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 on their own, and they don't appear in dashboard metrics. The one exception is soft credits applied to pledges.
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.
Requirements and Best Practices for Soft Credits
In all cases, enter the donation, pledge, or recurring donation on the constituent who committed or gave the money. Enter the soft credit on the constituent responsible for bringing it in.
Don't soft credit spouses. Instead, make sure spouses are members of the same household.
For legal guidance related to donor-advised funds and pledges, consult the company that manages the donor-advised fund, and IRS guidelines.
Soft Credit Amount Limit
A single soft credit must not be more than the amount of the transaction it's on. If you enter a larger amount and try to save, Bloomerang CRM won't save the change, so a pledge is never credited for more than the donor actually gave.
For example, on a $10,000 donation:
A $10,000 soft credit is allowed.
A $10,001 soft credit is not allowed.
Two $10,000 soft credits are allowed, because Bloomerang CRM measures each one against the donation individually. (The limit applies to each soft credit, not to the total.)
This limit applies to soft credits on all transaction types. In split payments, a soft credit cannot exceed the amount of the donation segment you add it to.
Note: If you have an existing record with a soft credit amount that is higher than the transaction amount, the soft credit limit applies the next time you edit and save that record. You can’t save your changes, and an error appears, unless you edit the soft credit amount to be less than or equal to the transaction amount.
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.
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:
Click the Timeline tab.
Click 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.
Applying a soft credit to a pledge changes how the original donation counts toward raised. The donation's raised amount is reduced by the soft credit amount or amounts (to a minimum of $0), because that money was already counted when the pledge was made. Revenue on the donation doesn't change, and the transaction stays a donation rather than becoming a pledge payment.
For example, My Organization enters a $10,000 donation on a DAF account and soft credits Avery Chen for $2,500. Avery has an active pledge, and the soft credit is applied to it. The donation now contributes $7,500 to raised, and still $10,000 to revenue.
For more information, read About Raised and Revenue Amounts.
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:
Click the Timeline tab.
Click the soft credit.
Tip: You can also open the transaction with the soft credit and click the name of the soft-credited constituent.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.
If you remove a soft credit from a pledge, the donation's raised amount returns to its full amount and the Applied to Pledge label no longer appears.
To remove a 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.