Donation envelopes

Envelope numbers let finance volunteers look up a donating family by the number printed on a contribution envelope. This is optional; it is off for new ChurchCRM installations.

Turn on envelope numbering

1. An administrator opens Admin → System Settings → Financial Settings.
2. Enable Use donation envelopes (the bUseDonationEnvelopes setting).
3. Save the system settings.

Once enabled, the envelope manager and envelope-related finance fields appear where your account has access. The feature is available to users with Finance permission; an administrator controls the system-wide setting.

Assign a number to one family

1. Find the family record and open the family editor.
2. In Envelope Info, enter its Envelope Number as an integer.
3. Save the family.

A number of 0 means no envelope assigned. Numbers are not automatically checked for uniqueness: two families can have the same number.

Assign numbers to many families

Open Finance → Admin → Envelope Manager.

1. Use Family Select to choose a classification or show all families.
2. Choose whether to sort by Last Name or Envelope Number.
3. Set or edit numbers beside the families. Assign starting at # can fill a sequence; Zero clears the displayed families' envelope numbers.
4. Click Update Family Records and confirm. Editing numbers on the screen alone does not save them.
5. Use the print control beside Update Family Records for the Envelope Report.

Duplicate numbers are highlighted in the manager. Review these before saving.

Find the right family when entering a payment

Users with Finance permission can type an envelope number in the family picker on the payment editor. Matching families show an (Envelope #N) label. If more than one family shares a number, several results may appear; verify the family name before recording the donation.

This lookup is introduced with the payment-editor changes in #10383. On an older ChurchCRM installation without those changes, select the family by name instead.

Where else envelope numbers appear

• Envelope Report: print a list of assigned envelope numbers.
• Tax reports: identify the relevant family by its envelope number.
• Fund Contributors: the Envelope column appears when the feature is enabled.
• Pledge Dashboard: the Envelope column appears when the feature is enabled.

Envelopes are plain integer family identifiers, not a record of physical cash or a unique account number. A blank or zero envelope number means no assignment, and duplicate numbers require human confirmation.

For entering donations, see the Finances guide.