Giving Summary Dashboard for Advancement

Use the Giving Dashboard example to give advancement users a consistent, at-a-glance view of a constituent's giving history and active giving context. The updated example aligns with the newer person dashboard design, using a two-column layout, subtle section backgrounds, and summary areas that match the design language used across related advancement dashboards.

This dashboard is available by Suitcase and can be imported as a starting point for an institution-specific advancement dashboard.

Clipped view of the updated Giving Dashboard

⭐ Get Inspired

This article was adapted from a post by Technolutions staff in the Slate Community Forums' Get Inspired space. Have a great idea for a Get Inspired post? Let us know!

What the dashboard summarizes

The example dashboard is designed to help advancement staff review a constituent's giving patterns quickly. It includes sections for:

Visual fiscal year giving summaries across rolling fiscal years.
Consecutive years of giving.
Top supported funds.
Recurring gift summaries.
Pledge summaries.
Opportunity summaries.
Planned giving summaries.

The visual fiscal year summary makes it easier to identify both recent giving and sustained giving behavior without running a separate report.

Import the example dashboard

Use Suitcase to import the Giving Dashboard example from the Advancement Showcase:

34e0e18a-09cc-4114-a3b7-2b72c09c6925:slate-advancement-showcase

Go to Database → Suitcase Import.
Paste the Suitcase ID.
Import the dashboard into a test environment first.
Open the imported dashboard and review the query, exports, filters, and dashboard source.

📝 Note
Treat the Suitcase item as a design and configuration starting point. Review the dashboard query and update fields, filters, labels, and calculations to match your institution's advancement data model.

Review the dashboard query

After importing the dashboard, review the query exports that drive each section of the dashboard. Dashboard exports should use Liquid-friendly names so they can be used reliably in the dashboard editor.

Dashboard area	Review this before using
Fiscal year giving	Confirm how your office defines fiscal year giving and whether the rolling year labels match your reporting calendar.
Consecutive giving years	Confirm the logic used to identify consecutive years and how records with no giving should display.
Top supported funds	Confirm that the sample fund grouping matches your fund, designation, or VSE fund type structure.
Recurring gifts, pledges, opportunities, and planned giving	Confirm the statuses, date ranges, and gift types that should appear in each summary area.

Adapt the dashboard design

Open the imported dashboard in the dashboard editor.
Review the two-column layout and section order.
Update section labels to match the terms used by your advancement office.
Adjust colors and background treatments only where needed to align with your local dashboard design patterns.
Remove sections that do not apply to your institution's data model.
Add institution-specific giving metrics or engagement indicators where they help users act on the record.

Full-length view of the updated Giving Dashboard

Test the dashboard

Test the dashboard against records that represent the major giving scenarios your staff will encounter, including:

A constituent with no giving history.
A constituent with giving in the current fiscal year.
A constituent with consecutive years of giving.
A constituent with recurring gifts.
A constituent with open pledges, opportunities, or planned giving records.

Use this testing to confirm that empty states, labels, and visual summaries remain clear when a record has partial or missing data.

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