A Collection Method is the name you give to your Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) solution or service you are using, for example, CAF Direct Debits, and are set within the Recurring Payment Instruction (RPI) on the Constiturnet Timeline.

Donorfy has some default Collection Methods, which are linked to automated processes for GoCardless and Stripe regular payments, and you can add as many other Collection Methods as you need.

To set up a Collection Method, open Settings > Configuration > Collection Methods

Click on the + icon to the right of the screen, to open up a new item. 

Enter the following:

• Description of the service -e.g. CAF Direct Debits
  Please note that Standing Order, GoCardless and Stripe are pre-configured and do not require setting up.
• User/Account number with this service - for UK Direct Debits this would be your BACS Service User Number (SUN).
• Default status
• If the payment method requires the Lodgement of an instruction before money can be collected, select To be Lodged.
• Otherwise, select Active - which means money can be collected immediately.
• Elapsed days (only shows when Default Status is set as To be Lodged) are the number of days required after Lodgement has taken place before any money can be collected.
  This is the number of days that you need to leave between a new instruction being lodged and claiming your first payment,
• Payment Method - this is used for the Transactions added to Constituents' Timelines collected by the Collection Method - e.g. Direct Debit
• Reference Fields - A total of 5 reference fields can be set up. These are to be used to collect details about the Collection Method, such as reference, account number, sort code, external ID, etc. The Reference Fields should be completed as follows:
• Label - the label for the field on the RPI form, if you don't enter a field label the field will not be shown on the RPI form
• Default - whether a default value should be used - leave this blank to allow any value to be entered or choose RPI Number for Donorfy to allocate a unique number 
• Mask - how many characters should be masked for security - e.g. if you were entering an 8 digit number, you might choose to mask 4 of the digits
• Max Length - the maximum number of digits or characters allowed
  
  

Payment File - If you need to produce a payment file for the collection method, for example, to import into your BACS submission software - you can choose the fields you need to include in the output file, do this as follows:

• Choose a separator for your output file - this will appear between the fields that are output
• You need to then set up the 
• Header Row - this appears once at the start of the file 
• Data Row - this will be added for each payment you are collecting
• Choose the fields you want to include in your output file using the drop-down in the order you want the fields to appear - the Header and Data rows are built up - you can manually adjust or clear the header or data rows if you need to
• If you include Transaction Code in your header and data rows, you need to provide values for 
• Transaction Code for the first payment - e.g. for UK BACS, this would be 01
• Transaction Code for subsequent payments - e.g. for UK BACS, this would be 17

Lodgement File - If you need to produce a lodgement file for the collection method - and you have set 'Default status' to 'To be Lodged' you can choose the fields to include in the lodgement file - this process is similar to one described above for Payment Files.

Cancellation File - If you need to produce a cancellation file for the collection method, i.e. when a donor tells you to cancel their recurring payment - and you have set 'Default status' to 'To be Lodged' you can choose the fields to include in the cancellation file - this process is similar to one described above for Payment Files.

The EFT Process associated with Collection Methods is a Professional and Enterprise only feature. Essential and Starter plan subscribers, please contact us to find out more about upgrading if wanting to use the EFT processes. 
RPIs can be used outside of the EFT process and will need a Collection Method.