Track Soft Credit Acknowledgements (2 Questions)

Michelle Reid

First, is there a way to track (do a query related to) whether or not soft credit donors have received an acknowledgement? If so, are there articles or guides on how to do this?


If not, what are your thoughts about entering specific types of soft credit donors into RE as hard credits? 


We are new to RE and still setting things up. In our previous system, we would split the total check amount from external online portals such as CanadaHelps, Bevenity and United Way and enter the respective amount on each donor's own record. This enabled us to easily send and track thank yous to donors who provided contact info and didn't opt-out of communications. I want to keep up this practice for stewardship (and cultivation) purposes.  Ultimately we want to build relationships with the donors not the platforms ?

However, it is time consuming to enter one check from said organization under multiple records, and can make reconciliation a little more challenging at times. (We don't have FE.) Hence my first question. If I can track soft credit acknowledgements then it's a no brainer to go with Blackbaud's definition of how said gifts should be entered. Otherwise, I have to come up with clear procedures and policies around when donors are entered as HCs vs SCs. Ultimately, I "fear" not thanking someone or thanking a SC donor twice for the same gift. ?

Would very much appreciate your thoughts!

JoAnn Strommen

I'm not aware of an easy way to track SC donor acknowledgments. I think I remember hearing some creative ways to run them but can't recall. I'm having difficulty in remembering the specifics of how I did it at previous org. It worked well for small amount but not for long lists.  Your question is how to track not how to do it, correct? 


I'd think long term on implications of entering SC as hard credits. If you do total giving/giving societies do you want these funds counted? What other reports would it affect. I believe there are orgs that enter allocations from UW on donor records as HC. Perhaps they could share any insights. 

Michelle Reid

Your question is how to track not how to do it, correct? 

Yes, that's correct.


Thank you for the reminder to consider how this might affect reports. I'm knee deep in the data entry/set up end of things, right now, so I'm not seeing the forest through the trees! Considering a fundamental purpose of it all is to report.... ? 

I will consulting more with the Dev Officers who report on these types of donations.

Bill Connors

Michelle, the following presentation might be helpful to you as you consider Soft Credit entry and reporting:  https://billconnors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018-Bill-Connors-How-Would-You-Enter-THIS-Gift.pdf

Michelle Reid

Bill Connors:

Michelle, the following presentation might be helpful to you as you consider Soft Credit entry and reporting:  https://billconnors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018-Bill-Connors-How-Would-You-Enter-THIS-Gift.pdf

Thank you! This is perfect! Your scenarios and clear questions will definitely help us make some decisions on this subject. And, your table showing when to use SCs and when to use HCs will be very helpful when creating our procedures!


I want to see if I understand your suggestion about using Gift Type Other in relation to SCs. Can I assume the subtype would be the name of the external online platform or organization? So, GftType = Other and GftSubtype = United Way. Then, unless it was a grant directly from the UW, I would enter the gifts under the various donors, and not SC UW, because I can use the subtype if I really wanted to see those specific numbers. This would also serve to circumnavigate the decision around reporting on donor, recipients, or both...


Did I get that right?


Thank you again for your link!  

Bill Connors

Glad that was helpful, Michelle.  Regarding the Subtype, it depends how you're otherwise using that field.  If used as designed, to help with posting, you don't want the list of Subtypes to be too long.  So you could do it the way you you describe below or you might need some more generic categories for the Subtype and then use the Gift Code or a gift attribute for the specific organization.  I do like to say that all uses of Other require a Subtype to indicate why Other is being used, just don't overwhelm that table/field if it's used for other purposes also.