Understanding your numbers
Karani derives a lot from a small number of inputs. Knowing which is which makes the difference between trusting the numbers and second-guessing them.
The inputs
Section titled “The inputs”Everything on the Finances page and dashboard comes from five things:
- Your fiscal year start month
- Your yearly pledge goal (and next year’s)
- Your pledges — amount, frequency, start date, end date
- Your gifts — amount and date
- Your prospects’ annual potentials
Nothing else. If a number looks wrong, one of those five is the cause.
What each figure means
Section titled “What each figure means”| Figure | Computed from |
|---|---|
| Percent funded | Total pledged ÷ pledge goal |
| Pledged | Sum of active pledges, annualised across the fiscal year |
| Potential | Sum of annual potentials on Prospect-status contacts |
| Left to raise | Pledge goal − pledged, then divided by months remaining |
| Given vs. goal this year | Sum of gifts this fiscal year ÷ yearly gift goal |
| Given vs. goal this month | Sum of gifts this month ÷ monthly gift goal |
| Behind on giving | Per donor: expected-to-date from the pledge vs. actual gifts |
The five things that make numbers look wrong
Section titled “The five things that make numbers look wrong”Percent funded is in the hundreds
Section titled “Percent funded is in the hundreds”Your pledge goal is still at the default. A new account starts at $10,000; if you’ve imported real pledges without updating it, everything reads as several hundred percent. Fix it in Fiscal year & budget settings.
Pledged is much lower than you expect
Section titled “Pledged is much lower than you expect”Pledge start dates. Karani counts a pledge from its start date forward, so long-standing pledges entered with today’s date contribute almost nothing to this year. See Adding a pledge.
Given this year looks low, but the money came in
Section titled “Given this year looks low, but the money came in”Check the gift dates. If gifts were imported with the date you ran the import rather than the date the donor gave, they all land in one month. Also check your fiscal year start month — if it’s set to January and your organisation runs July to June, half your year is in the wrong bucket.
A donor looks wildly behind
Section titled “A donor looks wildly behind”Almost always the pledge, not the donor. Check the start date and the frequency, and check whether an import created a duplicate contact so the pledge is on one record and the gifts on another. See Pledge fulfillment.
The totals don’t match your organisation’s report
Section titled “The totals don’t match your organisation’s report”Common and usually explainable:
- Timing — your organisation reports when funds were processed; Karani reports gift date.
- Soft credits counted in one system and not the other.
- Display-only gifts excluded from Karani’s totals by design.
- Fees deducted before your organisation reports, but not in Karani.
Potential vs. pledged, one more time
Section titled “Potential vs. pledged, one more time”Pledged is money people have committed. Potential is your guess about prospects. The Finances page shows both because both are useful for planning — but only pledged is real.
Set potentials honestly in the Prospective Giving report. Inflated potentials make the pipeline look healthy right up until the year ends.