Note: Excepting anonymous contributions, which are free, adding and managing non-member contributions are paid features.

Contents

• Who are Non-Member Contributors?
• How does ChMeetings Manage Non-Member Contributors?
• Manually Adding Contributions from Non-Members
• Filtering Non-Member Contributions & Contributors
  
• Editing or Deleting Contacts
• Contacting Non-Member Contributors
• Exporting Non-Member Contributors
• Converting an Individual Contact to a Member
• (Bulk) Converting Contacts to People and People to Contacts

______________________________________________________________________________________

If your church receives any contributions from non-members, then you can save these contributors as contacts, who can be kept track of and contacted via ChMeetings. 

Who are Non-Member Contributors?

Anyone who donates to your church without having a ChMeetings profile is a non-member contributor. Some examples are: event guests, visitors, former members who still donate, people who donate via your donation link without logging in; anyone from your wider audience/community; organizations, etc. 

How does ChMeetings Manage Non-Member Contributors?

All non-member contributors are stored within ChMeetings as Contacts: either manually, when adding a new contribution; or automatically, when they donate online. 

Contacts are NOT added to your People list- they only display within Contributions. Therefore, they cannot be registered to ChMeetings, have any activity within the app, be added to groups or to follow-ups. Their event attendance cannot be tracked and they do not display in any reports, as they are not registered as members and do not have a full profile. Contact profiles work with limited information.. For all of these features to be available, contacts need to be converted to people (members).

Manually Adding Contributions from Non-Members

When non-members donate in person / offline, you can add their contributions by following the steps below: 

1. Go to Contributions > New Contribution,
2. Under Person or Envelope Number, click the arrow to open the dropdown, then click Add Contact.
   
3. Enter the contact’s details: Name, Phone, Email and Address information. Click Save when ready.
   
4. Once your contact is saved, enter the remaining contribution details. Please see How to add, edit or delete a contribution? for details.

Please keep in mind that Contacts are not saved without a contribution. Clicking the Add button on the New Contribution window will complete the process and save the contact along with their contribution. Below is a demo of the entire process.

When the contribution is added, it will be visible under Contributions > All Contributions List. 

Filtering Non-Member Contributions & Contributors

You can use the Advanced Search feature to filter non-member contributions and contributors.

To filter contributions from non-members: 

• Go to Contributions > All Contributions > List, and filter by Contacts. Feel free to add any other criteria of your choice.
  
  
• Once your contributions are filtered, you can perform other related tasks, such as exporting or generating statements.

To filter non-member contributors: 

• Go to All Contributions > Contributors and filter by Contacts. You can add other criteria, as needed.
  
  
• Once Contacts are filtered, you can use the features available within the Contributors tab to email or text them, to export the filtered list, or to create member profiles from existing Contacts.

Contributors are managed the same way, regardless of whether they are members or not. To learn more about the available features (e.g.: exports, generating statements, printing mailing labels, etc.), please see How to view, export, email, print and mail existing contributions?.

Tip: 

An easy way to distinguish contacts from members within the All Contributions List is by the default profile image: 

• Contacts:
• Members: 

Editing or Deleting Contacts

IF you want to edit an existing contact, there are two methods you can use: 

Method 1: Via the Contributors tab:

1. Go to Contributions > All Contributions > Contributors.
2. Find the contact that you want to edit, click its corresponding Options button, then select Edit. You can then update the required information and save your changes.

You can delete the contact by selecting the Delete option in the menu. You will be asked to confirm your choice.

Method 2: Via the Contact Profile:

1. Go to Contributions > All Contributions > List or to Contributions > All Contributions > Contributors.
2. Find the contact that you want to convert. You can filter the list as explained above, in the Filtering section, or use the search field. 
3. Click on the contact’s name. This will open up the contact’s profile.
4. Click Edit. You can then update the required information and save your changes.
   

You can delete the contact by selecting the Delete option in the contact’s profile. You will be asked to confirm your choice.

Contacting Non-Member Contributors

You can text and email non-member contributors from under All Contributions > Contributors, where you will need to filter the list by Contacts. Once your list is filtered, click the corresponding button to either Text or Email people, at the top right of the list. The Text/Email window opens and you’ll be able to write and send your message as usual. You will need to enter the people whom you want to contact. 

To contact people in bulk (or if you’d like another way to contact more than one person in one go), select them in the list then click Bulk Actions > Text/Email People). Clicking the checkbox at the top will select the entire list of contributors within your filtered list. 

Exporting Non-Member Contributors

To export a list of your non-member contributors (Contacts), go to All Contributions > Contributors and filter the list by Contacts. Once your list is filtered, click the Export icon at the top right. An Excel file will be downloaded, containing your list.

You can also choose to export specific people, in which case, you will need to select them using the corresponding checkbox, then to use Bulk Actions > Export. 

Converting an individual Contact to a Member

There are two methods you can use to convert a contact to a member: 

Method 1: Via the Contributors tab:

1. Go to Contributions > All Contributions > Contributors.
2. Find the Contact / Contributor that you want to convert to a member. You can use the search and filter options as needed. 
3. Under their name, click Add Person.
   
   1. You can also find the Add Person option by clicking the Options button corresponding to the contact that you want to convert. 
      
      
4. Once clicking Add Person, the profile will be created and you will see a message saying ‘Updated Successfully’. At this point, you can edit the person’s profile as for any other member. 

Method 2: Via the Contact Profile

1. Go to Contributions > All Contributions > List or to Contributions > All Contributions > Contributors.
2. Find the contact that you want to convert. You can filter the list as explained above, in the Filtering section, or use the search field. 
3. Click on the contact’s name. This will open up the contact’s profile.
4. Click Add Person. This creates a full member profile, which you can edit right away.

You can also use the bulk conversion process explained below, as a third method, if you prefer.

Learn more about Working with people and their profiles.

(Bulk) Converting Contacts to People and People to Contacts

You can convert one or multiple contributors from Contacts to People, and vice versa, from within Contributions > All Contributions > Contributors. This is particularly useful when contacts become members; or when members withdraw, but you want to keep them in your database. 

When converting from a Person to a Contact, most of the profile information is hidden, but still kept within your database. If you decide to convert the Contact back to a Person, you can do so as described below, and their full profile information will return. 

To convert a Contact to a Person:

1. Go to Contributions > All Contributions > Contributors,
2. Select the Contact(s) that you want to convert,
3. Click Bulk Actions,
4. Select Convert to People.

From now on, the Contact has a complete profile and can be integrated into all ChMeetings features, as a full member. If the Contact you have converted has previously been converted from a full member, then their information will return to their profile.

 

To convert a Person to a Contact:

1. Go to Contributions > All Contributions > Contributors,
2. Select the Person/People that you want to convert,
3. Click Bulk Actions,
4. Select Convert to Contacts.

This creates a Contact profile. From now on, the person’s profile will display limited information (everything else being hidden, but stored), and the Contact will behave as described above, under How does ChMeetings Manage Non-Member Contacts.