A gift is the record of one act of giving, such as a check, card payment, stock donation, or company matching contribution. However the gift is created, Rhythm checks and numbers it the same way. This article explains the seven gift types, what each type requires, and the rules that apply to every gift.
The Seven Gift Types
Rhythm records seven gift types, and you choose the type from the Type: dropdown on the gift form:
| Type | What It's For | What It Needs Beyond the Ordinary Gift Fields |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | Money given outright, which is the most common gift type | Nothing extra |
| In Kind | A non-cash donation, such as goods or services | Nothing extra |
| Matching | A gift that matches another gift, usually from an employer | A Master Gift ID for the gift it matches |
| Planned | A future gift, such as a bequest | An anticipated date |
| Pledge Payment | A payment recorded against a pledge | A Pledge ID for the pledge it pays |
| Pledge Payment Reversal | A reversal of a pledge payment | A Pledge ID for the pledge it reverses |
| Stock | A gift of shares | A stock symbol and a number of shares |
Every gift still needs the basic gift details, no matter which type you choose: a donor, a date, an amount, and a fund. The gift form always opens with a type already selected. When you enter a new gift by hand, it starts as Cash, so change the type if Cash is not correct.
Tip
On the manual gift form, the Pledge ID and Master Gift ID fields are text fields, not lookups to your actual pledges or gifts. Rhythm does not check whether the ID you enter matches a real record, so a typo will still save. Double-check these fields before you save a pledge payment, reversal, or matching gift entered by hand.
Warning
A planned gift’s anticipated date is required on the Console gift form, but that requirement does not yet apply everywhere a planned gift can be created. Because of that, a planned gift created another way can save without an anticipated date. If you use that date to report on expected future gifts, spot-check planned gifts for missing dates instead of assuming every planned gift has one.
Tip
A gift made through a giving process shows a Donor Name in gift lists. Rhythm fills that value from the giving process’s own Name field setting for new donors, not automatically from the first- and last-name fields the donor completed. If the giving process does not turn on that Name field setting, Donor Name can stay blank on its gifts even when the donor entered a first and last name separately.
Every Gift Is Checked the Same Way
Whether a gift comes from a paid giving-form order, a pledge payment, or manual entry, Rhythm cleans and validates it before saving. That is why the same rules apply consistently, including the fields each type needs, how gifts are numbered, and the deletion rule below.
When you edit a gift later, Rhythm checks it again, even if the gift originally came from a paid order. Editing the gift changes only the gift record itself; it does not change the related order, payment, or invoice.
How Gifts Are Numbered
Every new gift receives its own sequential number as soon as it is created, no matter what created it. You will see this number on the gift record and in the confirmation after you save a manually entered gift.
Why Some Gifts Can't Be Deleted
You cannot delete a gift that records a pledge payment, payment, or refund while the related pledge, payment, or refund still names that gift. If Rhythm refuses to delete a gift, that is usually why: the gift is the record of something else that still exists.
To clear the way, remove or reverse the underlying pledge, payment, or refund through its own process instead of deleting the gift directly. For pledge payments, see How Pledge Payments Become Gifts.
A Very High Ceiling on How Many Gifts You Can Store
Fundraising will not store more than one million gifts for one Rhythm account. Almost no organization will reach that ceiling through ordinary giving. If a paid order’s gift seems to be missing and nothing else explains it, Support can help rule out whether your Rhythm account has already reached that limit.
Related
See the related articles for entering a gift by hand, editing, deleting, or cancelling a gift, finding and viewing gifts, how a paid order creates a gift automatically, and how pledge payments become their own gifts.