How to track monthly partners increasing/decreasing/lapsed

It's very easy to figure out if a new monthly partner has joined your team or if a special gift has come in. But, more difficult to track if a partner increases or decreases or has an interruption in their giving. Toolbox tells you your Total Recurring Gift Amount, but it doesn't easily show you who/why/what caused the number to go up or down. Here's how I track it:

1. Go to Toolbox→MTD Reporting-->Received Gifts-->Filter Recurring Gifts
   
   
2. Open a spreadsheet 
   
   
3. Sort your Recurring Gifts report alphabetically by name by clicking "Donor" 
   
   
4. Highlight and copy all names and amounts from your Recurring Gifts report
   
   
5. Paste onto the spreadsheet.
   
   
   
6. Format your spreadsheet
   1. The first row typically pastes one column to the left. You can move it by highlighting it then copy/paste it one cell over.
   2. Deleting columns B-F (Start, Last Gift, Non-Current, LL, and Frew.) keep the doc looking simple and easier to track data
   3. Column "H" (see pic "Step 4) won't tell you the frequency of the partner but that shouldn't matter because we're looking for changes, not trying to calculate amounts
   4. Freeze columns 1 & 2 for easy comparing.
   5. Add dates to the top row. This allows you to record when a partner's giving has changed. 
   6. Manually add your Total Recurring Gift Amount at the bottom of column B, after the gifts
      
      
      
7. Look for any changes to the Total Recurring Gift Amount. If you see a change (increase or decrease), follow these steps:
   1. Reopen your spreadsheet and repeat steps 3-5, but a few columns over
   2. Go through and see where numbers or names have changed. This should show you who increased/ decreased/ lapsed in giving. 
   3. Once finished comparing info, record the changed date in the correct cell then delete the rest. Add the date at the top of column G then put any changes in the corresponding cells, then delete columns "H" and "I" to keep things neat.