Overview
This section provides an introduction to Chariot’s Gift Proccessing solution, a unified platform for nonprofits to streamline gift processing.
The Problem
Nonprofits receive donations from multiple sources - Donor-Advised Funds, workplace giving, crowdfunding platforms, mailed checks - each with their own portal, payment method, and data format.
Nonprofits spend countless hours manually reconciling payments across different systems, logging into dozens of portals, downloading CSV files, and matching donations to bank deposits.
Donor data is fragmented and inconsistent across these systems, making it difficult to maintain accurate constituent records and generate proper acknowledgment letters.
Getting donations into your CRM and accounting systems requires custom work for each payment source, creating a maintenance nightmare and data quality issues.
And, the problem is only getting worse as more payment sources emerge - creating a never-ending game of gift processing wack-a-mole.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
A New Approach
What if you could?
- Receive donations from all sources through a single unified platform
- Enrich donation data with complete donor attribution, campaign codes, appeal codes, fund codes, and more.
- Seamlessly integrate with your existing CRM and accounting systems
- Eliminate hours of manual data entry and reconciliation work
That’s what Chariot does.
How It Works
Chariot provides Payment Sources - segregated addresses for receiving donations from different sources. These can be electronic bank addresses (account + routing numbers) or physical mailing addresses (lockboxes).
When donations arrive at a Payment Source, Chariot automatically:
- Captures the payment and creates a Deposit record
- Attaches donation data to the deposit
You get complete donation data from the source including:
- Donor name, email, and contact information
- Gift amounts (gross, net, and fees)
- DAF account details and grant letters
- Platform information and platform fees
- Corporate match information
Key Benefits
Consolidate donations from 50+ DAF sponsors and platforms into a single stream
Match donations to deposits automatically with complete donation details
Export data to your existing CRM and accounting systems
Eliminate hours of manual reconciliation and data entry each month
Who Is This For?
Chariot is ideal for nonprofits that:
- Receive payments from multiple Donor-Advised Fund sponsors and platforms such as Benevity, CyberGrants, YourCause, etc.
- Want to reduce manual reconciliation work
- Need to integrate donation data with their CRM and accounting software
- Want complete visibility into gift processing
Core Concepts
Payment Sources
Payment Sources are segregated addresses for receiving donations. Think of them as different “doors” into your Financial Account.
- Electronic Payment Sources: Unique routing + account numbers for ACH transfers
- Lockbox Payment Sources: Physical mailing addresses for check processing
Each Payment Source can be dedicated to a specific source (e.g., one for Fidelity Charitable, one for PayPal Giving Fund) making reconciliation seamless.
Deposits
A Deposit represents a transfer of money to a Payment Source. One deposit may contain multiple individual donations.
Deposits track:
- Total amount transferred
- Settlement status (pending, complete, failed)
- Which Payment Source received it
- Payment method (ACH, check, account transfer)
Donations
A Donation is an individual charitable gift from a donor. Donations include complete attribution and metadata.
Each donation captures:
- Donor information (name, email, address)
- Gift amounts (gross, net, fees)
- Purpose and donor notes
- DAF account details (if applicable)
- Platform information (if applicable)
- Corporate match details (if applicable)
Chariot is a financial technology company, not a bank. Chariot Accounts come with a Demand Deposit Account through our banking services partner, Column N.A., Member FDIC. Deposits in Chariot Accounts are eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per depositor, for each insurable capacity in which the account is held.
