English and French Receipts
This article explains how Dryad Receipting issues receipts and receipt emails in English or French: what decides the language, which templates and text change with it, and what stays the same in both languages. It is written for Salesforce administrators and the staff who run receipting.
What Decides the Language
The language comes from the donor's Account, in the Receipt Language field:
- French: French receipt and email.
- English, or blank: English receipt and email.
Gift Transactions and Gift Commitments don't have their own language. To send one gift in the other language, choose a template on the gift itself (its Receipt Template and Email Template Id). The Donor Preferences article covers this field with the donor's other preferences.
Note: The language applies to receipts and receipt emails only. The app's own screens, such as Batch Receipts and Receipt Settings, are in English.
What Changes with the Language
| Item | English | French |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt template | Receipt Template - Gift, English panel | Receipt Template - Gift, French panel |
| Acknowledgment template | Receipt Template - Acknowledgment, English panel | Receipt Template - Acknowledgment, French panel |
| Email template | Email Template, English panel | Email Template, French panel |
| Designations with Amounts | "Building Fund: $1,250.00" | "Building Fund : 1 250,00 $" |
Each template is chosen in this order: the gift's own template, then the Receipting Account's template for the language, then Receipt Settings. The defaults are on the Templates page of Receipt Settings, with one panel for English and one for French.
What Is Set Up at Install
- Sample donation receipt templates and sample email templates, in English and French, are created and selected in Receipt Settings.
- Acknowledgment templates aren't set in either language. Until you set them, acknowledgments are "Ineligible - No receipt template".
Set the French templates before you set donors to French. A French donor's gift with no French template to use is "Ineligible - No receipt template", and isn't receipted.
Ready-Made Text in Both Languages
The Receipt has merge fields that print a line only when it applies, with an English and a French version. Use the one that matches the template's language:
| Merge field | Prints |
|---|---|
| Voided Text (EN) / (FR) | "VOID" / "ANNULÉ" in bold on a voided receipt. |
| Voided Text (EN and FR) | "VOID/ANNULÉ" in bold, for bilingual templates. |
| Replacement Text (EN) / (FR) | "This cancels and replaces receipt …" / "Cela annule et remplace le reçu …" on a replacement receipt. |
| Advantage Text (EN) / (FR) | The advantage's value and description, when the donor received an advantage. |
The template editor's the Insert Watermark button also offers a "VOID" stamp in English, in French, or in both. The advantage descriptions themselves come from the gift's Advantage Description (EN) and (FR) fields, so fill in both when you issue receipts in both languages.
What Doesn't Change
- Dates. The Date Format setting applies to every receipt. The "mmm dd, yyyy" format always uses English month abbreviations, so choose a numeric format if you issue French receipts.
- Amounts in Advantage Text. The amount is printed as a plain number, with no French thousands separator or decimal comma.
- Designation names, charity details and donor details. These print exactly as they are stored in Salesforce.
- Receipt numbers. English and French receipts share the same numbering.
One Bilingual Receipt
If you prefer one layout with both languages, build a single template with the English and French text side by side, and select it as both the English and the French template. Use the bilingual Voided Text (EN and FR) field and the bilingual watermark. Every donor then gets the same receipt, whatever their Receipt Language.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| A French donor got an English receipt | Check the Receipt Language on the donor's Account, and whether the gift or its Receipting Account names an English template. |
| French donors' gifts are "Ineligible - No receipt template" | Select French templates in Receipt Settings, or on the Receipting Account. |
| French acknowledgments aren't created | Set Receipt Template - Acknowledgment on the French panel of the Templates page. It isn't set at install. |
| Month names are in English on French receipts | Switch Date Format to a numeric format. |
| A receipt shows text in the wrong language | The template uses the English merge field (for example Replacement Text (EN)) instead of the French one. |