledges, the pledge totals aren't factored into the deposits or accounting integrations - just the amount of the pledge for the specific timeframe. However, if you have a pledge batch that includes donations, the donations are included in any deposits or accounting integrations - pledges are not.
• When creating a pledge batch, you must enter the expected number of pledges and the total amount pledged for the batch. The number of pledges and pledge totals must match what's expected before you can finalize the batch, just like a donation batch. If your pledge batch also includes donations, the expected number of donations and expected donation total must also match before you can finalize the batch.
• You must enter the total pledge, pledge frequency, and pledge duration for each pledge you enter. Once you enter that information, the BMT calculates the number of pledge installments and installment amounts for you.
• We added a new view to the Pledges page! Meet the Fix: Mismatched Batch Pledge Campaign view. When you create a new pledge and donation batch, MinistryPlatform verifies that the batch's campaign matches the pledge's campaign. Since all the pledges in a batch should go to the same campaign, there may be some errors if the campaigns do not match. Don't worry! Use the new view to review and correct those mismatched pledges.
• You can enter a pledge and the initial donation towards that pledge in one fell swoop! Just use the Pledge and Donation tab when entering pledges into your pledge batch.
• The Parish Credited field defaults to the parish (or Diocese) associated with the pledge campaign. When you enter the donor, the BMT updates the parish or Diocese where the donor's family is registered. With this field, you can also manually change the parish credited for the pledge.
  Note: Changing the Parish Credited field does not change the household's registration in MinistryPlatform.

Memorized Donations

• Do you have congregants that contribute regularly and reliably? Now you can enter them as memorized donations! Simply use the BMT to create a batch of scheduled donations so you don't need to manually enter repeat donations.
• Need to review your memorized batches? You'll find them under Contributions > Memorized Batches.
• We added a new payment type! Meet the Scheduled Check payment type. Normally, you scan your checks into the BMT and it displays the check image and ABA information for checks. But for memorized batches, you don't need to scan checks, and you don't want the check image and ABA information to hold you up. That's where the scheduled check payment type comes in to play! Select the Scheduled Check payment type to skip over the check image and ABA information for those memorized batches.

Global Filters

• You can now use a global filter to ensure that whoever is using the BMT can only access congregations, programs, and campaigns allowed by their global filter. This means that you'll see only the programs for the congregation(s) allowed in your global filter, and you can only select open batches for your congregation(s). This will help make sure all your money ends up in the right spot!
• When entering donations, you can't see pledges unless the congregation on the associated event is a congregation you have access to through your global filter.

Additional Enhancements

• You can now filter for batches by searching the batch number, batch name, and batch date. You can even select a date range, if you're not sure the exact date of the batch. This will help you find what you're looking for in record time!
• You can now search for donor records by name, envelope number, or donor number.
• When searching for a donor, search results are now limited to 50 donors (or soft credit donors) and 50 contacts without a donor record for a total of 100 records. This helps limit the number of donors and contacts for you to sift through to find the person you need and reduce performance issues.
• At the bottom of your batches, you'll see the batch's expected total (or totals, if you entered pledges and donations), the entered payment total, and the balance. This is just a quick visual to make sure you're on track!

  

• When searching for or creating a donor, you'll now see both address lines so you can view apartments, lots, units, or any other address details you need to make sure you have the right donor.
• After selecting a donor, you can see the donor's congregation, photo, address, and envelope number so you can be confident you selected the correct donor.
• We've removed the check scanner dialog box! Now you don't need to make a selection when you first open the BMT. (Don't worry - you'll still be prompted to configure the check scanner if you are scanning checks.)
• We added a new add-on user role! People assigned the new Batch Manager Diocese role can search the BMT by donor code, rather than by envelope number.
• Users without any BMT-related security roles will not be able to access the BMT. If they try to open the BMT, they will receive an access denied message explaining why they can't access the BMT.
• The BMT will now automatically check for donor matches when you scan or import checks into a batch. A time saver!