Contributions let you track your members' regular giving, one campaign at a time: monthly tithe, a building project, an annual pledge. Each campaign shows the amount collected, progress toward the goal, and - member by member - who has given and who is behind. Here is how to use it.
Create a campaign
- Open Finance, then Contributions.
- Click New campaign.
- Enter a name (for example "Monthly contribution 2026") and, optionally, a description.
- Add a total goal and/or a monthly goal, choose the currency and the start date.
- Pick a color so you can recognise the campaign at a glance.
- Tick Tax receipt if the payments qualify for a receipt, then save.
Note: the goal is optional. Without one, the campaign stays open and simply shows the running total, with no progress bar.
Record a payment
For contributions received in cash, by bank transfer, or by cheque, enter them by hand:
- Open the relevant campaign, then click Record a payment.
- Choose the member, enter the amount and the date.
- Select the payment method: cash, bank transfer, cheque, or other.
- Add a note if needed, then save.
Tip: use Save and new to log several payments in a row without closing the window, for example after a collection. The member and amount reset while the date stays the same.
See who is up to date or behind
Click a campaign: its detail page opens (no longer a popup). There you find:
| Element | What it shows you |
|---|---|
| Summary cards | Total collected, number of contributors, payments and subscribers |
| Tiers and subscriptions | Who pledged what amount, and recovery per tier |
| Arrears | Each member's situation: pledged, expected, paid, arrears |
| Ranking | Members, from largest to smallest contributor |
| Month-by-member table | One cell per month and per member, filled with the amount allocated to that month |
The monthly table follows the same logic as the individual statement: a 100 payment on a 20/month pledge fills 5 cells of 20, from the oldest month to the most recent - never one global block in the payment month. The colors tell the story at a glance: green = paid, orange = partial, red = due, grey = paused, blue = advance.
Correct a payment
Every cell of the monthly table that carries an amount is clickable: it opens the member's individual payments for that month. That is where entry mistakes are fixed, at the level of the precise entry - never on an aggregated sum. Two gestures, for two kinds of mistake:
- Change the month it counts for: the payment is right, it simply counts for the wrong month. The entry is updated in place, with an audit-log trace - nothing is voided, the money did not move.
- Correct the amount: the recorded sum is wrong. The original entry is voided and stays visible, struck through, with the reason you type (at least 10 characters); a linked corrected entry replaces it. That is the accounting rule: an amount is never silently retouched.
In both cases the month-by-month breakdown, the debts, the totals and the tier report recompute immediately.
Note: these gestures require the finance edit permission. A viewer sees the payments, not the buttons.
Follow up with a payment link
You can invite members to give online through a personal payment link, sent by email:
- In the campaign detail, click Send link.
- One member tab: choose the person and send them their link.
- Subscribers tab: add the members who have committed (with an optional pledged amount), then send the link to the whole group in one click.
Warning: a member without an email address cannot receive a link. The subscriber list flags these cases so you can handle them another way (a manually recorded payment).
Send reminders automatically
A campaign can send its payment link on its own, at a regular interval:
- When creating or editing the campaign, turn on automatic sending.
- Choose the frequency (monthly or weekly) and the day it goes out.
Once enabled, each subscriber receives their link on the scheduled day, with nothing further from you.
Print the report
From a campaign's detail, the Report button generates a document on your church letterhead: total collected, progress, and a per-member breakdown. Ideal for a members' meeting or a board.
Arrears and catching up (automatic allocation)
When a campaign has a monthly amount (member pledge or monthly target), Sanctumel automatically computes everyone's position: pledged amount × elapsed months − total paid, across all channels (cash, transfer, online).
- Paying less: paying €10 on a €20 contribution leaves €10 of arrears - visible in the "Arrears & delays" section of the campaign detail.
- Paying more: paying €100 on €20/month clears the arrears then covers the following months (5 months in total). Payments are always applied from the oldest month to the most recent.
- Several channels, same month: €10 in cash + €10 online for the same month simply complete that month - only the sum matters.
- On their personal link, the member sees their position ("Behind: 3 months - €60") with "Pay 1 month" and "Catch up all" buttons, plus a preview of what the entered amount covers.
- When recording a manual payment, the treasurer indicates the month concerned (informative: the balance is always computed from the sum).
Tiers and subscriptions
Some churches organise contributions by category: some give €100, others €50, others €10. Sanctumel handles this with tiers:
- Create the tiers in the campaign detail (e.g. "Builder €100", "Supporter €50", "Member €10"). A custom amount always remains possible.
- Enroll members: each member subscribes to a tier (or a custom amount) from a start month - including in the past to resume existing tracking.
- Changing tier: the new amount applies from the chosen effective month. The past is never rewritten: March's arrears are always computed with the amount pledged in March.
- Pause and stop: a paused subscription owes nothing during the pause; a stopped subscription owes nothing going forward, but its past arrears remain visible.
- Report by tier: subscribers, expected, collected, arrears and recovery rate per category - directly in the campaign detail.
- Individual statement: for each member, a month-by-month grid (paid / partial / due / paused / ahead) with church-letterhead PDF printing.
- Statement by email: send each member their PDF statement (button on the individual statement, or bulk send "to all" / "arrears only"). If the member has arrears and Sanctumel Pay is active, the email includes a "Settle my remaining contribution" button (amount pre-filled) and the PDF a settlement QR code - a personal one-time link. Every send is logged in Members, Communications.