Manage contributions

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

1. Open Finance, then Contributions.
2. Click New campaign.
3. Enter a name (for example "Monthly contribution 2026") and, optionally, a description.
4. Add a total goal and/or a monthly goal, choose the currency and the start date.
5. Pick a color so you can recognise the campaign at a glance.
6. Tick Tax receipt if the payments qualify for a receipt, then save.

Record a payment

For contributions received in cash, by bank transfer, or by cheque, enter them by hand:

1. Open the relevant campaign, then click Record a payment.
2. Choose the member, enter the amount and the date.
3. Select the payment method: cash, bank transfer, cheque, or other.
4. Add a note if needed, then save.

See who is up to date or behind

Click a campaign: its detail page opens, with its header, its progress, the monthly pulse and the tiers section. Further down, the table shows the members. Since September 2026 it opens one month at a time, like tithes: one row per member, and the essentials straight away.

Moving through time:

• the ‹ › arrows change the month; the page opens on the current month (or on the last month of a closed campaign) and moves on by itself every month;
• Go to month… jumps straight to any month, from the campaign's first activity to the last month already paid ahead by a member;
• nothing is lost when the month turns: the Behind column adds up all past months. A past month shows as it stands today: a late payment in October turns September green;
• an upcoming month only shows payments made ahead.

Working like in Excel:

• click a row to pick it (it gets a gold outline and can be followed to the end), Shift to pick a range, Ctrl (or Cmd) to add more; the arrows move up and down, Enter opens the card, Escape clears the selection;
• filter in one click: All · Up to date · Behind · Paused · Not enrolled, with live counters; search for a name;
• sort by name, commitment, paid or behind with one header click;
• the selection can receive its PDF statement by email in one gesture; Excel exports the month (or the selection);
• the button on each row records a payment for a person who is behind, or opens their card.

Prefer to see the twelve months side by side? The 12 months button, above the table, shows the Register as you know it (one cell per month, frozen columns, densities, full screen, four arrows to travel through time). The colours say it all at a glance: green = paid, orange = partial, red = due, grey = paused, blue = advance.

A member's card

Clicking a name opens their card, in a window:

• their full history, year by year (arrows ‹ 2025 · 2026 ›), from the first month of their commitment to the last month paid ahead - not just twelve months. Each box shows what is covered out of what was due; a pencil marks the months where a payment was recorded;
• their payments for this campaign, each with the months it covers. Click a box in the history: the list keeps only the payments that cover that month - you correct the right one, without guessing;
• their statement (print or email), their payment link, and their commitment: the history of amounts, change the amount, pause, resume, stop.

Correct a payment

From a member's card, each payment carries two buttons. Two gestures, for two kinds of mistake:

1. Change the month: the payment is right, it is simply attached to the wrong month. The entry is updated in place, with an audit-log trace. The amount behind does not change: payments always fill the oldest months due first - the card reminds you, so nobody moves a payment thinking it clears a specific month.
2. Correct the amount: the recorded sum is wrong. Before you confirm, the card announces what will remain behind ("Behind after correction: €40 (today €90)"). 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, with the same reference and the same label.

A payment made online cannot be corrected here (it comes from the payment provider). In the Register (12 months), a cell that carries an amount still opens its payments, with the same two gestures. In both cases the breakdown, the arrears, the totals and the tier report recompute immediately.

Follow up with a payment link

You can invite members to give online through a personal payment link, sent by email:

1. In the campaign detail, click Send link.
2. One member tab: choose the person and send them their link.
3. Subscribers tab: add the members who have committed (with an optional pledged amount), then send the link to the whole group in one click.

Send reminders automatically

A campaign can send its payment link on its own, at a regular interval:

1. When creating or editing the campaign, turn on automatic sending.
2. 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).

1. Paying less: paying €10 on a €20 contribution leaves €10 of arrears - visible in the Behind column of the table and on the member's card.
2. 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.
3. Several channels, same month: €10 in cash + €10 online for the same month simply complete that month - only the sum matters.
4. 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.
5. 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:

1. Create the tiers in the campaign detail (e.g. "Builder €100", "Supporter €50", "Member €10"). A custom amount always remains possible.
2. Enroll members: each member subscribes to a tier (or a custom amount) from a start month - including in the past to resume existing tracking.
3. 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.
4. Pause and stop: a paused subscription owes nothing during the pause; a stopped subscription owes nothing going forward, but its past arrears remain visible.
5. Report by tier: subscribers, expected, collected, arrears and recovery rate per category - directly in the campaign detail.
6. Individual statement: for each member, a month-by-month grid (paid / partial / due / paused / ahead) with church-letterhead PDF printing.
7. 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.

Going further

• Enable online giving
• Track and manage donations
• Categories and bookkeeping
• Create an event