You can specify graphics files for both your organization's logo, if you have one, and the receipt signing officer's signature, via the Select Logo and Signature Images button in the window that comes up when you select the Maintenance à Receipt Options menu option. That brings up the following window (with some sample data shown):
The two fields after the File prompts are not editable: you select the files using the Browse buttons. You may select files from any folder on your local hard drive, and they may be in any standard bitmap format (BMP, GIF or JPG). Once you select a file with the Browse button, the program will check that it has the correct dimensions (details below) and then display it in the corresponding Image area.
If you decide that you don't want to have one of the Logo or Signature bitmaps used, which you have previously specified, use the Clear button to remove it.
As usual, you can save your changes on this window with the OK button, or abandon your changes with the Cancel button.
Using your Logo in the Receipts
If you have an organizational logo, and specify it in the window above, it will display on the program's built in receipts, in the top right corner. (If you choose to generate receipts with Mail Merge, it will also display on them.) If you don't specify it in that window, your logo will not appear on the receipts, but they will still print fine.
The logo must be in a bitmap file as described above, with width 150 pixels and height 60 pixels. Alternatively, if you provide a bitmap whose size is a multiple of 150 x 60, e.g. 300 x 120, 450 X 180 or 600 x 240, it will be automatically scaled to fit into the desired space on the built in receipts (and may even look better on your printer). If your logo is not that shape, you will have to edit it with a graphics editing program (like Microsoft Paint, or PhotoShop), and try to fit it into the bottom (if it is wider and less high) or right side (if it is squarer) of the space provided, as it will line up with the other elements on the receipt better that way.
The same logo file is automatically included in the sample mail merge receipts and mail merge letters. However, it is not scaled to any given size - it will show up at whatever size the file actually is. You can also alternatively edit the sample mail merge receipt, to remove that logo file and insert a different one (of any size and shape) in its place, or in a different position in the receipt.
Unless you are printing on a colour printer, this will probably look best if your bitmap is all black-and-white, or what most paint programs call two-colour or monochrome.
The same logo file can also optionally be included on envelopes that you print for donors or receipts.
Using a Bitmap Signature on the Receipts
You can also use a bitmap for the signing officer's signature. It must be a bitmap file 166 x 39 pixels, or a multiple of that size, e.g. 332 x 78, 498 x 117 or 664 x 156. If such a file is specified in the window above, it will be used on the built-in receipts. If not, the space will be blank for a hand-written signature as usual.
The same bitmap signature file is also included in the sample mail merge receipts. However, as with the logo, it is not scaled to any given size - it will show up at whatever size the file actually is.
Some users may wish to use a password to govern the generation of receipts, since having the bitmap signature there makes it more of a one-person job that is less desirable from an audit perspective. To set up such a password, use Maintenance à Change Password à Receipt Password.
Different Files for Different Databases
Starting in version 3.30 of DONATION (in which the window above was introduced), it is now possible to have different logo and signature files for different databases, if you create and switch between multiple database for multiple organizations with the Database à Switch Databases menu option. Just go into that window once for each of your databases, and choose the desired files for each one. They will then be automatically used, as you switch databases.
(Previous versions of DONATION always used the file C:\Program Files\Donation\logo.bmp for the logo, and C:\Program Files\Donation\signatur.bmp for the signature, for all databases, which was much more limiting. When you first upgrade from previous versions of DONATION to version 3.30 or higher, if those files are present, they will be picked up and displayed in the window above, and used on your receipts, but you can then change them if desired.)
Warning about using Bitmap Signatures for Canadian Users
The Canada Revenue Agency, on a web page about Computer-generated Receipts, has some regulations about doing this, which DONATION will not satisfy in most cases. (What they call "facsimile signatures" include bitmap signatures, as used in DONATION, and rubber stamp signatures.) So you may need to decide whether you wish to use this capability in DONATION. Here is what that page says, as of July 2009:
Can receipts be issued with facsimile signatures?
A facsimile signature can be used under the following conditions:
| • | all copies of receipts are distinctively imprinted (usually by a commercial printer) with the name, address, and registration number of the charity; |
| • | receipts are serially numbered by a printing press or numbering machine; and |
| • | all unused receipt forms are kept at the registered charity's Canadian address (this address must be the address recorded with the Canada Revenue Agency). |
Having said that, these regulations are inconsistent with their regulations for emailed receipts, which clearly require a facsimile signature, but cannot possibly satisfy the regulations above. The CRA is aware of this inconsistency, and may address it in the future. For obvious reasons the people I talked to at the CRA could not tell me that they would not enforce the above regulations, even though they are inconsistent. However, I personally think it's probably fair to assume that even if the CRA became aware that a charity was violating these regulations, they would not apply a severe punishment, but rather just ask for future compliance. But as I say, you need to make your own decision about this.
Training Video
There is a training video on Using a Logo and Signature bitmap on your Receipts on the Demos and Samples web page, if you would prefer to see this feature demonstrated live, rather than just reading about it. This might be particularly helpful if you have no idea how to go about creating graphics files with the correct dimensions, because it gives a quick introduction to doing that using the Windows Paint program.
However, please note that that video was made prior to the introduction of the window above, so it just shows those files being saved in the standard place for versions of DONATION prior to version 3.30 (e.g. C:\Program Files\Donation), and with the standard filenames logo.bmp and signatur.bmp. Those restrictions as to location and filename / graphics file type are no longer relevant.