Fundraising includes a built-in setup checklist that guides a new administrator through configuration in the best order. You set up donor clubs and funds before the giving processes that use them, then finish with the settings that connect everything.
Prerequisites
You need Fundraising administrator access to open Setup. See Staff Access to Fundraising for what that access level includes.
Open the Setup Checklist
Go to Fundraising & Gifts › Setup. The page shows a welcome message and a numbered list of seven steps, and each step links to the page where you complete that work. Below the checklist, the left menu changes to the Fundraising & Gifts Setup menu, which includes every setup page. It also includes two pages that are not part of the numbered checklist: Donor Fields and Products.
Warning
The checklist shows the recommended order, but it does not require you to follow it. You can complete steps out of order or skip ahead. The page also does not track your progress, so it shows the same seven steps every time you open it, even after you complete them.
The Recommended Order
- Set up your donor recognition clubs. Donor clubs group givers by how much they have given. Fundraising can move a donor into a club automatically as their giving grows, so setting clubs up first helps new gifts count toward the right club from the start.
- If you have a lot of funds, configure categories to keep them organized. Fund categories group related funds in pickers and reports. You can skip this step if you expect to use only a handful of funds.
- Set up at least one fund that will receive gifts. You need at least one fund before you can finish a giving process or record a gift.
- Set up donor premiums to thank your donors for their gifts. Premiums are the thank-you items you can offer donors at certain giving levels.
- Set up at least one giving process to tell Rhythm how donors can make gifts and pledges and to customize the donor experience. A giving process controls the suggested amounts, gift types, and receipts used by a donation form or Console gift.
- Configure Fundraising to use the proper defaults. The Settings page sets the default giving process, default fund, business unit, merchant account, and bank account. Giving cannot start on the Portal or in the Console until this record exists.
- After configuration is complete, assign donor clubs and create gifts from donation product purchases. The Maintenance page updates existing records based on your configuration. It recalculates donor totals and club placement, and it turns past donation orders into gift records.
Tip
Each checklist step links directly to the page where you do the work, so you can use the checklist as a map instead of typing each Setup URL by hand.
Why You Already Have a General Funds Category
When your Rhythm account was created, Fundraising automatically added a starter fund category named General Funds. You do not need to create a category before you create your first fund, because General Funds is already available to hold it.
Warning
Rhythm writes this starter category back automatically whenever your account’s overall application access changes, even when the change does not affect Fundraising. This means that if you rename or deactivate the General Funds category, a later account access change can recreate it with its original name and active status. If you want a category with a different name for the same purpose, create a new one and move your funds to it instead of renaming General Funds.
After the Checklist
After you complete the seven steps, review which staff members can open Setup, Settings, and Maintenance. See Staff Access to Fundraising. If you plan to accept gifts on your Portal, also review your Portal’s Fundraising feature and blocks. Before you open giving to real donors, process a test gift, pledge, and recurring gift in your sandbox to confirm that your funds, giving process, and settings work together as expected.