The Database Corner with Mike Furlong

JUly 2025

The Database Corner with Mike Furlong

Should we be recording gifts in-kind in our database?  Our organization just got a new Director of Accounting, who wants us to start recording in-kind gifts in our database. We’ve never done this before. How do we start? 

In-kind gifts are non-cash gifts made to an organization, usually in the form of goods or services. Your Director of Accounting is correct, organizations should record these gifts and include them in their financial reporting. The best way to do this is the way you would any other gift—as a gift or contribution in your CRM. This requires assigning a monetary value to the gift, which can usually be done by reviewing the item’s cost or the market value of similar items or services, or consulting the donor. 

I recommend creating a new Fund in your CRM for in-kind contributions and booking them as contributions to this fund the way you would any other donation. For some organizations, this may be multiple funds. For example, it might be helpful to group in-kind donations into Auction Items received for an event versus general in-kind donations that support your mission. Booking your in-kind gifts to a separate fund or funds allows for easy separation in reporting, enabling a clearer understanding of cash contributions versus non-cash contributions and providing a more accurate picture of your organization’s revenue.

Booking in-kind donations to your database with a monetary value also enables organizations to record them in line with other donor contributions, facilitating better stewardship. For organizations with only a few in-kind gifts, including in-kind donors in your lists can ensure they’re included in recognition and prospect lists, lessening the chances that they’ll fall through the cracks. If your organization has a large number of in-kind gifts, such as donated items for an auction, you can more easily identify those donors year-over-year or administer special benefits for in-kind donors. Regardless of how many in-kind gifts you receive, recording these allows your organization to steward donors for all of their contributions, not just cash and pledges. 

To start booking these gifts:  

• Consider any in-kind gifts you’re currently receiving and discuss with your Accounting Director. Are you receiving in-kind donations for a specific event or program? This can help you determine how many Funds are needed.  

• Work with your Finance team to create those funds, including any general ledger (GL) account information needed.

• Consider your gift processing procedures and how you would process these gifts. Should rights to add in-kind gifts be restricted to certain groups of users, like Development staff, instead of staff in the Box Office? Do you need a new payment method or gift type to record in-kind gifts? Should you mark these gifts as “Do Not Post”? If so, make those changes in your database.

• Enter a few in-kind test gifts. Is entry clear? How do these gifts show up in reporting? How do they show up on a constituent record? Update your gift processing documentation to reflect this.

• Communicate these changes with your teams. Staff must understand how in-kind donations are recorded on a constituent’s record, in constituent giving history, and in department reporting. Crucially, ensure staff know where in-kind gifts are counted toward revenue or fundraising progress and when they aren’t.