Lesson 8.1 – Recurring Transactions Setup

Welcome to Module 8! Now that you are familiar with daily transaction entry, it is time to explore the periodic processing tools FastFund Raising offers to save time and maintain data integrity.

Many nonprofits have donors who give on a regular schedule, such as a $50 monthly cash gift or a yearly pledge. Instead of manually entering these transactions every single time, FastFund allows you to set up Recurring Transactions. These can be configured to post automatically on specific dates or held in a pending state for you to post on demand.

In this lesson, we will cover which transactions can be recurring, how to establish a posting schedule, and how to manage your recurring batches.

1. Supported Recurring Transactions

While many transactions can be automated, there are strict rules regarding what can be placed on a recurring schedule.

You can set up the following transaction types as recurring:

• Cash Gifts
• Pledges
• In-Kind Contributions

Crucial Rule: You cannot mark a “linked” transaction as recurring. Therefore, Pledge Payments cannot be set up as recurring transactions because they must be manually applied against specific open pledge balances.

2. Initiating a Recurring Transaction

Setting up a recurring transaction begins in the standard transaction entry screen.

Steps to Initiate:

1. Navigate to your desired transaction screen (e.g., Transactions > Donations/Receipts) and enter the donor’s information, amount, and gift distribution exactly as you want it to repeat.
2. Before saving, look at the Options checkboxes in the upper right quadrant of the screen.
3. Check the Recurring box.
4. Click SAVE. This saves the template to your recurring list so you can define its schedule.

3. Configuring the Schedule

Checking the “Recurring” box does not automatically tell the system when to post the donation. You must define the frequency and dates in the Activities menu.

Steps to Set the Schedule:

1. Navigate to Transactions on the Main Menu, and under the ACTIVITIES section, select Recurring Transactions.
2. Locate the transaction you just saved in the list and click on the Transaction Type (e.g., Cash Gift) to open its details.
3. Repeats: Select how often the transaction should occur. Your options are Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly.
4. Start and End Date: Enter the exact date the schedule should begin and the date it should terminate.
5. Automatically Post: If you want FastFund to post this transaction to the donor’s history and general ledger automatically on the scheduled dates, check the Automatically Post box. (If you leave this unchecked, the transaction will be marked as “Pending” and require manual posting).
6. Click SAVE.

Note: The FastFund Dashboard will conveniently display any recurring transactions that are scheduled to be posted within the next 10 days so you can anticipate the revenue.

4. Posting “Pending” Transactions

If you prefer to maintain manual control over your recurring donations rather than letting the system post them automatically, you can process your “Pending” transactions on demand.

Steps to Post On-Demand:

1. In the Recurring Transactions list, check the boxes next to the pending transactions you are ready to process.
2. Click the Selected drop-down menu at the top of the list.
3. Choose Post Pending Transactions (to post them on their scheduled Next Date) or Post Transactions to a Selected Date (to override the schedule and post them on a date of your choosing).
4. A confirmation window will appear; enter the required date and click OK to finalize the posting.

Important internal control: Whether posting automatically or manually, recurring transactions strictly follow FastFund’s standard accounting rules. The system will prevent the transaction from posting if the date falls in a permanently closed accounting period or is outside of your company’s normal posting range.

5. Global Updates for Expired Schedules

Eventually, your scheduled transactions will reach their End Date. Instead of opening them one by one to extend them for the next year, FastFund offers a bulk update tool.

By clicking Filters + in the Recurring Transactions list, you can filter the list to show transactions that reached their End Date. Once filtered, select the expired transactions, click the Selected drop-down menu, and choose Update Recurring Start/End Date. This launches a pop-up where you can assign a brand new Start and End date to the entire batch simultaneously.