Administrator Gift Record Management: Email and Data Changes

Can Administrators Change Email Addresses on Gift Records?

Yes, administrators with appropriate permissions can edit donor email addresses and other gift information after a donation has been processed.

What Gift Information Can Be Modified

Editable Fields

Depending on your administrator permissions, you can modify:

Donor email address - Update incorrect or changed email addresses
Donor name - Correct spelling errors or name changes
Mailing address - Update address information for receipts and stewardship
Phone number - Add or correct contact information
Designation selections - Change fund allocations
Anonymous status - Make gifts anonymous or visible
Incentive selection - Change selected rewards (if donation meets minimum)
Joint gift information - Add joint donor names and years (when enabled)
Honor/memorial information - Update "in honor of" details
Affiliations - Modify donor year and affiliation selections
Gift notes - Add internal notes about the donation

Custom form fields

Custom form fields appear in the Gift Information section on a donation detail page. Administrators can view and update these fields directly. The field labels and required settings from the original giving form are preserved, and any built‐in validations are applied when you update values.

After updating the fields, click Save Changes to apply your edits. The new values are displayed immediately in the donation record.

Editing custom fields from the donation detail page

Custom fields from your giving forms appear as editable inputs on the donation detail page. When you update a custom field, the original label, required status, and validation rules (such as email or numeric formats) are preserved.

After making changes, click Update Donation to save the new values. The changes are recorded immediately and reflected on the donation record.

Protected Fields

Certain fields cannot be modified through the standard interface:

Gift amount - Protected for most donation types
Payment method details - Credit card information is secured
Transaction IDs - System-generated identifiers remain unchanged
Processing timestamps - Original transaction dates are preserved

How to Edit Gift Records

Accessing Gift Management

Navigate to Online Giving in your admin dashboard
Go to Donations
Search for the specific donation using donor name, email, or donation ID
Click on the donation ID to view details

Making Changes

On the donation detail page, modify the appropriate fields in the gift information sections
Update affiliations using the affiliation selector
Adjust designations if your campaign uses multiple funds
Add internal notes in the Notes section
Click Update Donation to save your changes

Important Considerations

Audit trail: Changes to gift records are automatically logged with timestamps and administrator information
Receipt accuracy: Email changes affect where future receipts and communications are sent
Data integrity: Ensure changes align with your organization's data management policies
Integration timing: Changes made after data exports may require manual updates in external systems

Common Scenarios for Gift Record Updates

Email Address Changes

Donor reports email change after making gift
Typo in original email prevents receipt delivery
Corporate vs personal email preferences
Bounced email notifications requiring address correction

Data Correction Needs

Name spelling errors discovered post-gift
Address updates for proper receipt delivery
Affiliation corrections for accurate donor categorization
Custom field updates based on additional donor information

Permission Requirements

The ability to edit gift records depends on your administrator role and permissions:

Full administrators typically have broad editing capabilities
Limited administrators may only edit certain fields
Campaign-specific roles may be restricted to their assigned campaigns

If you cannot edit fields you believe you should have access to modify, check with your system administrator about your permission level.

Changing a constituent's email to ID mapping

If a constituent number is linked to the wrong email address, you can correct the mapping in the admin interface.

How to update constituent identifiers

Navigate to Online Giving > Reporting > Settings in your admin interface.
Click the Constituent Identifiers tab.
Search the email to find the incorrect match and delete
Under Add Individual Identifier, enter the correct information:
- Constituent Email: the correct email address
- Constituent ID: the correct constituent ID
Click Add Identifier.
To update recent gift attributions, use the Backfill Constituent Identifiers feature:
- Enter the number of days in the Backfill # Days field.
- Click Backfill Constituent Identifiers.

Backfill notes

The backfill window determines how far back the system applies the updated mapping.
Choose a range that covers the period when the incorrect mapping affected gifts or notifications.
While the identifier update is immediate, backfilling ensures that reporting and attribution reflect the correction for the specified time frame.

This method corrects email-to-ID mappings without altering gift amounts or other protected transaction data. If you update mappings for gifts that have already been exported or reported, re-run your downstream exports or reconciliation processes as needed.

Best Practices

Documentation

Always add notes explaining why changes were made
Include the date and administrator making the change
Reference any donor communication about the change

Verification

Confirm changes with the donor when possible
Verify new email addresses before major communications
Test updated contact information for deliverability

Integration Considerations

Check if changes affect existing CRM integrations
Verify whether manual updates are needed in external systems
Consider timing of changes relative to automated data exports