The first question to be answered is whether you can accept an unlimited number of donor "entries", or if there are limits. An example of unlimited donor entries would be those donors who donate general support dollars to your fair, to be used as needed. A limited donor entry might be a trophy sponsor--there can only be one Grand Champion Market Steer trophy sponsor, for example.
Think about--there is no way to charge the credit card processing fee to the "exhibitor", so if you are accepting credit cards, the processing fee (3.9% + $.30 per transaction) would be deducted from the amount deposited with the fair. For a $1000 donation, that amounts to $39.30. For a $100 donation, it would be $4.20. Accepting credit cards is a whole-fair decision. You can't accept credit cards for one portion of the fair, but not for another one.
Managers could make these "entries", which would create an invoice for the exhibitor, and the payment method would be restricted to checks only (manager-created entries cannot be paid by credit card).
Unlimited entries
If you can accept all "entries" without a limit, that can be managed in the hierarchy with an entry fee. Each "entry" would be charged the fee for that "class". If donors log in and make their own entries, they can choose to pay by credit card or by check (if you allow both of those options within your fair).
The hierarchy shown below would work well for that type of general support donor: Donors department, Fair Support division, Classes for each level of donation. The donation is set up as an entry fee for each class.
- Notice that the department has an asterisk in front of it. That's so it pops to the top of the hierarchy and doesn't get lost between Dairy Goats and Horticulture.
- Advantage--simple to set up, simple to enter, simple to print class lists, which would contain all entries into the class.
- Think about--it's set up for standard donation amounts, so would not work for someone who wanted to give $372.50.
Entry Fee setup: (This was entered at this CLASS level of the hierarchy, for class 01 shown above.)
Limited entries
Entries cannot be limited by class, only by exhibitor, so if you need to limit the number of entries, you'll need to do that by using custom questions, which can have both a fee attached, and a "capacity" (meaning how many can be sold). One thing you'll want to make sure to do is offer an alternative for someone who wanted to donate money for one trophy, only to find that it was no longer available. Give them an option to spend that money in another way.
The hierarchy shown below was set up to demonstrate how to manage donors for specific items. There are different classes for different types of donations, and there are custom questions that list the options available, as well as limit how many can be sold.
Custom Question Setup:
Below is an example of a sign-up question that was used to limit each trophy sponsorship to one person. Notice that there is an option at the bottom for those who are not able to purchase one of the listed trophies. The donor could also cancel this "class entry" at this point, and go back and choose a different "class"--Showmanship Buckles, for example.
- Custom questions are set to "required" because the only fee associated with this "class entry" is the fee on the custom question. There is no class entry fee set up.
- Advantage--easy to print class lists, but you would need to create a custom report in order to see the results of the custom field selection.
- Think about--be sure there is an option when the donor's first choice is sold out.
- Think about--the selected option is unavailable to others when it is selected, not when the invoice is submitted. So a donor may have an open invoice sitting there, with a champion trophy selected, and now no one else can choose that, and you don't have the invoice/payment etc.
You can "mix and match" limited and unlimited class options within a department. In the example hierarchy shown, Livestock Trophies is limited with a custom question, but the class "Communication Awards" could be set up as unlimited with a class entry fee (similar to the first Fair Support example shown) if that works in your fair.
You can also capture information for promotional materials--programs, signage, etc.--by using custom questions and custom file uploads.