Qualifying Donations

To display a donation on a MinistryPlatform donor statement, it must meet the following criteria:

• It must be distributed to a tax-deductible program. Learn how to configure Contributions Programs.
• It must be in a batch that has been finalized and deposited.
• It must have a donation date within the statement year and before the statement date.
• It must not be a non-cash donation (property, stock, and so on) unless your Accounting Company record has List Non-cash Gifts to Yes.
• It must have been given by the donor on whose statement it is listed.

Statement Type (Donor Record)

The statement type setting on the Donor record impacts which donations display on a donor statement:

• Individual: Donors with this statement type get a statement exclusively containing qualifying donations that were credited to their Donor record.
• Family: Donors with this statement type get a single statement including qualifying donations from any household members with a family statement.

If one person in the family (let's say the husband) has their Statement Type set to Family and another family member (let's say the wife) has theirs set to Individual, then two statements will print for the family: one for the family that only shows the husband's gifts and shows both names printed, and one for the wife that only shows her gifts and shows only her name printed.

Each household/family is considered one giving unit, so the statement will show all gifts for everyone in that giving unit. If a family has multiple giving units (such as parents and adult children), you'll need to split the household/family so that each one is their own giving unit.

Statement Method (Donor Record)

Some donors may prefer an emailed statement, an online statement, or a postal statement. Some donors may not want a statement at all. Use the statement method to help mail and email statements based on the donor's preferred method.

Statement Frequency (Donor Record)

While you may send statements quarterly, some donors may only want to receive an annual statement. These donors may be comfortable not knowing or they may review their giving history on the church website. Using statement frequency, your church can manage this donor preference.

You can add additional statement frequencies to the existing list if needed, but don't rename or delete any of the default statement frequencies. You can find statement frequency values in System Lookups > Statement Frequencies.

Printing statements? Consider printing all of your one-page donor statements at one time, and then print the multi-page statements using the criteria on the donor report. This way, you move quickly through the folding and stuffing process, knowing that they are all one-page statements. Then you can move more carefully through the multi-page statements, ensuring they're all being sent to the appropriate donor.

Contribution Statements Webinar

Looking for a way to streamline your statement management process? Check out the Contribution Statements webinar on the MinistrySmart Academy.

Video Topics: Donor Statements