Gift counts are based on the count of unique Gift IDs, which may differ from the number of rows provided. This is due to several factors:
- Split-designation Gifts: When a gift has multiple designations (or similar concepts like fund, cause area, etc.), most CRMs associate all those split amounts and designations with the same Gift ID (since they were all part of one transaction). In this case Avid will preserve the splits, but will count them as a single gift to avoid skewing metrics such as giving frequency and average gift amount.
- Reversals/refunds: Some CRMs will apply partial or full refunds/reversals with the original Gift ID. In these cases, Avid will combine the results into a single record with the appropriate net total. If the combined net total for these transactions is $0, Avid will exclude the record to avoid skewing metrics such as giving frequency and average gift.
- Duplicate credits: Some systems also produce multiple soft credits for the same donor and Gift ID. In these cases Avid will combine them into a single record reflecting the some total of the gift. However, when we have both hard and soft credit details, we won't allow the soft credit total to exceed the hard credit amount. If total soft credits are less than the total hard credits, we will create a record with the same Gift ID applying the remainder to the hard credit recipient.
- Combined records: If multiple transaction records for the same Gift ID match for every other provided field, Avid will combine them into a single record reflecting the sum total amount. Since gifts are already counted by unique identifiers, this should be transparent to you when using the platform.
- Soft credits: We typically prefer following the soft credit when possible unless your organization has a specific reason to require the use of hard credits. We find this gives fuller picture of donor contributions, even when mechanisms such as Donor-Advised Funds or such are involved (and doesn't give a hard credit to that DAF).