Share your feature idea
What I'd like to see:
Add a category or group field to the Donation Funds system that allows administrators to organize funds into logical categories (e.g., "Regular Offerings," "Seasonal Offerings," "Special/Mission," "Other Income").
Why it matters:
Many churches have numerous donation funds (20-50+) spanning different types of offerings. Currently, all donation funds are displayed as a flat list sorted only by name, making it difficult to:
Navigate and manage - Finding specific funds becomes time-consuming when the list grows
Generate reports - Users cannot easily filter or group reports by fund categories
Train new users - New financial volunteers struggle to understand fund purposes without context
Maintain consistency - No standardized way to organize similar fund types
Proposed solution:
Add a fun_Category field to the donationfund_fun table with the following enhancements:
Database schema:
Add fun_Category varchar field to donationfund_fun table
Optional fun_DisplayOrder integer for custom sorting within categories
Admin UI (DonationFundEditor. php):
Dropdown/select field to assign category when creating/editing funds
Ability to create and manage custom categories
Display improvements:
Group funds by category in Finance Dashboard
Collapsible category sections for better space management
Category filter in Financial Reports
Reporting enhancements:
Filter reports by fund category
Category-based subtotals in reports
Category selection in pledge/payment editor
Example categories for a typical church:
Code
[Regular/Required Offerings]
- Tithes
- Children's Ministry
- Youth Ministry
- Young Adult Ministry
- General Sunday Offering
[Seasonal/Holiday Offerings]
- Easter
- Harvest Thanksgiving
- Christmas
[Special/Mission Offerings]
- Building Fund
- Mission Fund
- Scholarship Fund
[Other Income]
- Facilities Rental
- Book Sales
- Miscellaneous
Current workaround:
Users can prefix fund names (e.g., "[Regular] Tithes"), but this is limited and doesn't provide filtering or grouping functionality in the UI or reports.
Benefits:
✅ Better UX for churches with many donation funds
✅ Easier onboarding for new finance volunteers
✅ More meaningful financial reports
✅ Backward compatible (optional field)
✅ Scalable as church grows
Technical considerations
For developers who might implement this:
Database migration: Add column with default NULL (backward compatible)
Minimal breaking changes: Existing queries can remain unchanged
UI components: Could use existing AdminLTE/Bootstrap collapse components
Category management: Similar pattern to existing List Options management
References:
Database schema: src/mysql/install/Install. sql (line 47-54)
DonationFund model: src/ChurchCRM/model/ChurchCRM/DonationFund.php
Finance dashboard: src/finance/views/dashboard. php (line 447-466)
Fund editor: src/DonationFundEditor.php
Thank you for considering this feature! 💡
This would greatly improve financial management workflow for many churches using ChurchCRM.
Share your feature idea
What I'd like to see:
Add a category or group field to the Donation Funds system that allows administrators to organize funds into logical categories (e.g., "Regular Offerings," "Seasonal Offerings," "Special/Mission," "Other Income").
Why it matters:
Many churches have numerous donation funds (20-50+) spanning different types of offerings. Currently, all donation funds are displayed as a flat list sorted only by name, making it difficult to:
Navigate and manage - Finding specific funds becomes time-consuming when the list grows
Generate reports - Users cannot easily filter or group reports by fund categories
Train new users - New financial volunteers struggle to understand fund purposes without context
Maintain consistency - No standardized way to organize similar fund types
Proposed solution:
Add a fun_Category field to the donationfund_fun table with the following enhancements:
Database schema:
Add fun_Category varchar field to donationfund_fun table
Optional fun_DisplayOrder integer for custom sorting within categories
Admin UI (DonationFundEditor. php):
Dropdown/select field to assign category when creating/editing funds
Ability to create and manage custom categories
Display improvements:
Group funds by category in Finance Dashboard
Collapsible category sections for better space management
Category filter in Financial Reports
Reporting enhancements:
Filter reports by fund category
Category-based subtotals in reports
Category selection in pledge/payment editor
Example categories for a typical church:
Code
[Regular/Required Offerings]
[Seasonal/Holiday Offerings]
[Special/Mission Offerings]
[Other Income]
Current workaround:
Users can prefix fund names (e.g., "[Regular] Tithes"), but this is limited and doesn't provide filtering or grouping functionality in the UI or reports.
Benefits:
✅ Better UX for churches with many donation funds
✅ Easier onboarding for new finance volunteers
✅ More meaningful financial reports
✅ Backward compatible (optional field)
✅ Scalable as church grows
Technical considerations
For developers who might implement this:
Database migration: Add column with default NULL (backward compatible)
Minimal breaking changes: Existing queries can remain unchanged
UI components: Could use existing AdminLTE/Bootstrap collapse components
Category management: Similar pattern to existing List Options management
References:
Database schema: src/mysql/install/Install. sql (line 47-54)
DonationFund model: src/ChurchCRM/model/ChurchCRM/DonationFund.php
Finance dashboard: src/finance/views/dashboard. php (line 447-466)
Fund editor: src/DonationFundEditor.php
Thank you for considering this feature! 💡
This would greatly improve financial management workflow for many churches using ChurchCRM.