Gifts of all types are welcome, and sometimes you'll need to record and manage 'Gifts in kind' or non-monetary gifts. Whether you want to just add the occasional gift, or you want to manage a full program, Beacon is ready for you!
There are two main methods for recording gifts in kind: In your Payment records, or as their own custom record type - Gifts in kind.
Option 1 - Use payments record
Pros: Simple, less customising, uses existing setup
Cons: Less flexible, harder to store complex interactions
Best for: Where gifts in kind are donations, and you don't need to store much information about what is happening with a physical gift (such as movement, location, status, etc)
First, add 'Gift in kind' as a payment type:
• Open any Payment record
• Click the cog wheel in the top right to enter customisation mode
• Click on the 'Type' field
• Add 'Gift in kind' as an option, and save the fieldWhen you are recording a new gift in kind, enter the value of the goods/services in the 'Amount' field.
You can add further detail about the gift in the 'Notes' field. If you would like to regularly record the type of gift in kind, you could add an additional dropdown field for
'Gift in kind type'.
Tip: If you're doing any reporting on Payments that have been received (like summary metric cards in Campaigns, People, or on your dashboard), you can choose to exclude gifts in kind by adding a filter for 'Type is Donation'.
Option 2 - New 'Gifts in kind' record type
Pros: Highly flexible, manage complex logistics, removes confusion with monetary donations
Cons: More complex database, requires custom record type, won't be included in payment/donation summary metrics
Best for: Where you have a significant gift in kind program, and you want to manage in-depth details about those goods/services
First, create a new custom record type called 'Gift in kind'.
Then, add new fields to your new record type to store the information you need about your gifts in kind. For example:
• Gift detail
• Type / Category
• Donation date
• Donor
• Value
• Weight
• Current location
• Processing / distribution status(optional) It can be useful to create a 'Summary' field that better describes the record than any single field. Create a new short text field, and make it a 'template' style smart field. Try using 'Gift detail' and 'Donor' as a good starting point!
(optional) Set this as the primary field for your new record type by going to Settings > Record types page, select the record type you created, and choose the 'Summary' field from the dropdown.
Whether you're just recording the occasional bucket of paint or bag of dog food, or you're managing an entire distribution system like Goods for Good, Beacon can help!
