Skip to main content
Because gifts arrive in your own payment account, Harvest only knows about them once you record them. This is the routine that keeps everything correct.

​
How to record one

1

Open the contact

Go to CRM, find the person and open their record.
2

Add a donation

Press Add Activity, choose Donation, and enter the amount and date.
3

Save

That is it. One entry, four places updated.

​
What one entry updates

Your dashboard

The giving total on your overview moves immediately.

Accounting

An invoice is created automatically. You do not enter it twice.

The member's own history

They see the gift in their account, with a receipt they can download.

Their giving statement

It lands in the right year automatically.

​
The email matters more than you think

A gift is matched to a member by their email address. If you record a gift against a contact with no email, the gift still counts on your dashboard and in your accounting — but the member will never see it in their own account, and it will not appear on their statement.Harvest tells you this on screen before you save. It is not a silent failure, but it is easy to click past.
If you are recording a gift for someone who will want a year-end statement, make sure their contact has the email address they use to sign in.

​
A weekly rhythm works best

Most churches set aside a few minutes once a week: open your payment account, open Harvest side by side, and record what came in.
Doing it weekly rather than monthly keeps your dashboard honest, and it means a member asking “did my gift come through?” gets a real answer.

​
Gifts you cannot attribute

Sometimes money arrives with no name you recognise. Record it against the contact if you can identify them later; if you never can, it is still real income for your accounting even though no member sees it.