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How do I fix an "invalid ID or registration number" on a donor?

In short: A South African ID must be 13 valid digits (correct birth date plus checksum); a company, CC or NPC registration number must match CCYY/NNNNNN/NN. Fix the value on the donor's tax/ID information and save. For an old Close Corporation number starting with CK, strip the CK prefix and enter only the year/sequence/type portion.

The rules

  • SA ID number (Individual, Identity Type = ID, Country = South Africa): exactly 13 digits, a valid birth month (01–12) and day (01–31), and passes the Luhn checksum. Error: Invalid ID Number: The provided South African ID number is not valid. If the donor isn't South African, set Identity Type to Passport instead of forcing a foreign number into the ID field.
  • Company / Company (Public) / CC / NPC registration number (reg no, CIPC number): the pattern CCYY/NNNNNN/NN — a 4-digit year (1800 to the current year), a 6-digit sequence, and a 2-digit type code. Example: 2015/123456/07. Error: Invalid Registration Number: Format should be CCYY/NNNNNN/MM.

📌 The "CK" gotcha: Older Close Corporations were registered as CK1990/012345/23. ActiveDonor does not strip the CK automatically. For a CC donor, remove the CK prefix and capture just the year/sequence/type portion so it matches CCYY/NNNNNN/NN (the 23 type code maps to Close Corporation for SARS).

How to fix it

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Donors and open the donor.
  2. Open the donor's tax/ID information panel (Update Tax Information for {donor name}).
  3. Correct the value in the field the red error names — labelled ID Number for an individual, or {type} Reg Number (e.g. Company Reg Number) for an entity. Keep the slashes and leading zeros exactly as on the document.
  4. (Optional) Tick Update all Section 18A with above info. to flow the fix onto existing certificates.
  5. Click Save (or Update).
  • Correcting invalid donor identifiers (company registration, trust, ID and tax/PBO numbers)