Why does searching by contribution source use always the "Like" statement?

Question

I'm currently using CiviCRM 5.21.1.

When I try to search for contributions by typing specific "Contribution Source" under "Contributions -> Find Contributions", it shows me all contribution records which contribution source is not only just "ABC" but also "ABCD" and "ABCDE".

This is because "Find Contributions" searches with a "Contribution Source Like ABC%" condition, not "Contribution Source = 'ABC'". In other words, for the search, a wildcard was attached automatically at the end of the word and the "Like" statement was used in the search condition instead of an equal statement.

I know that I can find the list what I want by using "Search Builder" but I want to get the numbers of Total Amount and Average, so I need to use "Find Contributions".

Does anyone have the same issue as me? Please, help me.

Answer 1

The reason is because Civi is trying to accommodate less tech-savvy folks than yourself :)

I recommend CiviReport - either Contribution Details or Contribution Summary reports. That will let you control the operator, give you the total/average, and in the case of Contribution Summary, allow you to aggregate in other ways - e.g. total/average by month, or by financial type.