Product: Omatic Cloud
Description: This solution presents instructions on how to link payments to recurring gifts in Salesforce
Environment: All
Versions: All
Answer:
To sync Recurring Donations and their Payments to Salesforce, you will need to create a formula for each. The Recurring Donation formula will create the Recurring Donation Opportunity in Salesforce and define the Payment schedule, if applicable. The Transactions formula will include both one-off Gifts and Payments towards Recurring Donations.
Tip: Timing is everything! The Recurring Donation must exist in Salesforce before you can add Transactions. Make sure that your formulas are configured to run in order: Recurring Donations first, then Transactions.
How to Create your Formulas
The first step is to create a custom field in Salesforce on the Recurring Donation object. Navigate to Setup, then Object Manager. Find and select the Recurring Donation object. Next, select Fields & Relationships, then New.
- Field Type: Text
- Field Label: Recurring Gift Link
- Length: 20
Set your field-level security and add the field to the page layout, then click Save.
Using a Recurring Donations formula, start by mapping your Contact data. Next, map or define the following fields in the Recurring Donations section:
- Amount
- Recurring Gift Link (ID of Recurring Gift from source)
- Date Established
- Open Ended Status
- Installment Period
- Total Paid Amount
The mappable field names may vary based on your source. If your source contains both open-ended and finite recurring gifts, you may need to apply transformations to conditionally set these values. For example, you can use the incoming gift type to set the open-ended status.
Tip: if you're unsure about what values Salesforce will accept in these fields, try creating a Recurring Donation manually. This will also show you which fields are required and what the expected values for those fields are.
Proceed with the rest of your formula.
Next, you will create a second formula for your ongoing payments. Depending on the data source, the formula type will vary:
- Classy: Transactions to Opportunity Contact Role (mark the option to include recurring donations)
- Luminate Online: Import Donations
- Flat File: Import Contacts & Donations
On the Campaign Settings screen, be sure to select Include offline donations and Include recurring donations
After you map your contact data, jump down to the Contact/Opportunity and map the following:
- Close Date
- Name
- Stage
- Amount
- Recurring Donation (map same Recurring Donation ID field that was used for Recurring Gift Link above)
- Tracking Number
*If you are importing from Classy, you must apply cleanup on the Recurring Donation field to remove the leading characters (CL). Click the gear icon, then select Numbers Only under Telephone Format.
Finish with your remaining formula settings.
How to Process
The Recurring Gift must exist in Salesforce before you can add Payments. Make sure that your formulas are configured to run in order: Recurring Donations first, then Transactions.
- Flat File: you will first load the Recurring Donations file and ensure all data has processed. Then repeat for the Transactions
- API Data Source (Classy/Luminate Online): configure the schedule and triage rules in a way that allows you to process the Recurring Donations prior to adding Transactions
Troubleshooting Common issues:
- My Transaction was added as a single opportunity rather than as a Payment towards a Recurring Donation
- I am receiving exceptions that the Recurring Donation cannot be located, when trying to send Transactions
Try these steps:
- Ensure that the incoming data contains the Recurring Donation ID
- Check the Recurring Donation ID mapping on both formulas
- Ensure your formulas are being processed in the correct order (Recurring Donations first then Transactions)