The Promise Creation feature of the matching module is intended to create even greater visibility into the matching gift revenue generated by the matching module for your organization. With this functionality, The matching module can help your organization estimate the value of the matching gift requests we believe were submitted by your donors so you can credit them with the proper acknowledgment. The matching module also allows your organization to keep a record of the actual amount that was matched by the company, either through integration with the workplace-giving provider or manual entry.

Definitions:

Promise: The donation a company pledges to donate to your organization after a donor/employee submits a matching gift request.
Promise record: In some fundraising platforms integrated with the matching module, a "matching gift record"/"soft credit"/"promise" can be created automatically. See "Promise Creation in Integrated Platforms" below for more information. The record in the matching module is always the original donation record, not the record of the matching gift.
Promised amount: The estimated amount of that corporate donation.
1. Note: Sometimes the same as the original donation amount, but often different. Reasons the promised amount could be different from the donation amount include vary. The most common reason is the matching gift company programs could have a 2:1, 3:1, .5:1, or other non-1:1 match ratios. The matching module factors in this common scenario into the promised amount.
Matched amount: The amount of the actual corporate donation.
1. Note: Sometimes the same as the original donation amount, but often different. Reasons the matched amount could be different from the donation amount include vary. The most common reason is the donor has less than the full request match amount left in their budget as provided by the company program. For example, a donor might request a match for $100 but only have $50 left in their budget, so the matched amount would equal $50 instead of $100.

Promise Creation Settings

To access Promise Creation settings, navigate to "Settings" in the lefthand menu. Select the "Promise Creation" tab.

In the Promise Creation tab, you will see your settings.

Promise Creation in Integrated Platforms

This toggle allows your organization to enable the creation of promise/soft credit/matching gift records in integrated systems that support this functionality. Refer to individual partner documentation to understand which platforms support promise creation.

Status Checkboxes

Your organization gets to decide when you would like to automatically add a Promised or Matched amount to a donation record in the matching module. This automation is based on the statuses of donations in the matching module. Promised and Matched amounts will only be added to donations in the statuses that you select here (or by manual entry; see "Promise Creation Workflow" below).

Promised amount:

If any statuses are checked, the Promised column will appear in the Donations tab.

What happens when donations change statuses when you have checked some statuses here?

If a donation moves from an unchecked status into a checked status: A promised amount is added to the record.
If a donation moves from a checked status into an unchecked status: The promised amount is updated to $0. The promise creation fields still appear in the API for the donation.

What happens when you uncheck a status?

If you have previously checked a status and at some point uncheck it, the Promised amount field will no longer be added to any new transactions. If you uncheck all statuses, the Promised field will no longer appear in the Donations tab.
If you check the status again, these actions are reversed and your historical Promised amounts will appear again. No Promised amounts will appear for donations that entered the matching module while the status was unchecked.

These updates happen immediately upon the status change.

Recommended approach: Double the Donation recommends starting with the "Payment Pending" and "Match Complete" statuses checked. This is the most conservative approach to promise creation. Over time, your organization can decide to modify these settings to better fit your organization's business workflows if needed.

Matched amount:

If any statuses are checked, the Matched column will appear in the Donations tab.

What happens when donations change statuses when you have checked some statuses here?

If a donation moves from an unchecked status into a checked status: A matched amount is added to the record.
If a donation moves from a checked status into an unchecked status: The matched amount is updated to $0. The promise creation fields still appear in the API for the donation.

What happens when you uncheck a status?

If you have previously checked a status and at some point uncheck it, the Matched amount field will no longer be added to any new transactions. If you uncheck all statuses, the Matched field will no longer appear in the Donations tab.
If you check the status again, these actions are reversed and your historical Matched amounts will appear again. No Matched amounts will appear for donations that entered the matching module while the status was unchecked.

These updates happen immediately upon the status change.

Recommended approach: Double the Donation recommended starting with the "Match Complete" status checked. This is the most conservative approach to promise creation. Over time, your organization can decide to modify these settings to better fit your organization's business workflows if needed.

Promised Creation Workflow

Promised and Matched amounts can be created in different ways.

Promised amount

Promised amounts can be added to a record in a few different ways. Promised amounts are calculated differently based on how the Promised amount itself was added.

A Promised amount may be added to a record:

Automatically when a record enters a status checked in Promise Creation Settings (see above)
Manually entered by the matching module user in the Donations tab (see below)

The Promised amount added to the record is determined by a few factors.

If the Promised amount was added by the matching module user, the Promised amount will simply reflect what was provided
If the Promised amount amount was added automatically by status change:

If the employer is known, the Promised amount is calculated using that company's program information, defaulting to the lowest matching gift ratio and maximum donation when the company offers a range for different types of employees
If the employer is unknown, the Promised amount is calculated using a 1:1 match ratio with no minimum and maximum donation considerations

Matched amount

Matched amounts can be added to a record in a few different ways. Matched amounts are calculated differently based on how the Matched amount itself was added.

A Matched amount may be added to a record:

Automatically when a record enters a status checked in Promise Creation Settings (see above)
Manually entered by the matching module user in the Donations tab (see below)
Automatically when an auto submission partner sends this information to the matching module

The Matched amount added to the record is determined by a few factors.

If the Matched amount was added by the matching module user, the Matched amount will simply reflect what was provided
If the Matched amount was added automatically by status change, the Matched amount will duplicate the Promised amount at the time the Matched amount was added
If the Matched amount was added by a CSR partner, the Matched amount will simply reflect what was provided by the partner

Promise Creation and Integrations

Promised amount

Some Double the Donation Matching integrations support the creation of Promise records (sometimes also known as matching gift records or soft credits) in the partner platform. Each partner who supports this functionality may implement promise creation in different ways. In general, partner platforms that support Promise Creation will check the matching module, on a pre-determined cadence, for any donations with new promise fields. The partner platform will then create a new record in their platform reflecting this data (typically some combination of the Promised amount, the updated timestamp, the parent donation record, etc.).

Promise Creation integrations differ from partner to partner. Refer to the specific platform guides for more on integrations that support this functionality.

Note that promise data is simply appended to the original donation record in the matching module. A second Promise or Matching Gift Record is only created in partner platforms that support this integration functionality.

To enable the creation of Promise records in supporting integrated systems, navigate to "Promise Creation in Integrated Platforms" in the Promise Creation settings tab in the matching module (see "Promise Creation Settings" above).

Matched amount

Matched amounts can be populated by workplace giving providers who work with Double the Donation as an integration partner. Learn about Double the Donation's auto-submission functionality and workplace giving partners here.

Promise Creation in the Donations tab

When Promised or Matched Amount statuses are checked in Promise Creation Settings, the Promised and Matched columns will appear as an option in your Donations tab. You can view or hide these columns like any other column in the table using the "Configure Columns" dropdown menu at the top of the table.

Note: You can delete a Promised or Matched amount by selecting the pencil icon next to the promised amount, removing the number to create a blank field, and saving your changes. This will create a value of $0.

Promised amount

The amount displayed in the Promised column can be populated in 2 ways:

The matching module admin user input (editable from the Donations tab by selecting the pencil icon next to the Promised amount)
Automatically added when the donation moves into a status checked in Promise Creation Settings (see above)

The amount in the Promised column is the amount that will appear in any platforms supporting a Promise Creation integration, in any custom API implementations, and in any CSV exports from the matching module.

No amount will appear in the Promised column until a promise is created.

Matched amount

The amount displayed in the Matched column can be populated in 3 ways:

Integration with corporate vendor partner (learn more about auto submission here)
Automatically added when the donation moves into a status checked in Promise Creation Settings (see above)
The matching module admin user input (editable from the Donations tab by selecting the pencil icon next to the Matched amount).
1. The matching module admin users can also update the Matched amount in bulk by selecting multiple donation records --> Select Edit --> Input the correct Matched amount --> Select Update:

Once a corporate vendor partner has updated the Matched amount, the Matched amount will no longer be editable by a matching module admin user. The corporate vendor partner is the authoritative source of the amount of the funds disbursed.

The Matched amount column will NOT appear in your Donations tab if the auto submission feature is not enabled. Learn how to enable Autosubmission in this article.