Portwood DocGen
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One receipt, built deep.
Then it sends itself.
The Talent Stacker build along for Portwood DocGen. You're the nonprofit today: we build a donation receipt that thanks the donor, itemizes the gift by fund, writes the IRS acknowledgment automatically, and carries a QR code that invites the next gift — then we automate it until receipts generate and email themselves on Closed Won. First PDF in 25 minutes. Free, open source, and yours to keep.
Every step ends with a “prove it worked” checkpoint — fall behind, catch up at the next one.
Twenty minutes of prep.
So we build instead of wait.
If we all wait on org spin-up during the session, we lose half our time. Knock these out ahead of time — each one has its own proof.
Get a Salesforce org you can break
Don't use your company's org. Sign up for a free Developer Edition — it never expires. One field matters: set Company = Talent Stacker Build Along. That's our team jersey on the install map. Write down your username and password.
Install Portwood DocGen
Grab the latest install link from the AppExchange listing. Install for Admins Only — it's just you in this org anyway. Just install — don't configure anything. The permission set and PDF release update are the first thing we do live, on purpose.
Seed a donation
You're the nonprofit — so create a donor. An Account (“The Jensen Family”), a Contact with your own email (the automation emails the receipt — you want to receive it), and an Opportunity (“2026 Annual Gift”, Closed Won, $500 — over $250 matters, you'll see why). Add 2–3 Products as line items named like funds: General Fund, Building Fund, Youth Programs.
Download the starter files
Grab the session files from the downloads section below — the receipt starter and the copy-paste query config. Have Word open and ready, with AutoCorrect smart quotes turned off (File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect).
One document that earns its keep.
Then it runs itself.
You're the nonprofit. Every feature we touch has a reason: the loop is fund designations, the conditional is a real IRS rule, the QR code raises money — and the finale is automation that sends the receipt without you. Every step ends with a checkpoint, so falling behind never means falling out.
Up and Running 25 min
A real PDF in your org's Files before we talk about anything fancy.
- 1The two silent killers — the permission set and the PDF release update that break everyone's first document
- 2Your first generation — minimal template, the DocGen Runner, a PDF thanking your donor by name
The Wizard, Properly 20 min
Now that you've done it fast, we do it slow — the depth most tutorials skip.
- 3Every wizard decision — template types, base objects, output rules, versions, test records
- 4The visual query builder — why tags go blank, and the JSON underneath
Build the Receipt 55 min
From one merge tag to a receipt a real nonprofit could mail today.
- 5The thank-you and details — donor name, gift date,
{Amount:currency} - 6The designation loop — one table row per fund, grows with the gift
- 7Totals — SUM and COUNT computed at render time, no rollups
- 8The IRS conditional —
{#IF Amount >= 250}writes the acknowledgment automatically - 9The give-again QR code — scan the receipt, land on the giving page
- 10The logo asset — update it once, every template follows
Ship It to Users 15 min
You built as an admin. Development staff just click — so we make their click excellent.
- 11The Runner's real choices, plus a one-click DocGen Button on the record page — no wizard, no training
Automate It 35 min
The payoff: receipts that send themselves. Document generation as a system, not a chore.
- 12Generate on Closed Won — a Record-Triggered Flow calls the Generate Document action
- 13Email the donor — the receipt lands in your own inbox, automatically
- 14Year-end statements — the same engine in bulk, walked on screen
Nobody types boilerplate live.
Three files: the starter you build in, the query config you paste, and the answer key you're not allowed to peek at.
Open during the session
Answer key — after the session only
You leave with proof, not notes.
Everything below exists in your org when the session ends, built by you. No certification — something better: an org where receipts write themselves, and you can explain every piece.
A donation receipt a nonprofit could mail today
Donor thank-you, fund designations, render-time totals, the IRS acknowledgment conditional, a give-again QR code, a shared logo.A one-click generate button
A DocGen Button on the donation page — the rollout your users actually want: no wizard, no training.Receipts that send themselves
A Record-Triggered Flow that generates on Closed Won and emails the donor — proven by the receipt in your own inbox.The full mental model
Template → query → merge → render → attach. Why tags go blank, how versions work, what the Runner decides for you.The next chapters, mapped
Year-end bulk statements, nested loops, e-signatures, pixel-perfect HTML PDFs, Apex providers — all in the User Guide, all using the patterns you just learned.Questions before the session?
Drop them in the Talent Stacker channel — install issues are way easier to fix ahead of time than live. And the DocGen community Slack is where the builders hang out after.