_About Fund Periods

This section identifies each fund's starting and ending dates and goals.

Each fund is like a collecting season. The fund is used for a certain time period (fund period). Instead of creating a new fund at the end of each season, you add a new fund period and prepare for the next season.

Rules regarding fund periods:

• Fund periods can't overlap within the fund. For example, you can't have a fund period from July 2011 to June 2012 and another from January 2011 to December 2012.

• Periods should not be less than one year. For example, from January 2011 to September 2011 (nine months) is not advised.

• Fund periods can range from one year to any number of years. For example, fund period 4-09 could stretch from January 2005 to December 2014.

• Fund periods do not have to start at the beginning of the year. For example, most education programs start in May or June. A one-year fund would go until April or May.

The data from the prior period is not removed at the end of the fund period; it is stored under that fund period name so you can use it for reference and comparison.

Goal — This is an optional field. It refers to the total amount you wish to attain within the fund period. It can also be used in reports to measure what has been accomplished up to a given point in the fund period.

Combine — Click to combine one period with another. No data is lost.

Insert — Click to create new fund periods. New periods are inserted in the date range order. Remember that period date ranges cannot overlap. There is a special End of Year process that creates new periods and sets up all current families to use it.

Delete — Click to delete fund periods. You can select the periods you want to delete. PDS recommends that you back up your data before you delete fund periods. Make sure to select the correct fund period line before deleting.

Add to Fams — Click to add the selected fund period to all families in the program. This is useful if you are creating a new fund and a new period that you want available to all families.