CommunitySuite hosts a variety of different reporting options to look at the data collected within it. There are four options to consider when looking to extract data:
- Default Reports
- Financial Reports
- Filter Reports
- Custom Reports
Each type of report offers distinct benefits depending on what you are looking to accomplish with the data.
Given all the different means of reporting in the system, it can be difficult to decide which reporting area to go to in order to find the information you are looking to analyze or use. Below are some brief descriptions of when and why each type of reporting might be used.
Default Reports
Use default reports to see a summary of data in several of the main system areas. This may be helpful if you are looking for a count of donation by campaign or at scholarship payments to each school at the end of scholarship season.
Default reports summarize in-system data utilizing pre-defined criteria. Each report has an input parameter, generally a date range, and produces a report with pre-defined columns.
- Navigate to the Reports page and click Default Reports in the left-side menu to access the full list of default reports.
Each default report can also be accessed from its respective page. For example, the Donations Report can also be accessed by clicking Reports in the left-side menu on the Donations page.
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Financial Reports
Financial reports offer a look into the transactional and financial aspects of data entered into the system. The correct financial report will vary based on the information for which you are looking. Perhaps you want to review fund balances for upcoming grant commitments or see transactional totals of donation revenue. A financial report can provide that information.
- Navigate to the Financials page and click the financial report name in the left-side menu.
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Filter Reports
Filter reports are available throughout the system. They have a pre-defined set of columns on exports. The criteria you can filter by is also predetermined and varies by page. For instance, general ledger and profile filter reports will have different filter options. If you are looking for a specific transaction, then the filter report available in the General Ledger area allows you to filter down to transactions by things like the amount or date. This may also be helpful determining how many donations came in on a certain date.
Filter reports are available on the following pages: profiles, donations, grants, scholarships, pledges/promises, general ledger, logs, and notes.
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Custom Reports
Custom reporting is the most comprehensive reporting option for non-financial information. This option is best used for any need that is beyond what a basic filter or default report can offer. These reports will allow for aggregation, grouping, additional filter fields, etc. If you want to narrow down a list of donors to invite to a campaign based on the total amount of donations they gave last year or you are looking for funds that have not granted recently, then a custom report is the reporting option to use.
Custom reports offer the most flexible view of your data. These reports are most useful for non-financial data and allow a user to customize the field selection, filtering, aggregations, and sort orders.
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Exporting Data
All reports can be exported, and the export will reflect all filters. In the left-side menu of any default, filter, or financial report you will see the options to Print Page and Export CSV. Print page exports a .pdf of the visible data on the page. Export CSV exports all report data with applicable filtering and formatting to Excel.
Custom reports may also be exported using the Export button at the top of the report once it has been run. The Print Page option will also be visible in the left-side menu of any custom report.