ANNOUNCEMENTS

It’s a great time to tidy up your People list and check for duplicate records. Keeping your data clean helps prevent reporting and communication issues.

 

Run the Duplicate People Report in People > Reports to look for duplicates by both email address and name, then merge any matching records.

 

A few minutes now can save headaches later!

Finding the right corporate partner just got a lot easier. Double the Donation (DTD) has rolled out a major update to the Sponsorship Directory within Pinwheel to help save time and make better application decisions.

Here’s what’s new:

• No More Guessing: DTD added Grants Cycles and Frequency Limits to company profiles. Now you can instantly see when funding rounds open and close, and how often a company awards sponsorships.
• Smarter Search: DTD improved the search tool to help find relevant partners faster than ever.
• A Fresh Look: There is now a cleaner, easier-to-navigate design that makes browsing opportunities a breeze.

Program details are subject to availability and vary by company.

Click in Organizations > Sponsor Finder, or in Events > Management > Sponsors > Sponsor Finder to explore the new directory's features and find a new partner today!

Copy Tool - The Copy function in Events, Recruitment Campaigns, and Fundraisers now displays a longer Name field, making full titles easier to view when copying.

Recruitment Campaigns - In Settings, the grid headers on the Roles and Sites tabs now stay frozen in place so they are always visible.

Events - Registration List - An Export to Excel button has been added to the grid.

Fundraisers List - A new # of Donations column has been added to the Active and Previous Fundraisers grids, to the right of the Received column.

Email Marketing - The Contacts grid now includes new name field filters for Is null or empty and Is not null or empty, giving users additional options when reviewing contact lists.

Sites - On the Contacts tab, a new Edit Person Record button has been added. This opens the person record for the selected contact in the grid. The Edit Contact button is now used to manage role selection and start and end dates.

Fundraisers - The Collect P2P Minimums grid in the Management menu has been updated to display the fundraiser donation page link and fundraiser's phone number. (This tool is available when a fundraiser is configured for peer to peer fundraising and has a minimum requirement set in event registration.)

The Event Participant List Report has been updated with the following changes:

• All column headers now display proper spacing between words.
• Store Items has been split into three separate columns: Team Store Items, Participant Store Items, and Registration Store Items.
• Merchandise has been renamed to Store Amount.
• Product customization details now display next to the product code in store item columns.
• Additional Donation has been renamed to Donation.
• Coupon Code has been renamed to Discount Code.
• Coupon Category has been renamed to Discount Category.
• Discount has been renamed to Discount Amount.
• Sales Tax now appears after the Upgrade Fee column.
• Household Income has been renamed to Income Range.
• Income Adjustment Flat Fee has been renamed to Income Range Adjusted Fee and now displays the amount or percentage associated with the selected income range.
• A new column, Lunch Program Adjusted Fee, has been added after Lunch Program. This column displays the amount or percentage associated with the selected lunch program type.
• Payment Offer Amt has been renamed to Additional Adjustment to match financial assistance terminology.
• Batch ID has been renamed to Payment Batch ID (this information is associated with manually entering check and cash payments).
• Team custom questions are now supported and appear at the beginning of the custom question section.

 

 

Payment Plan Enhancements

1. Exclude store items and/or donations in payment plans – In Events - Setup - Payment Plan Setup, users can now determine if giveaway upgrades, store items, and donations should be included in payment plans or charged in full with the first payment. Checkout page messaging has been added to reflect this setting.
2. Online payments only for payment plans - Also in Payment Plan Setup, payment plans can now be limited to online payment methods, including credit card, bank (ACH), and wallet payments.
3. End payment plans after a set date - Lastly in Payment Plan Setup, payment plans can be disabled after a selected date, requiring full payment at checkout for later registrations.
4. Improved receipts - Payment Plan receipts (subsequent to the initial receipt) now display the remaining balance due, the number of payments remaining, and indicate when the payment plan is complete.

Team Enhancements

1. Team Questions in Custom Questions – When an event is configured with Teams, Question Groups can be applied to Teams (per team created) and are displayed on the Create a Team page between the team name and store sections.
2. Enhanced Team Record - Team records now include dedicated subtabs for Team Details, Team Members, Team Questions, and Team Store Items.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season! Our office will be closing at Noon today (12/24) as our team takes time to recharge and will reopen on January 5. If support is needed during this time, please email support@pinwheel.us and we will be glad to help.

 

 

Wallet Pay for Events

Wallet Pay is now available as a payment option for event registrations in Pinwheel! This allows participants to complete registrations using supported digital wallets for a faster, more convenient checkout experience.

To enable Wallet Pay for an event, open the event and navigate to Setup > Settings > Payments, then set the Accept Wallet Payments toggle to Yes.

Using Wallet Pay can help reduce checkout friction, support mobile-friendly registrations, and improve completion rates by allowing participants to pay without manually entering card details.

Sponsorship Directory Added

The Double the Donation Sponsorship Directory is now available in Pinwheel and can be accessed from the Organizations tool and from Events > Sponsors under the Sponsor Finder buttons. This makes it easier to research corporate sponsorship, grant, and in-kind donation opportunities.

The Sponsorship Directory provides a searchable database of companies that offer corporate giving programs. Filters can be used to narrow results by program type and organizational focus, helping surface opportunities that align with specific missions and events. Each listing includes eligibility details and links to next steps, reducing the need for manual research across multiple sources.

After opening the directory, use the toggle buttons to switch between Grants and In-Kind opportunities, then apply filters to view relevant companies and application information.

Event Dashboard Update

In the Categories graph, clicking a bar now opens the corresponding category record directly from the dashboard.

Financial Assistance Changes

• Show and Hide toggles have been added to the Income, Household Size, and Lunch Program tabs. These toggles allow each set of questions to be turned off in registration while keeping all configured data intact in Pinwheel.
• The Additional Adjustments tab now includes an editable section header. This allows the label shown on the checkout page to be customized. For example, the header can be changed from “Additional Adjustments” to “What are you able to pay?”
  

We’ve published a new blog post focused on helping organizations grow recurring donations during year-end giving. The post shares practical best practices for encouraging monthly gifts, highlighting the value of recurring support, and making small adjustments that can lead to more consistent, long-term fundraising. This resource is especially helpful for organizations planning end-of-year donation campaigns. Click here to read it.

 

People Reports Updated for Consistency

Several People reports have been refreshed to present a consistent set of fields across all list views. All reports in this group have been renamed to start with People List, such as People List - Board Members and People List - Volunteers. The reports also now also use the exact report name in the filename instead of the previous generic People List label. The following reports now use the updated field layout:

• People List - All
• People List - Board Members
• People List - Contacts
• People List - Donors
• People List - Employees
• People List - Users
• People List - Volunteers  

The following changes have been made to each report:

1. First and Last Names moved to the first columns
2. Spouse added
3. Contact Roles added as a new Pinwheel field
4. Volunteer Login column updated to Pinwheel Username
5. New columns added for social media accounts
6. Gender, Date of Birth, Ethnicity, and Languages added where not previously shown
7. Background Check, Text Consent, Do Not Solicit, Alumni and Alumni Where, and Referral Source (new Pinwheel field) added where not previously shown

The Volunteers by Organization report has been retired. Users are encouraged to use People List - Volunteers instead, which includes more data and allows for filtering.

New Awards List Report

A new Awards List report has been added to People Reports to support the People Award functionality released last week. This report lists all awards assigned to individuals and includes Award, Award Category, Award Date, Presentation Event, Notes, and other relevant fields.

Volunteers by Organization

A new Awards List report has been added t

Site Contact Enhancements & PTA/Principal Changes

Pinwheel has released several updates to improve how Site Directors/Principals, PTA Presidents, and other site contacts are created, managed, and maintained. These changes strengthen site record quality, organize contact relationships more clearly, and simplify the site acceptance process in recruitment campaigns.

Contact Roles - A new Contact Roles setting is available under People Roles in Account Settings. This update:

1. Introduces two standard and system‑controlled contact roles: Site Director/Principal and PTA President.
2. Allows accounts to add additional custom contact roles
3. Supports assigning contact roles directly on a person record
4. Custom roles added by accounts will not have system functionality tied to them but can be used for filtering and general contact management.

Site and Organization Contacts Tabs - Site and Organization records now include two sub-tabs in the Contacts tab:

1. Current Contacts – Anyone currently associated with the site or organization
2. Former Contacts – Any person previously attached and then removed

When removing a contact:

1. A new confirmation window asks the user to confirm
2. The removal date is recorded
3. The person moves automatically to Former Contacts
4. Association Status updates to Former on the person's record
5. Start Date and End Date fields help preserve an accurate history of site involvement.

Person Record Association Enhancements - A person’s Associations tab now shows:

1. Connected Account
2. Contact Role
3. Status (Current or Former)
4. Association Start Date
5. Association End Date

These values reflect real‑time changes when a contact is added, updated, or removed.

Site Application Acceptance - In Recruitment Campaigns, the Site Application acceptance process has been redesigned. When a site is accepted:

1. Site Director/Principal and PTA President details can be converted into person records.
2. Roles are automatically applied upon acceptance.
3. All accepted contacts are added to the site’s Current Contacts tab.

If the site already exists:

1. Existing site contacts are displayed.
2. Users can choose to keep or remove each contact.
3. Removed contacts automatically transition to Former status.

Site Application Form Updates - The Site Application’s Standard Questions - Contacts section has been expanded to include:

1. Site Director/Principal first name, middle name, last name, phone, and email
2. PTA President first name, middle name, last name, phone, and email

Section headers now allow the title to be customized and the contact block to be published or hidden. 

People List Filters - The People List now supports:

1. A contact role column
2. Filtering by all contact roles
3. Filtering by current or former contact status

Reports - The following standard reports were updated to reflect recent data changes, with layout, formatting, and select name updates:

1. Site Reports - Site Contacts - This report has been reorganized to provide one line per contact associated with a site.
2. Site Reports - Site Grouping - This report has been renamed Site Participation Trends by Grouping. Formatting and layout improvements were made.
3. Site Reports - Site Historical Data - This report has been renamed Site Historical Data by Season and Year.
4. Site Reports - Site List - This report has been reorganized to align with the order of tabs and fields in the site record.
5. Site Reports - Site Notes List - This report has been reorganized to add one column each for notes.
6. Site Reports - Site Recent Assignment - This report has been renamed Site Recruitment Campaigns & Event Assignments.
7. Site Reports - Site Retention by Site Type - This report has been renamed Site Type and Title 1 Retention Comparison.
8. Site Reports - Site Season - This report has been renamed Site Season Preferences. It has been expanded to show all season combinations.
9. Site Reports - Site Summary - This report has been renamed Site Record Report. Formatting and layout improvements were made.
10. Site Reports - Site Type - This report has been renamed Site Type & Title 1 Season Snapshot. The data has been updated to remove the season preference and compare sites in one program/camp to the entire site portfolio.
11. Site Reports - Site Utilization - This report has been renamed Site Season Utilization and Retention. Report labels have been updated for clarity, additional data has been added, formatting has been improved, and explanations of data have been added throughout, including an "Understanding the Report Metrics" section at the end.
12. Site Reports - Site Type Over Time - This report has been retired. The information in this report can be retrieved in the Site Type and Title 1 Retention Comparison.
    
13. Site Reports - Sites by Organization - This report has been retired. The information in this report can be retrieved in the Site List.
14. Site Recruitment Campaigns - Application Information - All Questions - Formatting and layout improvements were made.
15. Site Recruitment Campaigns - Applications List - Unnecessary columns have been removed, and some columns renamed for clarity.

Data Conversion for Existing Site Director/PTA President Data - Existing Site Director and PTA President values on site records were converted into person records.The conversion process:

1. Created new person records when no matching person exists.
2. Merged data into existing records if matching emails are found.
3. Applied appropriate contact roles.
4. Placed the person on the site’s Current Contacts tab.
5. Added an association history and status to the person's record.
6. Validation rules were used to weed out placeholder data, such as "N/A" or "Unknown".