Gift File FAQs

This article answers common questions about what to include in the Gifts File and how specific fields impact VEO stewardship and outreach.

Should we include sports tickets, payroll deductions, or other non-tax-deductible gifts?

In most cases, no.

Typically, gift officers would not steward items such as payroll deductions, sports tickets, or similar non-tax-deductible transactions. For that reason, these are generally excluded from the Gifts File.

However, if your organization is comfortable:

• Stewarding these gifts through the VEO, and
• Including them in “Giving Since Launch” metrics within the Manager Report

then you may choose to include them.

Should we include pledges or pledge payments in the Gifts File?

Including both pledge gifts and pledge payments in the gift file is strongly recommended.

If pledge activity is not included, the VEO may not see recent giving behavior and could:

• Initiate a solicitation
• Ask for support while a donor is actively fulfilling a pledge

Including pledge activity ensures donor outreach remains appropriate and aligned with the donor’s current commitment.

When pledge gifts are included in the Gifts File, the VEO has visibility into the full scope and timing of a donor’s commitment. This supports more accurate stewardship messaging and better contextual awareness of the donor’s giving journey.

Please note:

• Pledges included in the Gifts File support stewardship and context
• Pledges are not included in the Manager’s Report
• Pledges are not included in “Giving Since Launch” totals
• Pledges should also be included in 'Last Gift Date/Amount/Designation' fields on the Portfolio file to remain consistent with what is being delivered in the gift file

For the Fiscal Year total fields in the Portfolio Template (such as FY0_TD and FY_1), we recommend calculating these totals using your organization's existing standards, so that our reporting matches what you may see within your own CRM and dashboards.

This approach ensures Fiscal Year totals reflect totals that align with your reporting, while the Gifts File provides the broader pledge context needed for stewardship and donor engagement.

How important is it to populate the RECURRING field?

For stewardship purposes, this field is very important.

If a donor is making recurring gifts (for example, monthly) and the RECURRING field is not populated, the VEO may:

• Steward the donor after every gift
• Prevent the donor from receiving other types of outreach due to frequent stewardship

To avoid this, we highly recommend populating the RECURRING field using any consistent value your CRM supports, such as:

• True / False
• Yes / No
• 1 / 0

Providing this data allows the VEO to steward recurring donors appropriately while continuing meaningful engagement throughout the year.

If you have questions about Gift File formatting or would like help reviewing your data, please contact version2support@givzey.com.