My organization has a similar dilemma. What I did was create two Donor types in the Names file: one called "Giftors" as well as one for "Mbr: Gifted" (vs a normal "Mbr: Paid") I create a dues payment for the Giftor giving the gift, the actual $ amount, and code this as a "New Member" type. (The rationale being that this person is giving someone a new membership).
For the Mbr:Gifted, I create a dues payment with $0 and code it as "Complimentary." (The rationale being that this person is RECEIVING a complimentary membership) Two payments for the same transaction, but then I can keep track of where the actual money came from and send "Thank you's" accordingly. The Mbr:Gifted's are actually members who receive our magazine subscription and would get renewal notices, whereas we typically don't communicate routinely with the Giftors beyond the initial "thank you." We might consider marketing to Giftors next year, but you have to be careful because "one doesn't want to look a Gift-or in the mouth." ;) HTH, Colin Cooler > From: Larry Bednar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: "TechRocks Support" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 11:46:12 -0800 > To: "TechRocks Support" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [support] Gift memberships > > I'm working with an organization that has a history of selling "gift > memberships". Handling this information in Ebase presents a few > problems. I would appreciate the sage advice of any of you who might have > thought about this already. > > The main difficulties seem to me to arise because, the "gift membership" > payment comes from someone different than the person whose "membership" is > affected. > > At present, I've added a "Gift From" field to the "payments" database, as > suggested by M.Scholtz (I THINK it was Matthew) in an email to this support > group a few months ago. In many respects this works decently. I do need to > modify some layouts to display this information, but it can basically be > added to the layouts where it should be expected without heroics. > > The one thing uncomfortable about this approach is that the actual > "payment" didn't come FROM the person who got the membership. The Ebase > "dues summary" field for the person getting the membership then includes > the "dues payment" tallied in his name - even though this payment was > actually MADE by another person. Someone else once commented here that a > payment should indicate the last person who touched the money before the > organization got it. This makes sense to me, but that ISN'T what happens > in this approach... > > A related problem is that the amount of the gift membership isn't added to > the purchaser's "dues" or "contribution" total either - even though they > actually provided the money... Because the amount is tallied with the > membership, the actual contributor doesn't get credited. > > I've considered the alternative of actually entering two payment records > for a "gift membership", one for the recipient indicating a payment of > zero, and one as a "contribution" or "merchandise purchase" for the person > providing the money. This seems a little bit yucky, since it relies > heavily on the operator following the correct entry procedures...but at > least the dollars tally to the correct individuals. > > Any comments from folks who have dealt with/thought about this would be > VERY welcome... > ************************************************************** > Larry F. Bednar > Consulting in Statistics, Quality, Data Managment > Portland, OR 503.493.8542 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ************************************************************** > > > ------------------ > Reminder to each recipient: To change your list account preferences, go to > http://email.sparklist.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=support and enter the email > address you used to subscribe to the ebase support list:: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > ebase - Relationship Management for Nonprofits, http://www.ebase.org > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > ------------------ Reminder to each recipient: To change your list account preferences, go to http://email.sparklist.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=support and enter the email address you used to subscribe to the ebase support list:: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ebase - Relationship Management for Nonprofits, http://www.ebase.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------
