For schools and multi-academy trusts
Voluntary contributions, collected without the awkward chasing
See which families have contributed, which haven't, and who to follow up this week, straight from Xero. Built by someone who runs a school finance office and needed it.
The term ends before anyone gets round to chasing
Voluntary contributions keep many faith and independent schools going, but asking for them is uncomfortable and easy to put off. By the time the office gets to it, the term is over and the money is harder to collect.
- Parents who ask to be reminded "after half term", and never are
- Several versions of the same spreadsheet around the office
- Notes about families stuck in one person's inbox
- Standing orders that quietly stop without anyone noticing
- No quick answer when governors ask what's been requested and what's come in
| Family | Requested | Received | Outstanding | Note | Next chaser |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Termly contributors | |||||
| Abrams | £600 | £600 | £0 | Received in full | |
| Bennett | £600 | £300 | £300 | Giving in two parts | 12 Nov |
| Clarke | £600 | £0 | £600 | Remind after half term | 3 Nov |
| Standing order | |||||
| Davies | £600 | £400 | £200 | £50/month | |
| Evans | £600 | £250 | £350 | SO dropped in Oct | 28 Oct |
Illustrative example with sample data.
How DonorChase helps your school office
Every family's position, this term and last
Requested, credited, received and outstanding for the current term, with previous terms alongside, all taken from Xero.
Gentle, personal follow-up
Notes like "Remind after half term", a date for the next chaser and a named member of staff. No automated dunning letters.
Group families your way
Termly contributors, standing orders, occasional givers, families not to chase. Each group is chased in the way that suits it.
Standing order tracker
See month by month whether each standing order is still arriving. Drops show up in red before they become a term's worth of lost income.
Shared across the office
Unlimited users, chasers assigned to named staff, and a daily or weekly email listing who to call, with their phone number and a link to their record.
Figures governors can rely on
Summary statistics show what was requested, what has come in and your collection rate, without anyone building a spreadsheet the night before.
Up and running in three steps
Connect Xero
Authorise DonorChase through Xero's own secure sign-in. We never see your Xero password.
Raise contributions as invoices
Raise each family's termly contribution in Xero, or let repeating invoices do it for you. We can help set up your templates.
Chase, and watch it reconcile
Your team works the list in DonorChase. As contributions are reconciled in Xero, DonorChase updates overnight.
What schools say
DonorChase changed the way our team share information, replacing multiple versions of out of date spreadsheets with a centralised up-to-date portal. Our team can save time and bring in more funds to our school. We highly recommend this package.
For the last several years since using DC, we have been able to collaborate as a team to work effectively to manage incoming funds. The standing order tracker is especially helpful as we can easily monitor regular pledges and as a result our income is more steady, consistent and overall has increased. We are very satisfied and have not looked back!
Gift Aid on voluntary contributions
Collected the contributions? Now claim the Gift Aid
Where contributions are genuinely voluntary and parents have made a Gift Aid declaration, your school can claim an extra 25p for every £1. DonorBoost, our Gift Aid claims software, matches the contributions in your bank to families, keeps declarations in one place and prepares the claim for HMRC.
One term's recovered contributions often covers the year
A school requesting £1,000 per term will often find that one term recovered with DonorChase covers the entire annual cost. Schools can spread the cost termly or monthly.
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