Package Codes function as the revenue type, while the Appeal Code often identifies the medium of the revenue.
Package Codes and Appeal Codes are typically employed to help you report on revenue types and align financials within for fundraising activity across your organization.
Package Code
Most of the time, a Package Code is used to define how the gift was contributed (or type of revenue). It’s used typically to report on how much money was brought in for different types of revenue – within an event or within the organization across events. This code locks after receipts are generated.
In raisin, this is an optional code set at the Item level (i.e. Team Registration vs. Individual Registration; or In-Honour Donation vs. Monthly General Donation) on an event-by-event basis. As such, it can be used to track historic and statistical information for different facets of a single appeal or campaign.
Examples might be financial codes that are assigned to Donations vs. Sponsorship vs. Registration Fees vs. Store Items. Sometimes we hear these called "Solicitation Codes."
Appeal Code
Appeal Code, on the other hand, generally constituents the type of medium (or appeal) that brought in related gifts. In other words, how the money was raised, where the money originates from or what prompted the user to make the gift.
In the event world, it is often used slightly differently because the sources of revenue are not attached to direct marketing appeals the way this is typically used in the marketing world (direct mail, email, mailing 1, etc.) so sometimes it is substituted for a campaign. Therefore, for events, we often Appeal Code related to the Package Code, either as a modifier or addendum. As such, we sometimes hear these called a "Sub-solicitation Code".
Like the Package Code, this is also set on an item-by-item basis within each event and optional. This code also locks after receipts are generated.
Examples include: Online, Online Unsolicited, Online In Honour, ‘2016 Year-end appeal’, Walk 2019
All this being said, you can use these codes and code structures as you see fit. For instance, some organizations define Package and Appeal Codes in the reverse manner as explained above, some use only Package Codes -- and some not at all. What’s most valuable are where the codes are set within the event: Campaign Code and Fund Code (for the most part) are event-based, where as Package and Appeal Code are set at each item within an event.