Donation Orders

Role: Box Office Staff, Administrators

Donation orders record charitable contributions to the theater. They can be created directly or generated automatically through the Refund to Donation process.

Navigation: Stagemgr > Orders > Donation Orders > New Donation Order

Overview

A donation order records a patron's financial contribution to the theater. Unlike ticket orders, donation orders do not reserve seats or have associated performances. They track the donor, amount, campaign, and payment information for financial reporting and tax receipt generation.

Prerequisites

Donation orders can only be created for theaters that are marked as 501(c)(3) organizations in the system. This designation enables the theater to accept tax-deductible donations.

Creating a Donation Order

Step 1: Customer Lookup

1. In the Address section, begin typing the donor's name
2. Select the matching record from the autocomplete, or enter new patron details

Field	Required	Description
Full Name	Yes	Donor's full name (for the receipt)
Email	Yes	Email address for the donation receipt
Line 1	No	Street address
Line 2	No	Apartment, suite, etc.
City	No	City
State	No	State
Zipcode	No	ZIP code
Phone	No	Phone number

Complete Address

For donation orders, collecting the full mailing address is recommended. Donors may need physical receipts for tax purposes, and the address is included on donation acknowledgment letters.

Step 2: Theater Selection

Select the theater the donation is associated with. Only theaters marked as 501(c)(3) organizations will appear as options.

Step 3: Donation Amount

Enter the donation amount in the Amount field. This is the total contribution the patron is making.

Step 4: Campaign (Optional)

The Campaign field identifies what the donation is associated with:

Campaign Use	Example
Production-specific donation	"Romeo and Juliet 2026"
General fund	"General Operating Fund"
Capital campaign	"Building Renovation Fund"
Annual appeal	"2026 Annual Appeal"
Event-specific	"Spring Gala 2026"

Campaign Tracking

The campaign field is used in donation reports to group and analyze contributions. Use consistent campaign names across orders for accurate reporting.

Step 5: Payment

Select the payment method and process the donation:

Payment Type	Description
Credit Card	Process through Stripe
Cash	Record cash donation received at the box office
Check	Record check donation; note the check number
External	Record donations processed through external platforms

See Payment Processing for details on each method.

Step 6: Submit

1. Review all details
2. Submit the donation order
3. The order is created with status Processed
4. A donation receipt email is sent to the donor

Donation Line Items

Each donation order contains one or more donation line items:

Field	Description
Amount	The dollar amount of the donation
Campaign	The campaign the donation is attributed to

Most donation orders have a single line item, but the system supports multiple items if a donor wishes to split their contribution across campaigns.

Donations Created via Refund to Donation

When a ticket order is converted using the Refund to Donation feature:

• A new donation order is created automatically
• The patron address is copied from the original ticket order
• The donation amount equals the original ticket order total
• The campaign is set to the production name
• The payment is transferred from the ticket order
• The original ticket order is marked as Canceled

These auto-generated donation orders appear in the donation orders list alongside manually created ones.

Fulfillment

Donation orders follow a simplified lifecycle:

Status	Description
Processed	Donation has been recorded and receipt sent
Fulfilled	Donation has been fully acknowledged and recorded
Refunded	Donation was refunded to the donor

To fulfill a donation order:

1. Navigate to the donation order
2. Click Fulfill
3. The status changes to Fulfilled

Donation Receipts

When a donation order is created, the system automatically sends a donation receipt email to the donor. This receipt includes:

• Donor name and address
• Donation amount
• Theater name and 501(c)(3) status
• Date of donation
• Campaign information

Tax Receipts

The automated receipt serves as the donor's record for tax deduction purposes. Ensure the patron's name and address are correct before submitting the order, as the receipt is sent immediately.

Searching for Donation Orders

Navigate to Orders > Donation Orders to view the donation orders list. You can search by:

• Donor name
• Order ID
• Campaign
• Status

See Order Search for general search guidance.

Troubleshooting

Issue	Resolution
Cannot create a donation order	Verify the theater is marked as 501(c)(3) in the system
Receipt not sent	Check the donor's email address on the order
Wrong campaign assigned	Edit the donation order to correct the campaign field
Need to refund a donation	Use the Refund action on the donation order detail page
Donation from Refund to Donation missing	Search by the patron's name in the donation orders list