Getting Started with DonorChase and Xero
Signing up takes a few minutes. You'll need a Xero login with access to your organisation, and a mobile phone for login codes.
1. Sign up with Xero
Go to app.donorchase.com/signup (or click Start Free Trial on our pricing page) and click Sign up with Xero. You can also start from DonorChase's listing on the Xero App Store.
2. Sign in to Xero and allow access
You're taken to Xero's own website. DonorChase never sees your Xero password.
- Sign in to Xero as you normally do, including Xero's own two-step verification if you use it.
- Review the permissions. Xero lists what DonorChase is asking for:
- your name and email address, so we can create your DonorChase login;
- read-only access to your contacts;
- read-only access to your transactions (invoices, payments, credit notes and overpayments);
- continued access, so DonorChase can sync each night without you signing in again.
- Choose your organisation. If you have access to more than one Xero organisation, pick the one you want to use with DonorChase, then click Allow access.
If you click Cancel on Xero's screen, nothing is connected and you return to DonorChase.
3. Set up your account
Back in DonorChase, check your details and finish setting up:
- Organisation: if you chose more than one organisation in Xero, pick the one this account is for. Any others are disconnected straight away, so DonorChase only keeps access to the organisation you use.
- Name and email: filled in from Xero. Your email is your DonorChase login.
- Mobile number: we text you a code when you log in, to keep your donors' data secure. Once you've entered it, that browser won't ask again for 24 hours.
- Password: so you can log in with your email as well as with Xero.
Tick to agree to our Terms and Conditions and click Start Free Trial. Enter the code we text you, and you're in.
If you already have a DonorChase login with the same email, the new organisation is added to it and you keep your existing password.
4. Your first sync
DonorChase starts copying your data from Xero straight away. This usually takes a minute or two; refresh the page to see it arrive. DonorChase brings in:
- your Xero contacts, which become donors;
- your sales invoices that are awaiting payment or paid, with their payments and credit notes;
- money received on account (overpayments).
Every invoice from the first sync is put on your dashboard, grouped into calendar years. How data flows explains exactly what is read and what it becomes.
5. Set up your dashboard
Your dashboard starts with yearly periods, so it works straight away. To change it, open Settings → Dashboard Setup (DonorChase administrators only) and click Dashboard Settings.
- Period Type sets how invoices are grouped: Monthly, Quarterly, Termly (Winter: January to April, Summer: May to August, Autumn: September to December), Annually (calendar years), or Custom, where you enter each period's dates yourself. With all but Custom, DonorChase creates periods automatically as invoices arrive.
- Groups let you sort donors, for example into regular payers, standing orders and people not to chase.
Use Add Dashboard if you want separate dashboards, for example one for school fees and one for an appeal. See Multiple dashboard features.
6. Allocate new invoices
After your first sync, new invoices from Xero wait in Settings → Allocate Invoices so you can choose which dashboard each goes on, or choose Don't Import for invoices you don't want to chase. The number next to Settings shows how many are waiting.
7. Invite your team
Open Settings → Users and click Invite new team member. Each person gets an email to set up their own login. Tick Admin for people who should manage dashboards, users, the Xero connection and billing. Each donor can be assigned a team member to chase them; Settings → Manage Team controls who is offered in that list.
Signing in with Xero
Once your account is set up, you can click Sign in with Xero on the login page instead of typing your email and password. The first time, we ask for your DonorChase password once to link the two logins. You'll still be asked for a text message code, as with any login.
You can also open DonorChase from the app launcher in Xero.
Already a DonorChase customer?
If your organisation already uses DonorChase, you don't need to sign up. Ask your DonorChase administrator to invite you, or contact us and we'll connect your Xero organisation for you.
