[Koha] Announcing Donor Tracking Plugin for Koha

[Bob Ewart]

We use the patron data already in Koha; names, addresses,...

We export from QuickBooks via an Excel file.  It can be any accounting 
package which can export to Excel, we started with Peachtree 
Accounting.  The important thing to link the two packages is having the 
Koha card number (not patron number) in an exportable field in your 
accounting package.  We use the customer number to link the accounting 
data to the patron.

You will need to do some preparation in setting up the accounting 
account numbers/descriptions and whether they are tax deductible. (In 
the US donations are deductible and book sales are not.  At the end of 
the year you can generate letters to each patron showing how much was 
tax deductible.)

There is also some set up needed for patron types and attributes. See 
the documentation with the plugin.

Once that is done, just export all income to an Excel file and upload it 
to the plugin.

Versions:

 1. Separate web-site (host:18080) written in PHP and hard coded to the
    Peachtree export. The accounting data was stored in the Koha database.
 2. Separate web-site re-written in Perl and hard coded to QuickBooks
    export.  Otherwise same as 1
 3. Re-written in Perl as a plugin.  All the hard coded things were
    parameterized so that you could tailor it to your needs.

There is a bit of a learning curve, but over the years we've been 
through a number of Office Managers and several Executive Directors who 
have all found it to be very useful.

We've made a number of changes to solve specific needs.  How do we...?  
Generally do it this way..., occasionally we had to make some code changes.

The only major downside is in the coding style.  Over the years my Perl 
skills improved so early code which didn't need to be changed looks 
different from later code.  But that won't affect the use of the plugin.

I encourage you to try it and let me know how it goes.

I'll be happy to answer any questions as you get into it.

-- 
Bob Ewart


On 01/13/2016 11:50 AM, catalog at bfli.org wrote:
> Bob,
>
> I was interested to read your post on the donor tracking plugin. Is 
> there anything else you can tell me about it?
> I am interested how the plugin gets populated with data initially as 
> the software we are using currently will need to be replaced with 
> something and we do not wish to loose all our data. We like to check 
> on past donors etc. to see if they have given recently.
> Apart from exporting to QuickBooks can you also export to excel and 
> other software.
> Were you using any other software before the plugin or was this your 
> first?
> Are there any downsides to using the plugin?
> Thanking you in advance for answering my stupid questions.
> Wendy Sharkey
> Bennington Free Library
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Bob Ewart <bob-ewart at bobsown.com>
> *To:* Koha at lists.katipo.co.nz
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 17, 2015 9:15 AM
> *Subject:* [Koha] Announcing Donor Tracking Plugin for Koha
>
> This plugin is used to track donor contributions and contacts. Knowing
> what a donor has given to and what his/her interests are is a big help
> in asking for future donations.
>
> Income is transferred from an accounting program such as QuickBooks as a
> spreadsheet. The accounting customer number is set to the Koha card
> number.  This keeps both databases in sync.
>
> You can review a donor's past giving and comments about past contacts
> before meeting with that donor.  Afterword you should add any
> significant points covered to help in future contacts. This can be
> important when other people will be making the next contact.
>
> There is a flexible report generation feature which is used for 'data
> mining'.  You can search by amount, date, account number, patron
> category, branch... or any combination thereof.
>
> More information is at Donor Tracking Wiki
> <https://github.com/bob-ewart/Koha-plugin-DonorApp/wiki>
>
> The plugin is available at Donor Tracking github
> <https://github.com/bob-ewart/Koha-plugin-DonorApp>
>
> -- 
> Bob Ewart
> Stonewall National Museum & Archives
> Fort Lauderdale, FL
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