Soft Credits

The “Soft Credits” report in Reports module of Retention CRM helps Chambers of Commerce, Nonprofits and Associations with track payments where credit for the payment should be partially or fully attributed to someone other than the original payer. This is useful for scenarios like:

• Solicited Donations: A member solicits a donation from a friend, and credit goes to both the member and the friend.
• In-Honor/Memory Of: A donation is made in honor or memory of someone, and credit goes to both the donor and the person being honored.

Generation Functionality of “Soft Credits” report

Available Fields:

• Soft Credit Name: Name of the contact who received soft credit for the payment.
• Payer Name: Name of the person who actually made the donation.
• Soft Credit Phone: Phone number of the soft credit contact.
• Soft Credit Email: Email address of the soft credit contact.
• Amount: The amount of the payment soft-credited to the contact.
• Statistics: Summary statistics like total soft-credited amount for a period.

Using “Soft Credits” report in Association Management

Let’s see how a nursing association can utilize the Soft Credits report with specific filters:

• Soft Credit Name: A member who actively recruits new members or solicits donations.
• Gender: Filter by gender to see if there’s a trend in who gets soft-credited (e.g., mostly female members soliciting donations).
• Birth Date: Identify age groups with higher soft-credit activity.
• Contact Type: Filter by “Member” to focus on members receiving soft credit.
• Financial Type: See what types of payments (one-time, recurring) are being soft-credited.
• Payment Date (From-To): Define a date range to track soft credits for a specific campaign or event.
• Receipt Date: Filter by the date the payment was recorded in Retention CRM.
• Currency: Track soft-credited donations in different currencies.
• Payment Status: Identify soft-credited donations that are still pending or refunded.
• Campaign: Filter by a specific fundraising campaign to see which members are soliciting the most within it.
• Soft Credit Type: See what type of soft credit applies (e.g., “Solicited By”).
• Soft Credit Amount: Analyze the average or total soft-credited amount per member.
• Credit Card Type: Not relevant for most soft credit scenarios.
• Tag: Filter by tags assigned to members who receive soft credit (e.g., “Active Recruiter”).
• Group: Filter by member groups receiving soft credit (e.g., “Leadership Council”).

Scenario:

The nursing association runs a campaign to raise funds for new equipment. They use the Soft Credits report to identify members who actively solicit donations (Soft Credit Name) and their success (Soft Credit Amount). They can then target specific member groups (Group) or age demographics (Birth Date) for future solicitations based on soft-credit trends. They can also see if a particular campaign (Campaign) generates more soft-credited donations than others.

More Use Cases for Associations, Chambers of Commerce and Nonprofits

Identify members who actively solicit donations (Association)

This is a specific example of an association using the Soft Credits report to identify members who actively solicit donations and their success. They can then target specific member groups or age demographics for future solicitations based on soft-credit trends.

Track payments attributable to a member company’s employee (Chamber of Commerce)

Chambers of commerce can use the Soft Credits report to track payments where credit for the donation should be partially or fully attributed to a member company’s employee. For example, a company employee solicits a donation from a business client, and credit goes to both the employee and the business client. The chamber can then use this information to acknowledge the employee’s payment and potentially reward them for their efforts.

Track in-honor or memory donations (Nonprofit)

Non-profits can use the Soft Credits report to track in-honor or memory donations. For example, a donation is made in honor of a volunteer who has passed away, and credit goes to both the donor and the volunteer. The non-profit can then use this information to send a thank you letter to the donor and acknowledge the volunteer’s service.

By analyzing “Soft Credits” report, Chambers of Commerce, Nonprofits and Associations can acknowledge and potentially reward members/donors who contribute to fundraising efforts through soft credits. This helps strengthen member relationships and improve future fundraising initiatives.