If you are comparing reports between Benevity Reporting (BR) and Reporting Studio (RS), there are a few key differences to be aware of that change the appearance, data and totals in your reports.
The Transactional Model
RS is built on a transaction-based architecture. Most Explores (Donations, Volunteering, Rewards) only show records with an associated action (e.g., a confirmed donation or tracked hour).
- Impact: Reports that depend on non-transactional lists (e.g., “all users,” employee count, volunteer opportunities without sign-ups) may not map 1:1. For these, use Standard Dashboards or the Participation Explore.
Field Name Mapping
Several common fields have been renamed for clarity:
| Benevity Reporting (BR) | Reporting Studio (RS) |
| Donation Description | Transaction Description |
| Donation Source | Transaction Source |
| Donation Type | Transaction Recurrence |
| Donation Reference Code | Transaction Reference Number |
| Payment Method | Payment Type |
| Transaction Type: Volunteering | Volunteer Submission |
Filter Logic & Counting Differences
- The "Off by 1" Logic: You may notice that totals in RS are 1 less than BR. This is because RS counts are more precise. BR counted “External Tracked Time” as 1 volunteer opportunity; RS excludes these. BR counted “No Cause ID” as a unique entry; RS excludes these.
- Case Sensitivity: RS filters are case-sensitive (e.g., “Recurring” vs “RECURRING”).
- Aggregate Filtering: BR applied filters at the row-level. RS applies many filters after data is grouped (aggregated), which can change the results. Refer to Understanding measure filtering for more information.
Financial Accuracy
- Improved Currency Precision: Both tools use daily average exchange rates, but RS may pull the rate at a different time of day, causing minor decimal differences.
- Currency Display: Add Currency Display as your first filter and use fields from the Converted Currency Amounts.
- Rounding: BR rounded values earlier. RS retains more decimal precision behind the scenes and applies visual rounding.
Other
- Refresh Timing: BR refreshes every ~1 hour; RS refreshes every ~1–2 hours.
- In-app vs. Export Limits: BR allowed displaying massive lists in the browser. RS limits the report preview (commonly 500–5,000 rows). To see your full dataset, you must use the Download option and select "All Results."