In Donor Management, the best way to track your supporters who directly influenced a donation or secured a gift for your organization is through a “soft credit.”
Why Use Soft Credits?
Soft credits can give you and your organization more insight into a donation had been secured, and who was involved in making sure that donation was successfully made.
You can then use that information to pinpoint key individuals who you can leverage for support in the future – and can help you make sure that the individuals who secured a gift on your behalf are properly thanked for their indirect contribution.
Ways You Can Use Soft Credits
Soft credits can be used to...
Give your donors credit for donations they made through a different charitable organization, such as a local foundation
Give an employee credit for a matching gift from their employer
Give board members a soft credit for donations that they directly solicited
Give a business owner credit for a donation made by their company
Give a peer-to-peer fundraiser a soft credit for the donations that they brought in through their campaign page
Give a committee member a soft credit for an event sponsorship gift
Give multiple members of the same household and family credit for the same donation
Give supporters credit for donations brought in through shared posts and other social media
Frequently Asked Questions on Soft Credits
Do we need to send a tax receipt for a soft-credited donation?
No, soft credits aren’t tax deductible, so you don’t need to send a tax receipt (and our automated system won’t send one, either). However, we do recommend sending an acknowledgement instead, to recognize that the soft-credited donor played a role in your organization receiving a gift or donation.
How can we track a donor's soft credits?
When a soft credit is added for a donor, you’ll notice that the stats next to the graph in their donor profile has updated to include “Soft Credits (YTD).”
This total lets you easily see how your contact has helped to bring in donations from other contributors.
Do soft credits impact any other totals for each donor?
No, soft credits don’t impact any other totals, nor do they impact a donor’s listed status (such as lapsed, active, etc.)
They also won’t be listed as a donation when you send donation summary-related communications – which is another reason why we recommend you send an acknowledgement to those soft-credited donors instead!
Can soft credits be applied to a donor's pledge?
Not quite. In general, a pledge should only reflect the amount that a donor intends to personally contribute to your organization. The amount that they have given directly is the only amount that can be applied to a pledge – so linking a soft credit to a pledge isn’t an option within Donor Management.