Use soft credits to credit a constituent for a donation even though another constituent actually gave the money.
For example, add a soft credit when a constituent makes an indirect donation through a third party such as:
Charitable giving vehicles — Donor-advised funds and family foundations
United Way
Employer matching programs
Soft credits are not included in revenue or raised totals and don't appear in dashboard metrics.
Note: To track fundraisers, we recommend using the Fundraiser section within a transaction. For example, use the Fundraiser section when a board member helps to solicit a gift or when a participant raises donations for events or over social media.
Add Soft Credits to Transactions
Add as many soft credits as needed to donations, pledge schedules, and recurring donation schedules. If your subscription includes the membership management add-on, you can also add soft credits to membership schedules. In all cases, the donation, pledge, or recurring donation should be entered on the constituent who actually committed or gave the money, and the soft credit on the constituent responsible for bringing it in.
If you use Journey Automation to automate donation acknowledgements, keep in mind that soft credits on one-time donations can qualify constituents to enter donation automations. For example, Avery is an existing donor who makes another donation. You soft credit Chris for Avery's donation. This is the first transaction on Chris' timeline, which means Chris qualifies to enter a First Ever Donation automation for this soft credit.
To add soft credits:
Open the transaction or schedule.
In the Soft Credit section, click the + icon.
In the Find Constituent window, search for the constituent. Click the name.
In the Soft Credit pane and the Amount field, type in the amount of the soft credit.
Add acknowledgment information if necessary.
Click Add.
Click Save.
Note: To change a soft credit before saving the transaction, remove the soft credit and re-add it.
Soft credits appear in the Soft Credit section of the transaction. They also appear as a Soft Credit entry on the timeline of the constituent who was soft credited.
Edit Soft Credits
When you edit a soft credit, you can:
Change the amount
Add acknowledgement information
To edit a soft credit:
Go to the constituent’s account.
On the Timeline, open the soft credit.
Tip: You can also open the transaction with the soft credit and click the name of the soft-credited constituent.Enter a new Amount.
In the Acknowledgements section:
To add an interaction, click +.
Select whether the donation has been acknowledged.
Select whether to send an acknowledgment right after you click Save.
Read more about acknowledgment information on soft credits.To edit other information in the soft credit, click Original Donation. You can then edit the Date, Fund, QuickBooks account, Campaign, Appeal, Notes, and Custom Fields.
Click Save.
Apply Soft Credits to Pledges
You can edit a soft credit to apply it to an active pledge. You might do this for a constituent who wants an indirect donation to apply to their active pledge. An indirect donation might be a donation made through a donor-advised fund (DAF), foundation, or United Way.
Note: For legal guidance related to donor-advised funds and pledges, consult the company that manages the donor-advised fund, and IRS guidelines.
To apply a soft credit to a pledge:
Go to the constituent’s account.
Tip: You can also open the transaction with the soft credit and click the name of the soft-credited constituent.On the Timeline, open the soft credit.
In the Pledge section, click +.
Select a pledge. Only active pledges appear.
Click Save.
Note: The Add to Pledge option appears only if the original revenue transaction is a donation. For example, the original transaction is a donation entered on a constituent account for Fidelity Charitable, a donor-advised fund. The original transaction cannot be a pledge or schedule.To remove this soft credit from a pledge:
In the Pledge section, click the down arrow and select Remove.
To confirm, click Remove again.
Remove Soft Credits
To remove a soft credit:
Open the transaction with the soft credit.
Next to the soft credited constituent's name, click the blue arrow.
Click Remove.
Click Save.