When setting up receipts or donor statements in infoodle, you work with two distinct building blocks: a Design and a Template. New users often confuse these or assume they are the same thing. This article explains what each one does, how they relate to each other, and the order you need to create them.
You must create a Design before you can create a Template. A Template cannot be saved without one.
The Design
A Design is a PDF file that acts as the visual background (or "canvas") of your receipt or statement. Think of it as the letterhead — it defines:
- The page size and margins
- Where on the page the header, body, and footer content will sit
- Any background artwork, logo, or branding that appears behind the text
Designs are managed at Finance > Receipts > Maintain Templates > Designs (for receipts) or the equivalent path under Statements.
What goes in the Design?
You have two options:
- Upload a PDF — Prepare a branded PDF in advance (e.g. your organisation's letterhead with logo and footer). infoodle will "print" the template content on top of this PDF. The PDF must be A4 (or your chosen page size) and no larger than 3 MB.
- Leave it blank — If you prefer to add your logo and branding directly inside the Template (using the Header and Footer fields there), you can use an empty Design. You still need a Design — even a blank one — because infoodle requires it to establish the margin and positioning settings.
Note: You can create more than one Design. This lets you use an alternate Design for seasonal campaigns (e.g. a Christmas appeal design active only during December), without changing your standard layout.
Key Design settings
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Identifies the Design when you attach it to a Template |
| Paper size | Usually A4 Portrait; also supports DL (envelope printing) |
| Where to place content | Sets top/bottom/side margins for the header, body, and footer. If you leave Header or Footer values at 0mm, that zone is disabled and you'll see a warning in the Template editor. |
The Template
A Template is where you define the text content of your receipt or donor statement — the words, merge tags (personalisations), and layout that will appear on every generated document.
Templates are managed at:
- Finance > Receipts > Maintain Templates > Receipt Templates
- Finance > Statements > Templates > Statement Templates
The steps for creating a Receipt Template and a Statement Template are the same.
What goes in the Template?
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Identifies this Template when generating receipts/statements |
| Default Design | The Design that will be used every time this Template is used (required) |
| Alternate Design | An optional second Design active only between two specified dates |
| Header | Text or logo appearing at the top of each page (position controlled by the Design margins) |
| Body | The main content — your thank-you text, merge tags for donor name, amounts, transactions, receipt number, etc. |
| Footer | Optional content locked to the bottom of the page (e.g. a tear-off strip with receipt details) |
| Available to other users | Tick this to make the Template visible to other Finance Admins |
You build the body content using the Personalisation fields in the right-hand panel. These are merge tags like {first_name}, {receipt_to_name}, and receipt-specific fields like transaction amounts and totals. The same merge tag system is used for both Receipt Templates and Statement Templates.
How they work together
The Design and the Template are merged at generation time to produce the final PDF:
Design (background PDF + margin settings)
+
Template (header + body + footer text with merge tags filled in)
=
Final PDF receipt or statement sent to the donor
Step-by-step: the right order
One: Create your Design first
- Go to Finance > Receipts > Maintain Templates > Designs > Add.
- Upload your branded PDF (or choose "The design is empty" for a blank canvas).
- Set your page size and content placement margins.
- Save.
Two: Create your Template second
- Go to Finance > Receipts > Maintain Templates > Receipt Templates > Add (or the equivalent for Statements).
- Select the Design you just created as the Default Design.
- Build your header, body content (with merge tags), and optional footer.
- Save.
Three: Use the Template when generating
- When you run Finance > Donation Receipts or Finance > Donor Statements, you select the Template from the dropdown. infoodle applies it — along with its linked Design — to produce one PDF per recipient.
Quick guide
If you're unsure whether you need a Receipt or a Donor Statement, here's the quick distinction:
| Receipt | Donor Statement | |
|---|---|---|
| One document per… | Transaction (individual gift) | Donor (summary across a date range) |
| Has a receipt number? | Yes | No |
| Typical use | Tax purposes, proof of gift | Year-end giving summary, pledge progress |
| Generated from | Finance > Donation Receipts | Finance > Donor Statements |
Both use the same Design and Template system described in this article.
Common questions
Do I need a separate Design for receipts and statements?
No. The same Design can be attached to both Receipt Templates and Statement Templates. If your organisation uses one branded letterhead, you only need to create it once.
Can I have multiple Templates using the same Design?
Yes. For example, you might have a "Standard Donation Receipt" template and a "Corporate Donation Receipt" template that both use the same Design but have different body content.
What if I want a seasonal design (e.g. Christmas)?
Set up an Alternate Design on the Template and specify the date range. Outside those dates, infoodle automatically falls back to the Default Design.
I get an error saying "Header not enabled for Default Design"
This means the Header margin in your Design is set to 0mm. Go back to Designs, edit the Design, and set a non-zero value in the Where to place content section for the Header.
My uploaded PDF is being rejected
The PDF must match the page size selected in the Design (e.g. A4 Portrait). If you created it from Microsoft Word, use Save as Adobe PDF rather than "Microsoft Print to PDF" — the Microsoft option can produce incorrect dimensions.