One-Time vs Recurring Group Contributions

One-time contributions

A one-time contribution is a single collection with no repeating cycle, useful for something like a wedding collection or a one-off funeral collection tied to a specific event, once it's been collected, there's no next period to track.

Recurring contributions

A recurring contribution repeats on a weekly, monthly, or yearly cycle, this is the natural fit for something like regular dues, the system tracks who has paid for the current period automatically, current week, current month, or current year depending on the cycle you chose.

Looking back at past periods

For a recurring contribution, you're not limited to the current period, you can navigate backward to see previous weeks, months, or years and check who paid during each of those, which is useful when reconciling past dues or following up on someone who fell behind.

Best practice

Match the cycle to how the group actually operates, weekly dues for a group that meets weekly, monthly for one that collects monthly, picking a cycle that doesn't match the group's real rhythm just makes the who's-paid view harder to use.