First-time setup
Updated 2 months ago
Complete the workspace foundations first, then choose the setup path that matches your immediate goal: migrate existing data, begin donor and stewardship work, launch a campaign, or launch a recipient program.
If the sidebar shows a setup warning, open it to jump to unfinished organization, sender, payment, or connection settings.
Setup path at a glance
Save your organization identity, currency, timezone, sender details, and personal profile.
Choose whether you are migrating data, starting CRM work, launching a campaign, or launching a recipient program.
Connect only the payment, communication, and external systems needed for that path.
Invite teammates and confirm their access.
Verify the first complete workflow before importing or publishing at scale.
1. Finish workspace foundations
Open Organization settings from the account menu and complete the shared details your team needs.
Account Information: organization identity, contact details, website, logo, base currency, date format, and timezone. Choose the base currency before accepting donations; it becomes unavailable after the workspace has donations.
Email Settings: the sender name and address used for donor-facing email.
Profile: your personal administrator details.
2. Choose your starting path
You do not need to configure every Gratona feature before your team begins working.
Migrate an existing donor database
Prepare and validate a small sample before importing your full history.
Review Data management best practices.
Follow How do I import data into my account? for the import workflow.
Verify donor identity, households, gifts, designations, dates, and recurring records after the sample import.
Import the remaining data only after the mapping produces the expected records.
Begin donor CRM and stewardship work
Use this path when your immediate priority is organizing relationships and follow-up rather than publishing a new giving page.
Open Donors & Giving and review donor profiles, households, and duplicates.
Assign relationship ownership and confirm communication preferences.
Open Stewardship to review portfolios, interactions, transactions, and work items.
Launch a donation or peer-to-peer campaign
Use a campaign when supporters give to a cause, fund, project, or peer-led effort without selecting a recipient profile.
Connect a payment gateway if Gratona will process online gifts.
Follow Campaign Setup.
Preview the public page and complete a small test before sharing it.
Launch a recipient or sponsorship program
Use a recipient program when supporters choose or are connected to a person, project, team, fund, or other designation.
Connect a payment gateway if Gratona will process online gifts.
Follow First Program Setup.
Add or import recipients, verify program readiness, and test the public experience before sharing it.
3. Connect payments when you need online giving
Payment setup is required for online checkout, but it is not required to begin donor-data cleanup, stewardship, reporting, or other CRM work.
Open Organization settings, then Payment gateways. Gratona supports Stripe, PayPal, Flutterwave, QPayPro, and Authorize.net. Use Payment Gateways for provider requirements.
4. Connect communication and external systems
Add integrations after you know which systems should exchange data with Gratona.
Configure authenticated sending before sending organization email at scale.
Connect email and calendars when your team wants donor interactions synchronized.
Connect accounting, storage, marketing, signature, or automation tools only when they support an active workflow.
Review available connections in Integrations.
5. Learn the daily workspace
The sidebar is permission-aware, so each teammate may see a different set of tools.
Dashboard: action items, fundraising movement, recent activity, reports, and readiness.
Programs: recipients, campaigns, trips, events, and program setup.
Donors & Giving: donors, sponsorships, donations, and reports.
Fundraising: stewardship and donor intelligence.
Communications and Automations: outreach and relationship follow-up.
Data & Imports: imports, integrations, and connected apps.
Use Navigation for the full menu map and keyboard shortcuts.
What success looks like
Organization identity, currency, timezone, and sender details are correct.
Your first chosen path works from beginning to end with test data.
Imported records or public fundraising pages have been reviewed before full use.
Teammates have the access they need and no broader access than their role requires.
Your team knows where daily work begins and how to get help.