Tributes let donors indicate that a donation is made in honor or in memory of a person, pet, group, or other meaningful tribute subject. Tribute records are managed in the Tributes area, while the notifications and donations tied to them are processed in Donations. This connection between Tributes and Donations supports notification of designated contacts and provides reporting on tribute activity across tributes, donations, and profiles.
Who: Donor relations and gift processing staff managing tribute records, donor notifications, and tribute reporting.
When to Use Tributes
Use Tributes when:
- A donor wants a gift recorded in memory of someone who has passed, such as a student honoring a teacher or a pet owner donating to a shelter's endowment in memory of a beloved pet.
- A donor wants to recognize a living person's contributions, such as honoring someone at retirement or celebrating a community award recipient.
- When a tribute gift is made, a family member, friend, or other designated contact needs to be notified that the donation was made in honor or in memory of the tribute subject.
- A donor requests that a tribute be noted on their gift but no notification or follow-up is needed.
Types of Tributes
Tributes in CommunitySuite typically fall into two categories based on the kind of recognition being given: memorial gifts and honor gifts. These categories correspond to the Type field selected when a tribute record is created.
Memorial
A memorial tribute is created in memory of someone who has passed away. The gift celebrates who that person was and supports a cause they cared about. Donors making memorial gifts may wish to notify a family member or friend that a donation was made in their loved one's memory.
Honor
An honor tribute recognizes a living person for their contributions or achievements. This could be honoring someone at retirement, celebrating a teacher of the year, or recognizing a community member who has made a difference. The person being honored, or someone coordinating recognition on their behalf, is typically the notify contact when a notification is appropriate.
How Tributes, Notify Contacts, and Donations Work Together
Tribute Records Capture Who is Being Recognized
A tribute record represents the person, pet, or group being recognized and is managed in the Tributes area. It is created once and can be linked to any number of donations over time.
Notify Contacts Track Who Should Know About Donations
Notify contacts are added to the tribute record in the Tributes area. Notify contacts are the people that will receive tribute notifications informing them about the donations made in honor or memory of the tribute subject. Notify contacts can be a profile in CommunitySuite or a non-profile contact that is entered on the tribute only.
Donations are Linked to Tribute Records
A donation is linked to a tribute record. It is not part of the tribute record itself, so multiple donations, entered at different times, can point back to the same tribute.
Notifications about Donations are Sent to Notify Contacts
Tribute notifications are generated and sent from Donations, specifically from the Tribute bucket. Adding a notify contact does not create or send a notification on its own. It only makes that contact eligible to receive one once someone acts on it from Donations. A tribute record must have at least one notify contact in order for the associated donation to be included in the Tribute bucket.
Tribute records created ahead of time can be searched and linked to a donation during gift entry, which streamlines donation entry and avoids creating duplicate tributes.
Tribute records can also be made available to donors directly on the Giving Hub, where a donor can search for an existing tribute or create a new one while making an online gift.
- Resource:
Three Ways to Create a Tribute Record
A tribute record can be created in three ways in CommunitySuite: from the Tributes area, from a donation record, or by a donor through the Giving Hub.
Create from the Tributes Area
Creating a tribute record in the Tributes area is the recommended starting point. The tribute record can then be searched and linked to a donation during gift entry or added to an existing donation later.
Create During Donation Entry
A new tribute record can also be created directly from a donation record. Entering information in the New Tribute section when entering a donation will create a new tribute record that is added to the Tributes area.
Donors Create from the Giving Hub
Donors can create a new tribute record or select an existing tribute record while making an online gift.
By default, a tribute record is set to public status upon creation, but can be switched to a private status. Public status means it is searchable on the Giving Hub. A tribute record can be deleted if it was created in error or is no longer needed.
Notify Tribute vs. Non-Notify Tribute
Tributes added to a donation fall into two types: notify tributes and non-notify tributes.
Notify Tribute
A notify tribute consists of a tribute record that has at least one notify contact added to generate notifications. Donations linked to a notify tribute appear in tribute reporting and in the Tribute bucket in Donations because there is a contact who can receive a notification about the gift.
Non-Notify Tribute
A non-notify tribute is a tribute description entered directly on the donation without creating or linking to a tribute record. No tribute record is created, no notify contacts are involved, and the donation does not appear in tribute reporting or the Tribute bucket.
A non-notify tribute is useful when a donor wants a tribute noted on the gift but does not need anyone to be notified. A non-notify tribute cannot be converted to a notify tribute after the donation is processed.
A tribute record can also exist without any notify contacts added. In this case, the tribute functions for record-keeping purposes only, since no notification can be created without a contact to notify.
Resources:
Tribute Notifications
A tribute notification, sometimes called a tribute card, is a communication sent to a notify contact about a donation made in memory or in honor of the tribute subject. It is not sent to the donor who made the gift.
Notifications are Sent from the Donations Area
Notify contacts and their settings are configured on the tribute record in the Tributes area, but tribute notifications are generated and sent from the Tribute bucket in Donations.
Notifications are Not Sent Automatically
Notifications are never sent automatically, so it is recommended to establish a regular cadence for reviewing and processing them, such as weekly or after each donation processing cycle.
Tribute notifications can include names and contact information of the donors so that the notify contacts know who has made a gift and can reach out personally to thank them.
Frequency Setting Acts as a Lookback Date
Each notify contact has a frequency setting, such as No Frequency, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly. The Frequency setting does not trigger or schedule a notification. It controls how long a donation remains visible in the Tribute bucket in Donations, based on how much time has passed since the donation date. Once that window has passed, the donation drops off the Tribute bucket, whether or not a notification was actually sent.
Send Notifications in Bulk or Individually
Notifications can be sent in bulk from the Tribute bucket in Donations or individually from a donation record, using either the mail or email method configured on the notify contact.
Custom Templates Can Be Assigned Per Tribute Record
A custom template can be assigned to each tribute record, or the default template can be used for print notifications and site custom content for email notifications. They can be sent in bulk from the Tribute bucket or individually from a donation record.
Tribute Settings
The email text included in the notification email can be customized. Whether or not a tribute can be searched is controlled by a tribute setting. Tribute access and visibility settings can be reviewed in Tributes Permissions and Tributes Setting.
- Resources:
Duplicate Tributes
Exact Name Match
Why Duplicate Tributes Occur
Search for an Existing Tribute First
Giving Hub Duplicates
Duplicate tributes also occur when a donor creates a tribute on the Giving Hub using a different name or spelling than an existing tribute record.
- Resources:
Tribute Donations Report
A Donation Report that contains Tribute information can be generated by using the left-side menu Donation Report option. The report includes the total donation amount and number of donations for each tribute within the specified time range.