Part 4 · Finance

Donations and fundraising

Track donors, structure fundraising into funds, campaigns and appeals, record donations and issue official receipts that meet CRA and Revenu Québec rules.

Symbifox 18.0 (September 2026 catalogue) · Modules: Fundraising Core, Fundraising web and donor portal, Donation receipts for Canada (CRA and Revenu Québec) · Base applications: Donation · Revised 2026-09-12

The Levée de fonds (fundraising) application serves charities and non-profits. It keeps the donors, the fundraising structure, the donations received and the official receipts for income tax purposes. It is for the person who solicits, the person who records donations and the management team that tracks progress toward the goals. In practice: a donation recorded once produces its compliant receipt, goes out by email and is added to the fund and campaign totals. The Boréal demo is a consulting firm, not a charity, so this application's screens carry their settings there, but no donations.

Overview#

Fundraising is structured on four levels, from the broadest to the most specific. The fund says where the money goes (general fund, a fund dedicated to a project) and carries the analytic account that distributes the donation in the accounting. The campaign is the overall effort for a period, with its goal. The appeal is a specific effort within the campaign, for example a spring mailing. The package is a variant of that appeal, for example the printed envelope against the email: it is what tells you which of the two worked.

People are called constituents: donors, members and prospects together. A constituent is a contact record with the Constituant (constituent) box checked. The record then gains a Philanthropie (philanthropy) tab that carries the donation total, the first and last donation, the largest donation, the estimated capacity and the solicitation codes. Several constituents can be attached to the same household, so that two spouses do not count as two unrelated donors.

The donation is the central piece: a donor, a date, one or more amounts allocated to funds, and a payment method. Once validated, it produces its accounting entry and its tax receipt. The receipt is not an invoice. It is a separate document, numbered in a gap-free annual sequence, that carries every statement required by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The first screen is the donor book, as cards: name, city, email, and four counters per record.

Configuration#

Access and permissions#

Permissions are granted in Settings › Users, in the Donation section.

Settings#

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Paramètres opens the application's section. It is short, and its labels are in English in this version, on the English and the French screens alike.

The statements on the official receipt are set elsewhere, on the organization's record, in Settings › Companies:

• the Numéro d'enregistrement (ARC) (CRA registration number), in BN/RR format;
• the Signataire autorisé (authorized signatory), their Titre (title) and their Signature;
• the Lieu de délivrance (place of issue) and its display box;
• the Afficher l'évaluateur (dons en nature) (show the appraiser, gifts in kind) box;
• the Adresse ARC (organismes de bienfaisance) (CRA address for charities).

Without a registration number, the receipt is not an official receipt.

Base data#

Six sets of data come before the first donation. The funds, at least one, each linked to its analytic account. The donation campaigns, with their goal and their dates. The appeals and their packages, if you want to measure the effect of each mailing. The donation products, six on the demo, which carry the income account. The payment methods, four on the demo. The solicitation codes, five on the demo: “Ne pas solliciter” (do not solicit), “Ne pas appeler” (do not call), “Ne pas envoyer de courriel” (do not email), “Ne pas envoyer de courrier” (do not send mail) and “Décédé(e)” (deceased).

Finally, add a thank-you letter template if you send a personalized note with your receipts.

Getting started#

This walkthrough records a $500 donation to the general fund and produces the official receipt for it.

1. Open Levée de fonds › Donations › Donations, then select New.
2. In Donor, choose the person's record, or create it.
3. Check the Donation Date and choose the Payment Method.
4. In the lines, choose the donation product and the Fonds (fund), then enter the amount.
5. Optional: choose the Donation Campaign, the Sollicitation (appeal) and the Trousse (package) behind the donation.
6. Select Validate.

Result: the donation is posted, a tax receipt is created with its serial number for the year, and the receipt goes out by email to the donor with the PDF attached. The totals of the fund, the campaign and the appeal rise by as much, and the donor's Philanthropie tab shows their new last donation.

Common tasks#

Register a constituent#

A donor is a contact first. The Constituant box is what brings them into fundraising.

1. Open Contacts and the record you want, or create it.
2. Check Constituant.
3. Choose the Type de constituant (constituent type): individual, household, organization or foundation.
4. Open the Philanthropie tab.
5. If needed, fill in the Capacité de don estimée (estimated giving capacity) and the Cote de richesse (wealth rating).
6. Save.

Result: the record now appears in Levée de fonds › Constituants (constituents), and its Philanthropie tab fills in on its own as donations come in.

Group constituents into a household#

A couple who give together should not count as two unrelated donors.

1. Create a contact record for the household and check Est un foyer (is a household).
2. Open the record of each person in the household.
3. In the Philanthropie tab, choose the Foyer (household) you created.
4. Save.

Result: the household record lists its Membres du foyer (household members), and the analyses can group donations by household rather than by person.

Set a solicitation code#

A constituent who asks not to be solicited again must be excluded once and for all, whoever prepares the next mailing.

1. Open the constituent's record, Philanthropie tab.
2. In Codes de sollicitation (solicitation codes), add the code you want.
3. Save.

Result: the Ne pas solliciter (do not solicit) box checks itself as soon as one of the codes excludes all solicitation. On the demo, those are “Ne pas solliciter” and “Décédé(e)”.

Create a fund#

The fund is the designation of the donation: it says where the money goes and how it is distributed in the accounting.

1. Open Levée de fonds › Fonds (funds), then select New.
2. Enter the Nom du fonds (fund name) and its Code.
3. Choose the Type de fonds (fund type).
4. Choose the Compte analytique (analytic account) this fund's donations will be distributed to.
5. Describe the fund in one or two sentences in Description.
6. Save.

Result: the fund is offered on every donation line, and its record shows the Montant amassé (amount raised) and the Nombre de dons (number of donations) as soon as the first donation arrives.

Set up a campaign, an appeal and a package#

The campaign carries the overall goal; the appeal and the package say what actually triggered the donation.

1. Open Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Donation Campaigns, then select New.
2. Enter the name, the Objectif (goal) and the Date de fin (end date).
3. Open Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Sollicitations (appeals), then select New.
4. Enter the Nom de la sollicitation (appeal name), then choose the Campagne (campaign), the dates and the Objectif.
5. In the Trousses (packages) tab, add one line per variant, for example the postal mailing and the email.
6. Save.

Result: the campaign shows its Progression (%) (progress) and its Montant amassé, both computed, and its Sollicitations tab lists its efforts. Each package counts its own amount raised.

Deduct the advantage received#

When the donor receives something in return, a meal or a ticket, only the difference is eligible for tax purposes.

1. Open the donation in draft.
2. Enter the Montant de l'avantage (amount of the advantage).
3. Enter the Description de l'avantage (description of the advantage), for example “Benefit dinner, value of the meal”.
4. Select Validate.

Result: the receipt carries the amount of the donation, the amount of the advantage and the Montant admissible (eligible amount), shown separately as the CRA requires.

Record a gift in kind#

A donated item is received at its fair market value, and the receipt must describe the item.

1. Open the donation, then enter the Description du bien (don en nature) (description of the property, gift in kind).
2. Select Validate.
3. Open the receipt produced and check the Juste valeur marchande (fair market value).
4. If your organization shows the appraiser, enter the Nom de l'évaluateur (appraiser's name) and their Adresse (address).

Result: the receipt carries the description of the item and its value. The appraiser appears only if the matching box is checked on the organization's record.

Produce cumulative annual receipts#

Several donations made in the same year can fit on a single receipt, which lightens the January mailing.

1. Open Levée de fonds › Tax Receipts › Créer les reçus annuels (create annual receipts).
2. Choose the year.
3. Check the number of donors concerned.
4. Start the creation.

Result: one cumulative receipt per donor, numbered in the sequence of the year, covering all their donations for the period. Donations that already received their own receipt are not taken twice.

Print receipts in batch#

For donors without an email address, the receipts come out as a single PDF to mail.

1. Open Levée de fonds › Tax Receipts › Print Receipts.
2. Choose the period and the receipts.
3. Start the printing.

Result: a single PDF, one receipt per page, ready for the envelopes.

Cancel and reissue a receipt#

A wrong receipt is not deleted: the CRA requires cancelled receipts to be kept.

1. Open the receipt in Levée de fonds › Tax Receipts › Donation Tax Receipts.
2. Select Annuler le reçu (cancel the receipt).
3. Enter the Motif d'annulation (reason for cancellation).
4. Select Réémettre (reissue).
5. Check the amounts on the new receipt, then send it to the donor.

Result: the cancelled receipt stays viewable, with its reason, and points to the one that replaces it. The new receipt carries a new serial number and names the receipt it replaces.

Find lapsed donors#

A donor who gave last year and not this year is the easiest to bring back.

1. Open Levée de fonds › Constituants.
2. Switch to list view.
3. Apply the Inactifs (LYBUNT) (lapsed donors) filter.
4. Add the Dernier don (last donation) and Total des dons (total donations) columns.
5. Group by Cote de richesse to sort the effort.

Result: the list of people to call back, sorted by what they have already given. Set aside those who carry a code that excludes solicitation.

Open the public donation form#

The website can receive donations without anyone entering them.

Prerequisite: a donation product set in the settings.

1. Check that the donation product is indeed selected in Levée de fonds › Configuration › Paramètres.
2. Open the /don address of the site to check how the form looks.
3. Add the donation link or button yourself on the pages of your choice, in Website, blog and eLearning.
4. Make a one-dollar test donation.
5. Open the donation created in Levée de fonds › Donations › Donations, then select Validate.

Result: the test donation is created in the donor's name, matched by email or created from scratch, and its receipt goes out automatically on validation. No donation link is added to the site without your action: a consulting firm has no reason to show a donation button.

The menus, one by one#

The main menu has six entries: Constituants, Donations, Tax Receipts, Fonds, Reporting and Configuration.

Levée de fonds › Constituants: the contact records checked Constituant, as cards or as a list. Empty on the demo: the help text recalls that constituents are your donors, members and prospects, and that checking Constituant on a contact record is enough to add it here.

Levée de fonds › Donations: grouping menu for donations.

Levée de fonds › Donations › Donations: the list of donations, with the Donation Number, the Donor, the Donation Date, the Amount Total, the Currency, the Payment Method, the Donation Campaign, the Company and the State. List, form, pivot and graph views. This is the daily entry screen.

Levée de fonds › Donations › Donors: the donor book, 96 records on the demo, as cards. Same content as Contacts.

Levée de fonds › Tax Receipts: grouping menu for receipts.

Levée de fonds › Tax Receipts › Donation Tax Receipts: the receipts issued, with the Receipt Number, the Donor, the Date, the Type, the Amount, the Montant admissible, the État (status), the Currency and the Print Date. Filter by status to find the cancelled receipts.

Levée de fonds › Tax Receipts › Print Receipts: the batch printing dialog. Its label is in English on both screens.

Levée de fonds › Tax Receipts › Créer les reçus annuels: the dialog that produces one cumulative receipt per donor for a year.

Levée de fonds › Fonds: the fundraising funds, with the Code, the Nom du fonds, the Type de fonds, the Compte analytique, the Montant amassé, the number of donations and the Company. Empty on the demo: the help text recalls that a fund is a designation linked to an analytic account.

Levée de fonds › Reporting: grouping menu for reports.

Levée de fonds › Reporting › Donations Analysis: the donations as a pivot, a graph or a list. Used for totals by fund, by campaign, by month or by donor.

Levée de fonds › Configuration: grouping menu, reserved for managers.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Paramètres: the settings described in Settings.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations: grouping menu for the fundraising structure.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Products: the six products of the demo, which carry the income account of the donation lines.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Payment Methods: the four payment methods of the demo. The label is in English on both screens.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Donation Campaigns: the campaigns, with their goal, their end date, their amount raised and their progress. Empty on the demo.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Sollicitations: the specific fundraising efforts inside a campaign. Empty on the demo: the help text gives a spring mailing as an example.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Trousses: the variants of an appeal, with their amount raised. Empty on the demo.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Codes de sollicitation: the five codes of the demo, with the Code, the Libellé (label), the Exclut toute sollicitation (excludes all solicitation) box and a Note. Two codes exclude all solicitation.

Levée de fonds › Configuration › Donations › Modèles de lettre de remerciement (thank-you letter templates): the templates for the note that accompanies receipts. Empty on the demo.

Reference#

Fields of the donation form#

Fields of the tax receipt form#

Fields of the fund form#

Fields of the constituent's Philanthropie tab#

Reports and exports#

The official receipt prints as a PDF, in a layout of its own, in the colours of the organization and with the Symbifox typography. The Print Receipts dialog produces a single PDF for a batch. Donations Analysis offers the pivot, graph and list views, which export to a spreadsheet. Lists export as everywhere else: see Common actions in every application.

Automations#

Three things happen on their own. A validated donation produces its tax receipt and sends it by email, with the PDF attached, in a layout branded for the organization. The totals of the funds, campaigns, appeals and packages, along with the constituent's donation summary, are recalculated at every read: they are never copied. The Ne pas solliciter box checks itself as soon as a code that excludes solicitation is set on the record.

Public pages and portal#

A donor who has an account sees, under My Account, their donations (number, date, campaign, amount, link to the receipt) and their official receipts, which they download themselves. Each page checks that the donor is viewing their own donations.

Modules that extend this application#

The application rests on the donation module from the Odoo community, which brings the donation, the tax receipt, the campaigns and the printing dialogs. Three Symbifox modules add to it.

Donor management and the fundraising structure come from the first one.

The official receipts come from the second one.

The public side comes from the third one.

Understanding#

A French receipt is enough federally and in Québec. A charity registered with the CRA has been recognized in Québec since 2016. A single receipt, in French, carrying the registration number, therefore satisfies both administrations. This is what sets these receipts apart from those of platforms designed for American rules.

The numbering cannot have gaps. The sequence restarts at one each year and skips no number: that is what makes the series verifiable. It is also why a wrong receipt is cancelled instead of deleted, and why cancelled receipts stay in the database, with their reason and their replacement chain.

The eligible amount is not the amount received. As soon as the donor receives a consideration, the receipt must show three amounts: what was given, what the advantage is worth, and the difference. Setting the advantage to zero for convenience makes the organization answerable for an overstated receipt.

The fund is not the campaign. The fund says where the money goes and leads to an analytic account; the campaign says where it comes from and measures an effort. The same $500 donation can belong to the general fund and to the fall campaign: both totals rise, without the money being counted twice in the books.

The receipt is not an invoice. It has its own standalone layout, in the colours of the organization, because a donor does not receive an invoice, and a recycled invoice template always forgets one required statement.

No donation button appears without your action. The form exists at its address, but no link is added to the site menu. The module also serves organizations that do not raise funds: their site has no reason to carry a donation button.

Troubleshooting#

See also#

• Contacts: the records where Constituant is checked and where the Philanthropie tab lives.
• Invoicing: the accounting entries and the analytic accounts that the funds feed.
• Email Marketing and Link Tracker: sending appeals by email.
• Website, blog and eLearning: the page that carries the link to the donation form.
• Customer experience: the portal where the donor finds their receipts.
• Privacy (Law 25 and other frameworks): the consents attached to donors, under Québec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector.
• Common actions in every application: chatter, activities, exports.