Pyramid history

What pyramid history is Plus

A pyramid shows your data as it is today. History keeps what it showed before: a snapshot of every pyramid once a month and after each CRM sync. Over time that lets you answer questions a single pyramid can't: Is our mid-level tier growing? Did last spring's upgrade push move anyone? Are we finding more prospects for the top of the campaign than we had in January?

Every kind of pyramid has history: gift pyramids (including each campaign priority's), donor pyramids and True Pyramids.

Snapshots keep constituent IDs, tiers and totals only. Like the rest of TruePyramids, they never hold names or contact details, and they don't copy gift rows.

Finding the History tab

Every pyramid page has two tabs under its name: Pyramid (the pyramid itself) and History. The History tab has the same breadcrumb, so Pyramid or the pyramid's name takes you back.

• With Plus, History opens the trend chart and Compare.
• On Free, the tab reads History with a Plus tag. Clicking it opens a short card on the page, “Pyramid history is part of Plus”, with Upgrade to Plus — $29/month. History starts the month you upgrade; there's no history from before.
• After Plus ends, pyramids that have snapshots keep a normal History tab, so you can still see and compare them. See if Plus ends.

Right after upgrading, the History tab says History starts this month: Plus saves the first snapshot of the pyramid within the hour once it has finished building, then one every month and one after each CRM sync.

Snapshots

There are two kinds of snapshot. Both record what the pyramid showed at that moment, from whatever data it had then; nothing is recalculated later.

Monthly snapshots

Every pyramid in a Plus organization gets one monthly snapshot per calendar month. A background job checks every hour and takes this month's snapshot for any pyramid that doesn't have one yet. In practice:

• Each month's snapshot is taken in the first hour of the month (in UTC), so it shows the pyramid as it stood at the very end of the month before.
• A pyramid that's still building (or, for a gift pyramid, still counting prospects) at that moment is snapshotted at the next hourly check after it finishes.
• A new pyramid, or a pyramid in an organization that just upgraded, gets this month's snapshot within the hour once it has finished building.
• A pyramid that has nothing built yet (a donor pyramid or True Pyramid still waiting for its data) has no snapshot until it does.

Monthly snapshots are labeled by month, like October 2026.

Snapshots after a CRM sync

When a pyramid is built from a CRM connection, each sync replaces its gifts and rebuilds it. With Plus, once every pyramid built from that CRM pull has finished rebuilding, each of them gets a sync snapshot, so you can see exactly what the sync changed. This happens after:

• a scheduled nightly or weekly sync (scheduled sync),
• Sync now in Settings › Data, and
• Refresh from your CRM on a pyramid (refreshing).

A sync snapshot is timed and labeled with when the sync started, in US Eastern time like the app's other sync times, for example Oct 24, 2026, 2:00 AM sync. Every pyramid rebuilt by the same sync gets the same time.

The very first pull from a new CRM connection doesn't take a sync snapshot; the new pyramid's first monthly snapshot comes within the hour instead. Uploading a file doesn't take a snapshot either: the next monthly snapshot picks up the new numbers.

How long snapshots are kept

Careful: Deleting a pyramid deletes its history with it, and deleting an upload deletes the pyramids built from it and their history. Neither can be undone. See deleting.

The trend chart

The first card on the History tab charts the pyramid month by month: one line per tier (for a gift pyramid, one line per band of levels), with the latest value and name at the end of each line. Under the title, a sentence says what's there, for example “12 monthly snapshots, Nov 2025 – Oct 2026, and 30 sync snapshots. Plus saves one every month and after each CRM sync.”

Reading and using the chart

• One point per month. Each month shows its monthly snapshot, or, in a month without one, the last sync snapshot taken that month. However many syncs there were, the chart stays one point a month.
• The latest 12 months. The chart draws the most recent 12 months. Show as table lists every month that has a snapshot, all the way back.
• Gaps. A month with no snapshot (say, while you didn't have Plus) breaks the line, and its month button is greyed out.
• Pick a month. Choose a month button under the chart to see that month's numbers just below, tier by tier. The latest month is picked to start.
• Turn lines off. The buttons above the chart turn tiers (or bands) on and off, and the chart rescales to what's left. One always stays on. This helps when a big tier flattens a small one.

For a gift pyramid, each value reads as prospects identified “of” prospects needed for that band, where prospects needed is each level's gifts × its ratio, added up across the band. A gift pyramid with no gift file still gets snapshots, but has no prospect counts to chart.

Comparing two snapshots

The Compare two snapshots card sets any two snapshots side by side. It appears once there are at least two.

1. Pick a From snapshot and a To snapshot. The lists include every snapshot, monthly and after syncs, so you can compare October with last night's sync, or one sync with the next. The page updates as soon as you change either list.
2. From must be taken before To; otherwise you'll see “Pick a From snapshot taken before the To snapshot.” It starts with the earliest and the latest.
3. Read the tables below. For donor pyramids and True Pyramids, people are matched across the two snapshots by constituent ID.

With only one snapshot so far, the card says when the next monthly one will be saved, and that the next CRM sync saves one too.

Movement groups

For donor pyramids and True Pyramids, the Movement table sorts everyone in either snapshot into six groups:

Each group shows a count and View records. These groups compare two snapshots you choose, which can be months apart. That's different from the movement on a donor pyramid itself, which compares the period shown with the period before it inside one build (see donor pyramid movement).

Gift pyramids don't have movement groups: a gift pyramid counts prospects per level rather than placing each person in a tier.

Tier by tier and level by level

Beside Movement, Tier by tier (for a gift pyramid, Level by level) lists each tier's count in From and To and the Change, with an All tiers (or All levels) total. Increases and decreases are colored so you can scan them.

• Donor pyramids add a Not in any tier row when either snapshot had donors who gave but didn't fit any tier.
• Gift pyramids show each level as gifts × amount, for example 1 × $500,000, and add “(was …)” when the level changed between the snapshots. If the goal changed, a line says so, for example “The goal went from $100,000 to $120,000.”
• A dash (—) means the tier didn't exist in that snapshot, or prospects hadn't been counted.

If the tiers themselves changed between the two snapshots, a note under the tables says so: tiers edited on a donor pyramid, tiers learned again on a True Pyramid (the base tier always stays last), or levels changed on a gift pyramid. Rows then compare the tier or level in the same position, so read the change with that in mind. See donor tiers and True Pyramid tiers.

View records for a group

Choose View records beside a movement group to open a side panel listing everyone in it, 50 to a page:

• Columns: constituentid, Tier in each snapshot, and Given in each snapshot.
• For a donor pyramid, Given is money received in the period each snapshot shows. For a True Pyramid, it's money received in the 12 months up to the latest gift the pyramid had at the time of that snapshot.
• Search constituentid finds IDs containing what you type. Sort by ID or by either Given column; the list starts sorted by the larger amount first (by the From amount for Lapsed, since lapsed people have no To amount).
• Export CSV downloads the whole group as searched and sorted, with the columns constituentid,tier_from,tier_to,given_from,given_to.

Look up an ID in your CRM to see who it is. For more on record panels generally, see Viewing records.

Example: September to October

What changed? Plus

Under the comparison, What changed? asks the AI assistant to explain the difference between the two snapshots in 60 to 150 words, leading with the change that matters most.

1. Pick the From and To snapshots you want explained.
2. Choose What changed?. “Reading these totals…” shows while it works.
3. The explanation appears under the button, titled like “What changed, September 2026 to October 2026”, with Copy.

• For donor pyramids and True Pyramids it talks about tiers that grew or shrank, donors who moved up or down, new and lapsed donors, and revenue. For gift pyramids it covers the goal, levels, prospect rule, prospect counts and checks.
• For donor pyramids and True Pyramids it points out when the tiers or the period changed between the snapshots, since counts then aren't directly comparable. It also says when the cause can't be told from the numbers.
• If nothing in the numbers changed, you'll see “Nothing in this pyramid's numbers changed between these two versions.”
• The explanation isn't saved. Copy it if you want to keep it.

The assistant only sees totals. For a donor pyramid or True Pyramid that's each tier's count and revenue, the movement counts and the period or as-of date; for a gift pyramid, each snapshot's goal, levels, prospect counts, rule and checks. The matching of people by constituent ID happens inside TruePyramids, and only the counts are sent. See what the AI can and can't see.

Each click is one AI request from your organization's 150 a month (see the allowance), unless the owner has added your own API key. The current usage shows beside the button.

If Plus ends

When an organization's Plus ends (after a cancellation, a failed payment, or the end of complimentary Plus):

• Snapshots already saved stay. Pyramids with history keep their History tab, and the trend chart, Compare and View records all still work.
• No new snapshots are taken, monthly or after syncs. The note at the bottom of the History tab reads “Plus has ended, so no new snapshots are being saved. The ones already saved stay here.” with a link to upgrade.
• What changed? needs Plus or your organization's own API key; without either, it shows a Plus tag.
• With only one snapshot saved, Compare says “Only one was saved while you had Plus.”

Come back to Plus and snapshots start again: within the hour, each pyramid gets this month's snapshot if it doesn't already have one. The months in between have no snapshot, so the chart shows a gap. See cancelling Plus.

Refreshing data and history

A snapshot is a picture of the pyramid at a moment, so what's in it depends on the data the pyramid had then:

• Pyramids built from a CRM: with Plus, each sync or refresh gives you a sync snapshot as soon as the rebuild finishes, plus the monthly one. A nightly sync makes the history very detailed for the last 90 days.
• Pyramids built from a file: the gift data only changes when you upload a different file, and only monthly snapshots are taken. If you upload new data each quarter, the monthly snapshots between uploads will look the same unless you edit the pyramid.
• Gift pyramids: a snapshot records the scenario that was open at the time. If you switch scenarios, edit levels or change the goal between snapshots, Compare shows that, and the counts are no longer like for like.
• Donor pyramids: a snapshot records the period the pyramid showed. With Last 12 months, the window moves as new gifts arrive; with a fiscal or calendar year, a later snapshot may show a different year. If the period changes, Tier by tier compares different periods.

Tip: To see the effect of a CRM update right away, use Refresh from your CRM on the pyramid. With Plus, a sync snapshot follows once every pyramid built from that CRM pull has rebuilt.

Advanced: how snapshots and comparisons work

Timing rules

• Months are UTC. Each snapshot belongs to the calendar month of the moment it was taken, in UTC. The monthly job's first check of a new month happens in its first hour, which in US time zones is the afternoon or evening of the last day of the previous month. That's why a monthly snapshot labeled November shows the pyramid as it stood at the end of October.
• One monthly snapshot per pyramid per month, and one sync snapshot per pyramid per sync. Running the check again never adds a second.
• Monthly snapshots are skipped while a pyramid builds (for a gift pyramid, while prospects are being counted) and taken at the next hourly check after it's done.
• Sync snapshots wait for every rebuild. A sync is noted when its rebuilds are queued. Its snapshots are taken as soon as the last pyramid built from that upload finishes rebuilding; the hourly check looks too, in case that moment was missed. If the rebuilds still aren't done a day later, that sync gets no snapshots.
• A newer sync replaces a waiting one. If a second sync of the same upload starts before the first one's snapshots were taken, only the second is snapshotted.
• Sync times are Eastern. Labels like “Oct 24, 2026, 2:00 AM sync” use US Eastern time, like scheduled syncs. File names use the same time: 20261024-0200.
• Plus is checked at the time. Monthly snapshots are only taken while the organization has Plus. A sync noted while it had Plus still gets its snapshots if Plus ends before the rebuilds finish.
• Thinning runs with the hourly check: a sync snapshot older than 90 days is removed if a later sync snapshot of the same pyramid exists in the same UTC month.

How movement is worked out

• People are matched by constituent ID, ignoring capitals (c-6 and C-6 are the same person).
• Tiers are ranked from the top. Moving to a higher-ranked tier is Moved up, a lower-ranked one Moved down, the same rank Stayed.
• On a donor pyramid, a donor who gave in the period but fit no tier ranks below every tier, so moving from no tier into one counts as moving up.
• On a True Pyramid, the gray base tier always ranks last, however many tiers sit above it, so it stays comparable even when the tiers are learned again with a different count.
• New and Reactivated look at every snapshot of the pyramid taken before From that's still kept, monthly and sync.
• Lapsed means “in From, not in To”. On a donor pyramid, a snapshot holds the donors who gave in its period, so lapsed donors gave nothing in the To snapshot's period. On a True Pyramid every constituent in the file is placed (people with no recent gift sit in the base tier), so lapsed means they're no longer in the pyramid's data at all.
• When tiers were edited or learned again, rows and moves compare tiers by position, as the note on the page says.

How the trend is drawn

• The months run from the first snapshot to the latest, including months without one. The chart draws the latest 12; the table lists every month that has a point.
• A month's point is its monthly snapshot. A month without one uses the last sync snapshot taken that month.
• Each line is named and colored as the tier is in the latest month that has it.
• Gift pyramid bands are fixed by position: levels 1–4 are Lead gifts, 5–7 Major gifts, 8 and below Community gifts. A band's value is the sum of prospects identified (counted or typed) across its levels; its “needed” is the sum of gifts × ratio. A band with no counted levels in a month shows no value.
• Lighter tier colors get a thin gray outline so they stay visible on white.

Questions

Why does the History tab say Plus?

Pyramid history is part of Plus. On Free, the tab opens a card explaining it with an upgrade button. Once you upgrade, history starts the same month.

I just upgraded. Why is there nothing to compare?

Comparing needs two snapshots. The first is taken within the hour; the next comes on the 1st of next month, or sooner after a CRM sync or a Refresh from your CRM. History doesn't go back before you had Plus.

Can I take a snapshot whenever I want?

There's no snapshot button. For pyramids built from a CRM, Refresh from your CRM or Sync now takes a sync snapshot once the rebuild finishes. Otherwise snapshots come monthly.

Why does the chart skip a month?

There's no snapshot for that month, usually because your organization didn't have Plus then. The line breaks rather than guessing.

Someone shows as lapsed, but they gave this year. Why?

Lapsed means “in the From snapshot, not in the To snapshot”. On a donor pyramid that means they gave nothing in the To snapshot's period, which may not be the period you're thinking of: check which period each snapshot showed, and whether their gift has reached TruePyramids yet (a sync or refresh brings it in).

Why don't these numbers match the donor pyramid's own movement?

They answer different questions. The donor pyramid compares the period it shows with the period before it. History compares the two snapshots you pick, which could be a month or a year apart, and uses earlier snapshots to tell New from Reactivated.

What does “The tiers were edited between these snapshots” mean?

Someone changed the tiers (or a True Pyramid learned new ones) between From and To. Rows compare tiers in the same position, so a change in count may come from the new boundaries rather than from donors giving differently.

Can I compare a sync snapshot with a monthly one?

Yes. From and To list every snapshot, monthly and after syncs. From just has to be taken before To.

Do snapshots keep donor names?

No. Snapshots keep constituent IDs, tiers and amounts only. TruePyramids never stores names or contact details.

If we cancel Plus, do we lose our history?

No. Everything already saved stays viewable and comparable. No new snapshots are taken until you have Plus again.

What happens to history when I delete a pyramid?

It's deleted with the pyramid, and can't be recovered. Deleting an upload deletes the pyramids built from it, history included.

I can see our history. Why is What changed? marked Plus?

Your organization's Plus has ended. Saved history stays viewable on Free, but the AI explanation needs Plus, or your own API key added by the owner.

Why are sync times in Eastern time?

TruePyramids doesn't keep a time zone for each organization, so scheduled syncs run at 2:00 AM Eastern and every sync time is shown in Eastern.

Which scenario does a gift pyramid's history record?

The scenario that was open on the pyramid when the snapshot was taken. If you switch scenarios, later snapshots record the new one.

Where did last spring's nightly snapshots go?

Sync snapshots older than 90 days are thinned to the last one of each month. Monthly snapshots are never thinned.

Does uploading a new file take a snapshot?

No. Only CRM syncs and refreshes take snapshots outside the monthly one. The next monthly snapshot shows the new data.