Chasing Donors
This is the day-to-day work in DonorChase: see who to contact, contact them, and record what happened so the whole team knows where things stand.
Find who to chase
The boxes at the top of the dashboard change which donors you see. DonorChase remembers your choices in that browser.
| Filter | Shows |
|---|---|
| Chaser View | Only donors with a chaser still to do, soonest first within each group. This is the best place to start each day. |
| Mine Only | Donors you're responsible for, or who have a chaser assigned to you. |
| Outstanding Only | Only donors with a total balance still to pay. |
| Escalated Only | Only donors who have been escalated. Shown on two level teams. |
| All Tags | Tick one or more tags to see donors with any of them. Shown once you've created a tag. |
Click the − next to a group's name to collapse it, and + to open it again.
What the colours mean
| Where | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Paid | Green | Paid in full for this period. |
| Paid | Pink | Nothing paid yet, with money owed for this period. |
| Balance | Green | Nothing owed. |
| Last Donation | Orange | Still owes money, and last paid more than three months ago. |
| Due Chaser | Pink | The chaser is overdue. |
| Donor's name | Red | Escalated. Hover over the name to see who to. |
Below the table, Statistics shows what was invoiced, credited and paid in up to 10 periods, with the percentage collected. % Paid counts only money received, and % Paid/Credited also counts credits.
Chasers
A chaser is a dated reminder to contact a donor. You can manage them from the dashboard's Due Chaser column or from the Chasers section of the donor's page.
Add a chaser
Click + in the Due Chaser column, or Add Chaser on the donor's page. Choose a Due Date and an Assignee, the person who should do it, then click Save.
Complete a chaser
Once you've been in touch, click the tick and fill in:
- Method: Email, Phone, SMS, WhatsApp, No Contact or Other;
- Summary: what happened;
- Follow Up: optional. Enter a date to create the next chaser, for the same person, at the same time.
The latest completed chaser shows in the Completed Chaser column, and the full history is on the donor's page. Chasers can be completed by the donor's Responsible Team Member or by an administrator.
Change or remove a chaser
Click the pencil to change the date or assignee, or the bin to delete it. A donor can have several chasers open at once; the dashboard shows the one due soonest.
Chasers DonorChase creates for you
Each time DonorChase syncs with your bookkeeping package, it looks after some chasers by itself:
- New invoices: if a donor has a new unpaid invoice, a chaser is added about 30 days after the invoice date. It always falls on a Monday, and the batch is spread over four weeks so they don't all land at once.
- Standing orders: if a donor marked as having a standing order owes money, has no chaser open, and hasn't paid for over a month, a chaser is added for today.
- Paid up: when the invoice behind a chaser is paid, or the donor has nothing left to pay, open chasers are completed for you with the method Auto and the summary Invoice was paid.
Automatic chasers go to the Default Chaser Assignee set on Settings → Dashboard Setup.
Because due dates are counted from the invoice date, expect some chasers to be overdue straight after your first sync if you have older unpaid invoices.
Reminder emails
DonorChase can email each person a list of the chasers assigned to them, with each donor's amount outstanding and phone number. Choose how often under Settings → My Profile → Email Frequency.
| Setting | You receive |
|---|---|
| None | No reminder emails. |
| Daily | An email each day listing chasers that are due or overdue. |
| Weekly | An email each Monday listing chasers that are overdue or due in the coming week. |
If you have nothing to do, no email is sent. On two level teams, the email also lists donors escalated to you.
Comments
Use comments for anything the team should know, such as a family's circumstances or a promise to pay next month.
- On the dashboard, click + in the Comments column to add one. The latest comment is shown, and you can hover over it to read them all. The pencil edits the latest comment.
- On the donor's page, the Comments section shows the full list, with buttons to add, edit and delete.
You can edit and delete your own comments. Administrators can edit and delete anyone's.
Tags
Tags are labels you can filter by on the dashboard, such as Parent of Year 6 or Spoke at dinner. Unlike groups, a donor can have as many as you like, and a tag applies on every dashboard.
On a donor's page, click Add Tag, then pick an existing tag or choose New tag… and type a name. Click the × on a tag to remove it. A tag that's no longer on any donor disappears from the list.
Changing several donors at once
Administrators can tick the box next to any donors on the dashboard. A bar then appears for updating them all together: Team Member, Level 2 Team Member on two level teams, Group and Standing Order. Choose a value and click Update beside it.
Sending a statement
For organisations using Xero, the Send Donation History section on a donor's page opens that donor's statement in Xero. Check the start date, click Statement, and send it from Xero. You'll need to be signed in to Xero.
