When most gifts to an activity share the same details (all cash at a collection, or all credited to one team), payment defaults save your team from entering them each time and keep the coding consistent.

Before you start

Set the defaults

  1. Open All Activities and select the activity.
  2. Open the Payment defaults tab.
  3. Fill in any of these. Each is optional.
    • Currency: a three-letter code, for example GBP. It’s saved in capitals.
    • Status: Paid, Pledged or Invoiced.
    • Payment method: Cash, Cheque, Bank transfer, Direct debit, Card, Online or Other.
    • Team: the team the income should be credited to, typed as free text.
  4. Choose Save defaults. Defaults saved. confirms the change.

To remove a default, clear the field or choose No default, then choose Save defaults. Saving replaces the whole set, so anything left empty has no default afterwards.

How the defaults are used

Defaults are applied when a payment coded to the activity is saved, and only to the fields that payment leaves empty. A value someone enters on the payment always wins. Changing the defaults later doesn’t change payments already recorded.

What that means in practice:

  • In the payment form, the defaults are not shown or filled in while you type. The form says “Picking an activity applies its payment defaults”, and it does so when you save: if you choose this activity and leave Team empty, or don’t choose a payment method, the activity’s default is used.
  • Currency and status are always sent by the payment form, so their defaults don’t change payments entered there. They apply to payments created through the Relationships API that leave those fields out.
  • The tab’s own description says the importer applies these defaults too. We couldn’t confirm that importer rows use them, so check a few imported payments before relying on it.

If something goes wrong

  • “Failed to save. Please try again.” Your defaults weren’t saved. Check that you have relationships:write:fundraisingactivities and try again.
  • If a payment didn’t pick up a default, open it and check whether that field already had a value when it was saved. Also check that the payment is coded to this activity: defaults come only from the activity chosen in Activity.