A soft credit recognizes a patron for helping bring in someone else's gift, without counting the dollars toward their own giving. A matching gift notes that an employer plans to match a donation.
Before you start
Venue Admin with the Donor data permission (set on the Team page). Box office staff cannot record gifts or open a patron's Giving tab. Both soft credits and matching-gift details are entered in the Record a gift dialog — see the Recording a Manual Gift topic.
Where soft credits show up
Open the credited patron's own detail page and go to the Giving tab. If they've been soft-credited for anything, a Soft credits card appears, badged not counted in totals, listing the date, the gift amount, the soft-credited amount, and the reason (household, matching, solicitor, daf — donor-advised fund — or other). The card doesn't appear at all for a patron with no soft credits.
On the Gifts ledger (AdminVenuesFundraisingGifts), a gift that carries soft credits shows "(+1 soft credit)" next to the donor's name; hover over it to see who was credited.
Soft credits never add to the credited patron's lifetime giving, gift count, or year-end statement — they're recognition only. If you want a gift to actually count for someone, record it as a separate gift under their name.
Matching gifts
When recording a gift, the Matching gift (optional) section lets you note the Employer name and an Expected match $ amount (the amount box unlocks once you've typed an employer). There's no employer database behind it and nothing is verified — it's a plain note for your own follow-up.
Coming soon: there's no way yet to link a matching gift to the actual matched donation once it arrives, and the employer and expected amount you entered are saved with the gift but not shown back on the gift's row, the Edit dialog, or the patron page. For now, also write the expected match in the gift's Notes, track it with a tag or an Interaction note, and record the matched gift as its own separate donation when it's received.
Watch out
The Donors segment used in campaigns counts hard-credited donors only. To reach patrons who've only ever been soft-credited, use a tag or custom field instead.
- Record a gift in the demo venue with a soft credit for another patron.
- Open the credited patron's Giving tab and confirm the Soft credits card appears with the correct reason.
- Confirm the credited patron's Lifetime giving tile did not change.