The program normally comes in one compressed file, which is DONINST.EXE for the full installation or DONUPDT.EXE for updated versions. For those experienced with such things, the quick version of the installation instructions is that you just download that file, run it, and follow the instructions.

If you need to download the program on one computer, and install it on another computer that does not have Internet access, see the Diskette Installation page.

For those wanting a bit more detailed instructions, first download the file from its Download page by clicking on the appropriate link, labelled "DONINST.EXE" or "DONUPDT.EXE". Your browser will then prompt you for a directory to download the file into - make sure you take note of what directory you selected. Some browsers will give you an option such as "Run this program from its current location" - that is OK too. (If you select that option, the next paragraph does not apply.)

If you selected to download the program into a specific directory, then once it finishes downloading, use Windows Explorer or a DOS Command window (if you are so inclined) to find DONINST.EXE or DONUPDT.EXE in the directory you downloaded it into. Run it. (In Windows Explorer, you do that by double-clicking on it.)

If you selected to Run the program from its current location, your browser will automatically download the program to a temporary location on your disk, and then run it.

Very occasionally the installation file gets damaged during the download process, or by something on your PC (such as a virus). If you get any bizarre error messages when you start the Setup, you may want to check for that. To do so, first make sure that you did download the installation program to a directory on your computer, rather than running it directly from the download page. Then download the file DonationChecksum.exe into that same directory, and use Windows Explorer or a DOS Command window to find DonationChecksum.exe in that directory and run it. It will tell you whether the installation program is damaged. If so, try downloading the installation program again, and running DonationChecksum.exe again. If there is still a problem, contact support, and report exactly what the program told you.

At the beginning of the setup, a few users may see a message box with the following message, or one similar to it:

You seem to either not have Microsoft ODBC installed at all, or you do not have a recent version. DONATION will not work without a relatively current version of ODBC.

Please go to www.microsoft.com/data/download.htm to download a newer version of ODBC (now called MDAC).

You need to be sure to download a Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) Release, not a Software Development Kit. The correct file is generally called MDAC_TYP.EXE. After downloading it, you must install it.

After that, re-try this installation program, DONINST.EXE.

If you do see that, just follow those instructions carefully.

Assuming you did not have the preceding problem, the Setup program will prompt you through the installation via a number of dialog boxes, which should be quite straightforward. In each one, you make any required selections then click the "Next" button to go on to the next dialog. You will be required to select one or two directories to install parts of the program into. Unless you have some specific reason to change them, please use the suggested default installation directories.

When it comes to the dialog box where it shows the different components of the program that you can install, leave all of the components selected. Even on a re-install of the full program (DONINST.EXE) you can leave all of the components selected - it will never overwrite important files such as your database of donors and donations. If you do not install all components, your program may not run correctly.

After it installs the files to the directories you selected, it will tell you it is finished. There are a couple of checkboxes on that final screen, that give you options to immediately Run DONATION, or view the Help file.

If this is a first installation, then if you now look on your desktop, you will see a new icon for DONATION, a grey cash register. Double-click on that icon to start the program, if you didn't already start it by picking "Run DONATION" at the end of the installation process.

When you first run DONATION, it program will prompt you for the first year of data you plan to enter, to set up your organization's information (name, address, etc.), and to set up your list of donation categories.

You should now be ready to start entering donors and donations!

Please do read the help or manual, which you can do from the program's Help menu, using the options Help Contents or Read Manual. Exactly the same information is contained in the Help file and in the PDF manual. While the program is very easy to use and contains context-sensitive help for many areas (accessed with Shift-F1 or a Help button), there are a number of tricky points about issuing legal charitable receipts that you should make sure you read about. There are also a number of tricks and tips about using the program efficiently that you might not figure out without reading the help or the manual.