Adding a Soft Credit Gift

Modules>Fundraising>Gifts>Add Gift

netFORUM has the ability to track Soft Credit donations for the purpose of sending thank you letters and keeping a gift history of constituents' donations. An example of a soft credit donation would be if someone hosted an event in their home. The donation would not be entered into any GL accounts, but you would still want to track the donation.

Soft credit gifts can be added as a normal gift would be added using the Add Gift group item link, by using the add soft credit icon located on the Gift Profile, or by using the Soft Credit Recipients section on the Add - Fundraising Gifts page. In addition, soft credits can be added based on a relationship in netFORUM.

Note: netFORUM does not validate the soft credit amount. For instance, netFORUM allows users to enter a soft credit amount that is more than the original gift amount. This allows each organization to determine its own rules governing soft credits.

Adding a Soft Credit Gift Using the Add Gift Group Item Link

To add a soft credit gift using the Add Gift group item link, complete the following steps:

1. Go the Fundraising module.
2. Click the Gifts group item to view the list of available group item links.
3. Click the Add Gift group item link.The Add - Fundraising Gift page appears.
4. Complete the steps as outlined in the Adding a Gift help topic.
5. Expand the gift type drop-down menu and select Soft Credit.
6. Click the Save button.

Note: The gift will not be recorded in the gift totals on the constituent's record although you can view it on the Soft Credit tab of the Constituent Profile.

Adding a Soft Credit Gift from the Gift Profile

To add a soft credit gift from the gift profile, complete the following steps:

1. Go to the Gift Profile.
2. Click the add soft credits icon.This will open the Add - Fundraising Soft Credit Gift pop-up window.
3. Enter the first few letters of recipient's last name in the soft credit recipient field and click the search icon.

   This will return a list of individuals that match your criteria.

4. Click the name of the individual who will be receiving credit for the soft credit gift.
5. Enter the amount of the soft credit gift in the amount field.
6. Expand the soft credit type drop-down menu and select the desired soft credit type for this gift.
7. Click the Save button. The soft credit will be visible on the soft credit child form located on the Gift Profile.

Adding a Soft Credit Recipient from the Add - Fundraising Gift Page

To add a soft credit recipient from the Add - Gift page, complete the following steps:

1. Go to Modules > Fundraising > Gifts > Add Gift. The Add - Gift page opens. Click the Add icon located in the Soft Credit Recipients section at the bottom of the page. The Add - Soft Credit Recipient pop-up window appears.
2. Complete the following fields as needed:

Field	Required?	Description
recipient	Yes	Enter the first few letters of the recipient's name in the recipient field and click the Search icon. A list of potential recipients matching the search criteria will appear. Click the name of the recipient from the list to populate the recipient field.
amount	Yes	Enter the amount to be awarded as a soft credit in the amount field.
soft credit type	No	Expand the drop-down menu and select the type of soft credit being awarded.
related gift	No	Select the related gift. This helps netFORUM link the originating gift to the soft credit gift.
send email confirmation	No	Click this check box to send an email confirmation informing the recipient of their soft credit gift.
template	No	Expand the drop-down menu and choose the correspondence template to use for the email confirmation.

3. Click the OK button. The soft credit recipient appears in the Soft Credit Recipients section of the Add - Fundraising Gift page.

Soft Credit Gift Added Based on Relationship

If a recipient is eligible for a soft credit based on a relationship they have with the constituent named above, they will automatically appear in the Soft Credit Recipients section of the Add - Fundraising Gift page. Whether relationships are eligible for soft credit gifts is determined by the auto soft credit check box found on the Add - Relationship Type form in the CRM module.

For example, if the household / individual relationship type has the auto soft credit check box checked, and the individual / household relationship type does not have the auto soft credit check box checked the following will happen:

• If the household makes a donation, the individual will not get a soft credit.
• If the individual makes a donation, the household will get a soft credit.

While recipients who meet the soft credit criteria will automatically appear in this section, there is some editing that must be done before the gift is submitted.

To edit a soft credit recipient's information, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Edit icon next to the name of the soft credit recipient.
   The Add - Soft Credit Recipient pop-up window appears.
2. Modify the following information as needed:
   

Field	Required?	Description
recipient	Yes	This field will be auto-populated with the name of the recipient listed in the soft credit recipient's section of the page. This can be edited if needed.
amount	Yes	Enter the amount to be awarded as a soft credit in the amount field.
soft credit type	No	Expand the drop-down menu and select the type of soft credit being awarded.
related gift key	No	NEED DESCRIPTION OF THIS FIELD.
send email confirmation	No	Click this check box to send an email confirmation informing the recipient of their soft credit gift.
template	No	Expand the drop-down menu and choose the correspondence template to use for the email confirmation.

3. Click the OK button.

• Soft credits can be viewed on the following child forms:
  • Constituent Profile>Donations>soft credits child form.
  • Gift Profile>Invoices>soft credits child form.

• For a suggested standard operating procedure for processing stock gifts, see Adding an In-Kind Gift-Asset help topic which is similar.