Read your dashboard
Every figure on your dashboard counts from the day a donation was recorded in DonorCARE — not necessarily the day the money moved — so a donation entered late shows up in today’s numbers, not the period it actually happened in.
Why it works this way
Section titled “Why it works this way”The dashboard’s job is to answer “what’s happening right now” the moment you log in, so it counts by entry date: the day something was keyed in. Your financial surfaces — exports, reconciliation and board reports — exist to answer to your books instead, so they count on the cash date: the payment date if one is recorded, otherwise the entry date. Most donations are entered the same day they’re given, so the two dates agree and the difference is invisible. It only shows up once a donation is backdated — caught-up paper records, an event’s takings entered days later — and that is exactly when the dashboard and a financial export are allowed to disagree.
The terms
Section titled “The terms”Entry date — the day a donation was keyed into DonorCARE. Every tile on this dashboard counts on this date.
Cash date — the day the money is treated as received. Used by exports, reconciliation and board reports, never by this dashboard.
This month — the 1st of the current calendar month (Malaysia time) through today.
What each tile counts
Section titled “What each tile counts”| Tile | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Raised this month / Donations this month | Completed donations entered so far this month, compared to the same number of days last month — never a partial month against a whole one |
| Active campaigns | Currently published campaigns, right now — no date range |
| Needs attention | Live counts of things waiting on you (failed payments, pending approvals, e-invoices, donors at risk) — not bucketed to any period at all |
| Revenue chart | Completed donations, grouped by the period you pick (Last 7 days through All time) |
| Campaign Progress / Top Campaigns | Amount raised per published campaign, all time |
| Donor Base | Distinct donors with a completed gift each month, new versus returning, over the last 12 months |
Every one of these includes the sample donations your organisation started with, and — unlike most exports — does not leave out donations made while testing your gateway. If a total here doesn’t match an export for the same month, check both of those before assuming something’s wrong.
What this means in practice
Section titled “What this means in practice”Do
- Expect a donation you backdate — say, entering March’s paper receipts in September — to land in September’s dashboard total, since the dashboard counts by entry date.
Don’t
- Expect “Raised this month” to match your Monthly Summary export or board report for the same calendar month once any backdated entry is involved — they’re counting on different dates by design.
Worked example
Section titled “Worked example”Suppose your temple catches up three months of paper receipts on 15 September, entering RM6,000 of gifts actually given back in March. September’s Raised this month tile includes that RM6,000, because it was entered in September. Your Monthly Summary export for March includes it instead, because its payment date falls in March. Neither number is wrong — each is answering “when did this happen” with a different, equally real, date.
Related
Section titled “Related”Screenshots use sample data. Every screen on this page is captured against a demo organisation seeded with generated donors, amounts, receipt numbers and campaigns. Any resemblance to a real person or organisation is coincidental.