Lesson 7.3 – Managing Soft Credits and Attribution

Welcome to Lesson 7.3! In the world of fundraising, the person who writes the check is not always the only person responsible for the donation. Often, board members, peer-to-peer fundraisers, or loyal advocates leverage their networks to bring in contributions from other parties.

To properly acknowledge both the financial contributor and the person who facilitated the gift, FastFund Raising utilizes Soft Credits. In this lesson, we will explore the difference between hard and soft credits, how to enter them during transaction processing, and how to report on them for proper stewardship.

1. Hard Credits, Soft Credits, and Solicitors

Before entering data, it is important to understand how FastFund classifies donor attribution:

• Hard Credit: This is the direct donation. The constituent who actually provided the funds (and receives the legal, tax-deductible receipt) receives the hard credit.
• Soft Credit: This is a recognition credit. It is used to recognize a constituent who brought in a donation from another party. Soft credits provide more information on how donations are secured and who was involved in the process.
• Solicitor: FastFund treats a Solicitor differently than a soft credit. A solicitor is typically someone formally affiliated with the organization as an internal fundraiser, employee, or board member.

2. Entering a Soft Credit

Soft credits are attached directly to the original financial transaction. You can add a soft credit to cash gifts, pledges, pledge payments, or in-kind contributions.

Steps to Enter a Soft Credit:

1. Navigate to your desired transaction screen (e.g., Transactions > Donations/Receipts) and enter the primary donor’s information, amount, and gift distribution as usual.
2. Above the Gift distribution grid, click the Soft Credits text link.
3. A Soft Credits window will open. Click the New + icon to add a new soft credit line.
4. Select the Gift name that applies to the soft credit.
5. In the Constituent field, select the name of the person who should receive the soft credit. (Note: If they are not currently in your database, you can use the quick-add feature to create their constituent record on the fly).
6. Enter the Amount of the soft credit. Crucial Rule: The individual amount of the soft credit cannot exceed the original donation amount.
7. Click OK to save the soft credit to the transaction.

3. Receipting Soft Credits

Constituents who help secure donations appreciate being thanked for their efforts. FastFund allows you to generate specialized receipts just for soft credit recipients.

When you are filling out the Soft Credit line (Step 6 above), you will see check boxes for Print and Email. Checking these boxes will queue a soft credit receipt to be generated alongside your standard donor acknowledgments.

4. Soft Credit Reporting

Tracking soft credits ensures you have a complete picture of a constituent’s true value to your organization, beyond just their personal checkbook.

To analyze this data, you can use the Soft Credit Detail Report.

• Navigate to Reports > Donors > Soft Credit Detail.
• This report lists the constituent who was credited with the soft credit, the actual donor who made the contribution, the transaction date, the soft credit amount, and the original gift’s appeal and gift designations.
• You can run this report for all donors, or filter it for a specific “Soft Credit Donor Name” to see exactly how much revenue a specific individual has helped your organization secure over a given date range.