Use Record Donation when a gift happens outside an automatic Stripe or Square checkout flow, such as cash, check, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, a matched external-payment reference, a pet sponsorship, or a wishlist contribution that staff need to enter manually.
Adding a Donation
- Go to Donations.
- Click Record Donation to open the dedicated donation form. A donor profile also provides a compact Record Donation dialog already scoped to that donor.
- In Donation Details, enter the amount, status, payment method, and received date.
- In Donor, select an existing donor or type a new donor name and email.
- In Link To, choose whether the gift is general, linked to a wishlist item, or linked to a pet.
- In Notes, add an external reference, donor-facing message, or private note.
- Click Record Donation.
If the donor email matches an existing donor, PawPlacer links the donation to that donor. If the donor is new and you provide a name or email, PawPlacer creates a donor profile automatically.
Only the amount is required. The form keeps an in-browser draft while you work, so you can complete optional allocation, donor, payment, and notes details before submitting. The draft is kept for you only; another member signing in on the same browser does not see it.
Linking to Wishlist Items
When you link a donation to a wishlist item, enter the quantity funded or received. If the donation status is Pending or Checkout Created, PawPlacer reserves that quantity so it cannot be claimed from the public wishlist. If the donation status is Received, PawPlacer adds that quantity to the item's received count.
For example, if a wishlist item needs 3 bags of food and you record a received donation for quantity 2, the item moves to Partially Received and shows 2/3 received.
If the donation is later marked refunded or cancelled, PawPlacer subtracts that quantity so the wishlist stays accurate.
Use the pending status for item pledges, checks, external payments, or other gifts that still need confirmation. After matching the payment or confirming the item arrived, use Reconcile to mark the donation received. The reconciliation dialog lets staff enter the amount actually received, even when it differs from the original recorded amount.
Linking to Pets
Choose Pet when a donation is intended as a pet sponsorship or is tied to a specific animal. The donation source becomes Pet Sponsorship, and the table links back to the pet record.
Statuses
Use statuses to reflect where the gift is in your workflow:
- Received: money or goods have been received
- Pending: promised, reserved, or started externally but not yet received
- Checkout Created: a Stripe or Square checkout was created and is waiting for payment
- Failed: a Stripe or Square checkout or payment failed
- Cancelled: no longer expected
- Refunded: returned after being received
Stripe- and Square-created public donations may use Checkout Created or Failed while webhooks process checkout activity.
After saving, PawPlacer opens the donation's full record. Use Edit there to return to the same ledger-style form.
Notes and References
Use External Reference for check numbers, Venmo IDs, fundraiser payout IDs, donor-facing references from external payment starts, or any accounting reference your team needs later.
Use Message for donor-facing messages and Private Note for internal context, reconciliation details, or refund notes.