That sounds like a great path Anthony, love the overall field setting so it is customizable. Appreciate your updates on these ideas!

We are looking to solve things multiple ways to give the flexibility that database view has and more in some instances. We have the ability to search by ID or description/name for all of these columns and the display returns back both values to give that flexibility and ensure you are selecting the right value. This specific idea deals with wanting separate columns for the IDs, which we plan to do. We also have ideas to bring in the business rule setting to show fields throughout the system based on description or ID and we are looking into implementing that as well. I think we wind up with the best of both worlds in the end with columns if that works for you and eventually a setting by user.

I'm kind of confused that it sounds like gift batch will still be forced to display the full fund/appeal name with the option to add a column for ID. It seems like most orgs would choose to enter and display by ID only. Both is an improvement in one sense, BUT it also makes batch entry longer and more tedious, which has been a big complaint. It would be a much better improvement to allow ID or description as columns when setting up batches and then orgs could choose which they use to key in and/or want to see.

Reading through more carefully, I do understand what you are saying, Anthony, clunky as it may be and as much as it will add time for every gift entry compared to current entry. It is to be expected, as the webview platform is an inferior database interface, and the needs of the day to day database users are such an afterthought. But yes, for our needs, for ease of use, for the fact that Blackbaud has had so very very long to make this happen and has not bothered until now, we need all separate fields that have been available in grid batch entry in database view to be available in grid batch entry webview, and the fact that we are being forced to vote and beg for them is gross and awful.

What MaryAnn Snyder said. It is not enough for it to be a read only field. That is an unacceptable loss of functionality. We key in donors by ID in grid batch entry, this is much faster for our data entry and also prevents adding to the wrong donor. Anything else is an unacceptable loss of function. Blackbaud has had many years to make this switchover. That so many absolutely essential functions are still not available or understood is awful. It is not acceptable for this to be a read-only field, it needs to be a field that can be used to access the donor file.

We key our donors in by their ID in Batch. We print the constituent ID on annual giving forms or membership renewal notices. The constituent ID is our main identifier, not the name.. especially when there potentially many folks with the same name. I am stymied as to why anyone thought it was a good idea to not implement the same functionality around search capabilities as we have in db view. Taking away functionality isn't improvement. The amount of time it would take to look up all our folks while processing by their name would be dramatically increased. Read Only is good after the fact we've confirmed that is the id number we want... we need the search/enter functionality in Batch beforehand.

YES! We need to be able to see the IDs for all fields and areas they appear, like reports, batch entry, everywhere! I cannot stress how important this is.

IDs over descriptions is key for gift entry, for DB administration and Finance.

Yes, Definitely needed

PRETTY PLEASE bring IDs for constituent, campaign, fund and appeals. We have many campaigns, funds and appeals and the only way to make gift processing easy, is to go by the ids rather than the descriptions (especially when the names are SUPER long). I'm not sure about others, but our Finance department heavily relies on the IDs as well. Also, PLEASE include those in the Control Report that's available after the batch has been approved.

Our organization use both to identify constituents and the correct funds. Appeals & Campaigns are not an issue for us to see the description, but the ID needs to be visible in the batch. The biggest issue is to have both visible for constituents. This is extremely helpful when you have multiple common same names and multiple generations in your database. Also, our funds are separated as well by name to identify principal vs operating. However, the names are the same with an indication at the end of that name of which one. We only have the Fund ID printing out in our batch reports. As long as I have the ability to look up the fund via name to make sure I have the correct one, I am fine. Anthony, if I am understanding you correctly, I will still be able to view the ID, the name will show up in the batch but the ID will not print out with the reporting?

Would the read only columns be searchable in query?

Thanks, Anthony. IDs for all mentioned fields are critical for reviewing of batches before approving them. I understand the concept of read only fields, but it might also be helpful to offer the option of viewing one or the other - and entering them that way. For instance, we add appeals by ID and review them that way. We never use the description in either step, so having both would be too much content, but having the option of one or the other is helpful there. But for funds, seeing both is helpful.

You can enter a constituent, campaign, fund, appeal or package using IDs today. Those fields will take ID or name/description input and the results will show both to help ensure you pick the right one. The main issue still outstanding is that once selected, we are only showing you the description or name in the cell. So the solution would be to have a read only column that you could add to view the IDs if that is something you needed to have at a glance while working in batch.

Anthony, If the constituent ID would be read only, does this mean we would not be able to add a constituent to the batch by entering their id? We would have to enter name and look for the correct constituent?

This one has been coming up a lot for not only constituent, but for campaigns, funds and appeals as well. We were attempting to see if we could have the selection display show both the description/name and ID but that just makes everything so very tough to read. Not so much for constituent but for the CFA items specifically. We want the same experience across the batch so the plan now, is to get these into read only columns where you can add them as needed. All of those read only columns are planned.

Agreed! Constituent ID needs its own column in batch. We use IDs as a main criterion in constituent matching. We also have many donors with similar names. Having the IDs in a separate column help us ensure that credit is given to the correct person or entity and helps when we pull lists or queries.

I had the same issue until I entered the constituent number in the name field, and the associated name came up. But we still need a separate column.

Please add constituent ID to the batch template in NXT. Thank you!

Many of our constituents are churches with the same name, so having a list of the constituent IDs is essential for us to ensure that we have the correct constituent! So for our purposes, having a visible quick list of the constituent ID allows for an essential final accuracy check before approving a batch and processing the gifts.

Please add constituent ID to batch!!! We use it on our mailings- enter id and not have to look up constituent each time. We use ID on every mailing list, practically every if not every query, or any list.