Data Entry Made Easier: Smart Batching and Caging Tips

When it comes to maintaining clean data, staying compliant, and keeping your books balanced, the way you prepare contributions before they ever hit Crimson makes a huge difference. Whether you're entering a handful of checks or processing a major fundraising push, having a reliable batching and caging process will save you time and headaches.

Below are practical, battle-tested best practices to help you organize contributions before data entry so your team can move faster and stay accurate.

Start With Smart Segmentation

Before opening Crimson, sort your incoming contributions into “like” groups. This keeps batches clean and logical, and it makes reconciliation far easier.

Here are the most common ways committees segment gifts:

• Payment Type: Keep checks and credit cards in separate batches. If your team handles a high volume of credit cards, consider segmenting by card type. It makes balancing against processor reports much smoother.

• Fund Code: Separate Primary and General contributions.
  If a single gift splits across both funds, place it in a Primary batch and re-designate the remainder later inside Crimson. (More details are available in the Data Entry guide.)

• People Type: Group contributions by the type of donor, such as Individuals, Partnerships, Multi-Candidate PACs, etc.

• Program Type: Events, telemarketing, and direct mail don’t behave the same financially. Separating high-dollar event revenue from lower-dollar grassroots or mail contributions can make reporting and auditing far more straightforward.

Each of these groupings should become its own batch. Remember: Crimson requires every contribution to be part of a batch, even if it’s the only item in that batch. That applies whether you're using the import tool or entering gifts manually.

Build Consistent Batch Numbers and Logs

Once you’ve organized contributions into groups, it’s time to label and track them.

• Create a clear batch number: Assign each batch a simple four-character code, such as letters, numbers, or a mix.
  Example: 1001

• Maintain a batch log: Every batch should be documented with:

  • Batch number

  • Date

  • Number of contributions

  • Total dollar amount

  • Any helpful notes

  • The log can live in Excel, Google Sheets, or even on paper. The key is consistency and continuity.

• Use batch headers: Print or write a header for each batch that includes the log details. This becomes invaluable if you ever need to trace a contribution back to its original documents, such as during an audit or compliance review.

Preparing for Deposits and Processing

With gifts now grouped and labeled, your next step is prepping checks and credit cards for processing.

Checks

• Separate checks from their paperwork

• Verify that the check stack total matches the amount recorded on your batch header

• Prepare checks for deposit

• If possible, note on the deposit slip which batch numbers are included. Your future self will thank you if you ever have to chase down an error

Credit Cards: If you’re processing credit cards outside of Crimson, run them before data entry. This lets you adjust batches for declines or incorrect amounts before anything is committed to your database. If you use Crimson’s credit card processing, cards will clear during entry. No extra step is needed.

Ready for Data Entry

With your deposits prepared and credit cards cleared, you're ready to enter contributions into Crimson.

Strong batching isn’t just about organization. It sets the stage for cleaner reports, easier audits, faster reconciliation, and smoother compliance follow-up. A little structure upfront pays off in accuracy and time saved later.

If you want additional help, check out our related recent Feature of the Month Data Entry Dashboard post.