Optimizing Custom Reports for Recurring Giving

Recurring giving can be a fantastic way to acquire new, younger donors -- lowering the entry point for your community to give back. Having accurate data on this commitment in order to appropriately steward this group -- and to execute thoughtful upgrade strategies -- is so important. You want them to feel good and important in their long term commitment.

GiveCampus has created easy-to-use report templates based on best practices for pulling a report on all of your recurring gifts. This will help you manage your subscription, keep track of the lifetime value of your recurring gifts, anticipate gifts coming  to an end, and encourage upgrades! 📈

First, read this article to understand how to use pre-built custom report templates. Optionally, check out this article for more general information on creating a custom report!

GiveCampus has published these custom report templates to help you report on recurring gifts:

#1: Recurring Gift Subscriptions: This custom report can help you take a look at all of your subscriptions, the amount paid to date, the amount remaining on each recurring gift, installment amounts and frequency, and more. The BIG picture 🖼 on your recurring gifts. 🔄

Pro-Tip: Pull a report of subscriptions only by visiting your administrator dashboard > reporting > recurring donations > subscription report.

• constituent_identifier: your unique, constituent identifiers that you’ve uploaded from your database into GiveCampus
• paid_name: the name entered with the donors payment information
• payer_email: the email entered with the donors payment information
• state: donation states include paid, authorized, and confirmed. Learn what they mean.
• addr_city: donor’s city, if asked
• addr_state: donor’s state, if asked
• addr_country: donor’s country
• zipcode: donor’s zip code
• anonymous: true/false whether the donor opted to not have their name displayed on a campaign
• affiliation: donor’s self-identified relationship with your institution
• donation_type: this should read ‘installment’ for all of your recurring gifts.
• donation_id: unique GiveCampus donation identifier
• installment_subscription_id: unique GiveCampus subscription identifier
• subscription_state: this will show you whether the recurring gift is active, failed, canceled, or ended.
• subscription_installment_amount: the amount of each installment
• recur_period: the frequency of the recurring gift, monthly or yearly
• recur_length: the length of the recurring gift. This will read ‘indefinite’ for indefinite recurring gifts.
• max_installments: the number of installments in total, should the recurring gift run until its scheduled end date. This will be blank for indefinite recurring gifts. 
• subscription_start_date: date the recurring gift began
• subscription_end_date: the scheduled end date of the recurring gift. This will be blank for indefinite recurring gifts. 
• installment_number: which installment this most recent gift represents
• subscription_installments_remaining: the number of installments left on the recurring gift
• subscription_installments_paid: the number of installments that have been paid to date
• subscription_amount_remaining: amount remaining from the recurring gift commitment. This will be blank for indefinite recurring gifts.
• subscription_amount_paid: value of paid recurring gift to date.
• designation_name_[1-5]: the name of the fund the recurring gift is for
• designation_amount_[1-5]: the amount of the donation designated to this fund
• designation_backend_[1-5]: your backend designation identifier, if added in for your designations
• note_content: any notes added from school administrators to the recurring gift

Tip: pull an upcoming charges list using subscription_next_run_date

To generate a list of subscriptions scheduled to charge within a specific date range (for example, today through the end of a fiscal quarter), use the subscription_next_run_date column in the Subscription Report. This field appears in the Recurring Subscription Info category of the custom report column picker and displays the next scheduled charge date for active subscriptions.

How to produce an upcoming charges list

1. Open Reporting > Custom Reports and create or edit a report. Add subscription_next_run_date to your report columns.
2. Export your subscription data by navigating to Reporting > Donations, selecting the Recurring tab, and using the Subscription Report panel to export a CSV.
3. In the exported file, filter the subscription_next_run_date column to include only the dates in your target window. This will return all subscriptions with a scheduled charge during that period.

Best practices

• Combine a filter for subscription_state = active with your date range (either in the report builder or after export) to isolate subscriptions that are currently scheduled to charge.
• Use the CSV export for precise date-range filtering; while the on-screen report is useful for quick checks, the export provides exact, shareable data.
• Use subscription_last_run_date (without a space) to reference the column that indicates the most recent processed charge.

Example workflow

For example, to list all subscriptions scheduled to charge between today and the end of the month:

• Add subscription_next_run_date and subscription_state to your custom report.
• Go to Reporting > Donations and click the Recurring tab.
• Export the Subscription Report CSV and filter for rows where subscription_state is "active" and subscription_next_run_date is between the two dates.

This list can then be shared with your stewardship or finance teams for follow-up communications or reconciliation.

FAQ — distinguishing recurring installments from pledge payments

Q: Which columns differentiate recurring gift installments from pledge payments?

A: Use two columns together: donation_type (from the standard donation columns) and subscription_type (from the Recurring Subscription Info category). Both recurring installments and pledge payments use donation_type = "installment", so check subscription_type for clarity:

• subscription_type = "donation" or "general" → installment for a recurring gift subscription.
• subscription_type = "pledge" → payment toward a pledge.

Q: What are the donation_type values and their meanings?

A: The donation_type column can contain:

• "donation" — a standard one-time gift.
• "general" — also a one-time gift.
• "installment" — an individual payment (recurring subscription or pledge payment).
• "pledge" — the pledge commitment record (not a payment).
• "match" — a match contribution.
• "challenge" — a challenge contribution.
• "membership" — a membership gift.

Q: How do I build mutually exclusive reports for installments, pledges, and one-time gifts?

A: Use these filters:

• Recurring gift installments (payments part of recurring subscriptions):

  • Filter: donation_type = "installment" AND subscription_type IN ("donation", "general")

• New pledge commitments (the pledge records):

  • Filter: donation_type = "pledge"

• Pledge payments (payments toward pledges):

  • Filter: donation_type = "installment" AND subscription_type = "pledge"

• One-time gifts only (exclude all recurring states):

  • Filter: donation_type IN ("donation", "general") AND state NOT IN ("recurring", "recurring_paid", "recurring_failed", "recurring_canceled", "recur_failed_outstanding")

Q: Where do I find donation_type and subscription_type in the report builder?

A: Add donation_type from the standard donation columns and subscription_type from the Recurring Subscription Info category.

Q: How can I avoid double-counting installments?

A: Do not rely on donation_type alone. Since both recurring charges and pledge payments use donation_type = "installment", always check subscription_type to confirm the source of each installment.

Q: Example workflows

• To report recurring subscription charges over a date range: include donation_type and subscription_type in your export, then filter for donation_type = "installment" AND subscription_type IN ("donation", "general").
• To list active subscriptions scheduled to charge soon, use the subscription_next_run_date workflow from the Subscription Report, and include subscription_type for further segmentation.

Including both columns and applying these filters will ensure that gifts do not appear in multiple mutually exclusive reports.

#2: Recurring Gift Installments: Use this simpler custom report to just track installments that have come in during a certain period of time. This is a great way to see, for example, how many recurring gifts have been charged over the last month and their value. 🗓

Pro-Tips: Pull a report of installments only by visiting your administrator dashboard > reporting > recurring donations > subscription report. Be sure to also keep track of recurring gifts in your day-to-day donation reports by including ‘donation_type,’ helping you distinguish between a regular, one-time gift and a recurring gift installment. 

• constituent_identifier: your unique, constituent identifiers that you’ve uploaded from your database into GiveCampus
• paid_name: the name entered with the donors payment information
• payer_email: the email entered with the donors payment information
• state: donation states include paid, authorized, and confirmed. Learn what they mean.
• addr_city: donor’s city, if asked
• addr_state: donor’s state, if asked
• addr_country: donor’s country
• zipcode: donor’s zip code
• anonymous: true/false whether the donor opted to not have their name displayed on a campaign
• affiliation: donor’s self-identified relationship with your institution
• donation_type: this should read ‘installment’ for all of your recurring gifts.
• donation_id: unique GiveCampus donation identifier
• installment_subscription_id: unique GiveCampus subscription identifier
• subscription_state: this will show you whether the recurring gift is active, failed, canceled, or ended.
• donation_amount: amount of donation
• subscription_installment_amount: the amount of each installment
• date_of_capture: the date of most recent captured installment of the recurring gift
• designation_name_[1-5]: the name of the fund the recurring gift is for
• designation_amount_[1-5]: the amount of the donation designated to this fund
• designation_backend_[1-5]: your backend designation identifier, if added in for your designations
• note_content: any notes added from school administrators to the recurring gift

Need help? Or need some back up getting your advancement services team on board and prepared for recurring gift reporting? Reach out to support@givecampus.com!