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Using Donorfy with Multiple Currencies

Learn how to collect and record transactions in multiple currencies, convert them into your home currency, and report on them accurately across your system.

Cristina Gruita avatar
Written by Cristina Gruita
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Your charity may operate in several countries, or perhaps you have donors from around the world. You will want to make it as easy as possible for your supporters to financially support your cause. With Donorfy's multi-currency feature, donations and other transactions can be collected in any currency and reported on for your charity's financials.

What Multi-Currency Allows You to Do

  • Add transactions on Donorfy in their original source currency.

  • See the transactions in their converted amount for your home currency.

Example

A donor in the USA gives $20 via Stripe:

  • The system stores $20 as the source amount.

  • A live exchange rate converts the amount into your home currency.

  • For example, £15.16 appears as the converted value.

  • The £15.16 amount is used in all reporting tools.

Key features

  • Add transactions and pledges to Donorfy in any currency (from the ISO list).

  • See transactions and pledges converted instantly into your home currency.

  • All transactions and pledges added to your lists and giving stats, regardless of currency.

  • Select between a live exchange rate, or enter your own for each currency.

  • Take donations in different currencies via Donorfy Forms.

Exchange Rates

Donorfy utilises a live currency service, which provides up-to-date exchange rates for the conversions into your home currency.

However, if you wish to use a standard exchange rate for the entire financial year, it can be entered into the Exchange Rate box under each currency.

This disables the live currency service, so it is advised to enter an exchange rate here if you want to use it.

📌Note:

The following will not be included in multi-currency at this time, and are all based in home currency (see terminology below):

  • RPIs and Memberships (only the transactions generated from them are converted), this includes regular donations via Donorfy Forms (Stripe and GoCardless).

  • Dashboards.

  • Campaign Analytics.

  • Campaign Items & Expenses.

  • Opportunities.

  • Financial Exports.

  • Widgets (we recommend using Forms - see Multi-currency & Forms).

  • Sandboxes.

Terminology

  • Home Currency: The main currency you use in day-to-day business. E.g. for UK customers this will be GBP, for Danish customers this will be DKK.

  • Home Amount: The source amount converted into the customers home currency.

  • Source Currency & Source Amount: The currency the transaction was originally made in, and the amount in that currency.

Add Currencies

  1. Navigate to Settings, click Configuration, select Currencies.

  2. Click the plus on the right-hand side.

  3. Select a currency from the ISO code list.

  4. Click Save on the new currency.

Currency Field (Core Concepts)

Every Transaction, Pledge, Recurring Payment Instruction (RPI), and Membership includes a Currency field:

  • The field is mandatory.

  • It automatically defaults to your home currency.

  • If you are not using multi-currency, you can safely ignore it.

Using a Different Currency

You can use the currency field to record income in a currency other than your home currency.

How conversion works:

Transactions & Pledges

  • Automatically converted into your home currency.

  • Converted amounts are displayed alongside the original amount.

RPIs & Memberships

  • Not converted at setup.

  • Subsequent transactions generated from them are converted.

Currency Column in the File Uploader

The File Uploader includes a Currency column that maps directly to the Currency field.

Uploading New Data

  • Use the ISO currency code (e.g. GBP, EUR, USD)

  • The currency must exist in
    ​Settings > Configuration > Currencies

  • If the column is left blank, the home currency is used

  • If the currency is not configured, the upload will error

Updating Existing Data

  • Currency behaves like any other updatable field

  • If the column exists, it will overwrite the existing value

  • If you do not want to update currency, you must remove the column

See: Updating Transactions using the File Uploader for full details.

Membership Products and Currency

When creating a Membership Product, you must assign a currency.

  • Defaults to your home currency

  • Required to support:

    • Multi-currency memberships

    • Membership Forms

Acknowledgements and Send Document

You may wish to thank donors in the original currency received.

Two new placeholders are available:

  • {CurrencySymbol}

  • {CurrencyCode}

These must be used alongside an Amount placeholder.

Example

{CurrencySymbol}{LatestTransactionAmount}

Transactions and Pledges via the API

  • Transactions and pledges added via the API:

    • Are converted into your home currency

    • Follow the same conversion logic as manual entries

Adding Transactions in Multiple Currencies (Manually)

When adding a transaction directly to a constituent timeline:

Currency Field

  • Defaults to home currency.

  • Select another currency if required.

  • The selected currency applies to all allocations in the transaction.

The currency must already exist in your currency list.

Amount Paid & Converted Amount

  • Enter the amount in the source currency.

  • Donorfy converts the amount.

  • Displays the converted value in italics below the amount paid.

📌Note: After conversion, allocation totals may differ slightly from the converted payment amount due to rounding.

Reviewing Multi-Currency Data in Lists

The following List types support multi-currency data:

  • All Transactions.

  • Transactions – Payments.

  • Transactions – Allocations.

  • RPI Lists.

  • Soft Credit Lists.

  • Pledge Lists.

Common Currency-Related Columns

  • Currency (source currency).

  • Conversion Exchange Rate.

  • Conversion Status.

    • Pending.

    • Converted.

    • NoExchangeRate.

    • Error.

    • PermanentFailure.

  • Converted Payment Amount.

  • Converted Allocation Amount.

  • Converted Processing Costs Amount.

  • Converted Soft Credit Amount.

  • Converted Pledge / Forecast Amount.

  • Conversion Currency (home currency).

Facebook Files (Currency Columns Only)

The following columns apply only to Facebook files:

  • Is currency converted.

  • Source Currency.

  • Source Amount.

  • Conversion Rate.

Multi-Currency and Forms

Donation & RPI Forms

Each Form has one assigned currency, to accept donations in another currency:

  1. Create a separate Form.

  2. Assign the required currency.

Membership Forms

  • Currently home currency only.

  • Multi-currency memberships are not supported on Forms yet.

Form Analytics

  • Always displayed in home currency.

  • Analytics values will appear converted.

  • Totals may be misleading at present.

Key Takeaways

  • Currency defaults to home currency but supports multi-currency throughout Donorfy.

  • Transactions and pledges are converted automatically.

  • RPIs and memberships convert when transactions are created.

  • File uploads must use valid ISO codes configured in settings.

  • Forms require one currency per Form.

  • Lists provide full visibility of original and converted values.


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Related Articles
Create a Report from a List
Standalone Pledges
Collect Regular or Recurring Donations in Donorfy
Updated and new Knowledge Base articles
List Types
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