When you set up a matching gift challenge or a participation challenge with a prize amount, a sponsor is pledging money that unlocks when the challenge goal is met. The unlocked amount is automatically added to the campaign's thermometer.
To credit the sponsor on the campaign page, you tie their gift to the challenge so that:
The campaign card shows who is sponsoring — "Sponsored by [donor name]"
The sponsor appears on the giving page — in leaderboards, gift ticker, heatmaps, and donor counts — once the goal is reached
The admin-side and donor-facing totals stay in sync
Crediting a sponsor is optional. It applies only to matching gift challenges and participation challenges with a prize amount. Fund highlights and custom challenges do not have this mechanic.
If you choose not to credit a sponsor, the challenge will still work — the thermometer will update automatically when the goal is met, just as it does for any other challenge.
Want full control over the challenge's sponsor gift timing?
If you want to decide exactly when a sponsor's gift appears on the thermometer and the campaign page, create a participation challenge without a prize amount. The challenge tracks progress, but you control when and how the sponsor's gift is added — you add it manually as a normal gift.
If you want full control over when the challenge is shown as complete and when the sponsor's gift hits the thermometer and the campaign page, create a custom challenge and add the sponsor's gift as a normal gift on the backend.
How to credit a sponsor
There are two ways to get started:
From Campaign Hub: Each challenge that has an unlock amount shows a nudge to "Credit a sponsor." Click it to go directly to the Sponsor Challenges tab.
From the page tabs: Go to the Sponsor Challenges tab (next to Gifts, Recurring Gifts, etc.). The tab shows a count of how many challenges still need a sponsor.
Inside the Sponsor Challenges tab, you'll see three sub-tabs: All, Not Credited, and Credited.
Adding a sponsor's gift
Go to the Not Credited tab to see challenges that don't have a sponsor yet.
Select the challenge you want to credit and click "Credit a sponsor."
If an existing gift with "Mark as sponsor's gift" turned on matches the unlock amount, it will be listed here — you can select it directly. If there's no existing sponsor's gift, click "Add a new gift."
When adding a new gift, the fund and amount are pre-filled to match the challenge's unlock amount. The amount is not editable — it must match the challenge exactly. The fund can be changed.
Enter the sponsor's donor details (name, email, etc.). If there are mandatory fields from your pre-payment or post-payment form, you'll see them here too.
Save the gift. The sponsor is now credited to that challenge.
Multi-fund challenges
If the challenge is tied to multiple funds, the system automatically splits the gift equally across all funds. You can adjust the individual fund amounts, but the total must match the challenge's unlock amount exactly — the system won't let you save if the total doesn't match.
How the thermometer and sponsor's gift work together
When a challenge unlocks, the match amount (or prize amount) is added to the thermometer automatically — regardless of whether a sponsor's gift is tied to the challenge or not. The thermometer always reflects the matched amount in real time as donors give.
The sponsor's gift itself is not added to the thermometer at the time of crediting — it stays as a side amount on the admin side until the challenge goal is met or the campaign ends. This means:
You may notice a discrepancy between the donor-facing total and the admin-side total. This is expected.
The tied sponsor's gift closes this gap by recording the sponsor's contribution on the admin side and showing it on the donor side — the sponsor appears on the leaderboard, gift ticker, heatmap, and is included in gift and donor counts once the goal is reached.
On the Reports tab, you'll see that the sponsored gifts are added but not yet on the thermometer — until the challenge unlocks or the campaign ends.
Note: If a Goal Amount has been set on a matching gift challenge (a total fundraising goal beyond the matching amount), the thermometer continues progressing even after the sponsor's matching gift money is fully utilized — all the way to the overall Goal Amount. The tied gift, however, unlocks based on the matching amount, not the total Goal Amount.
When does the sponsor's gift appear on the donor side of the giving page?
Matching gift challenge: The sponsor's gift appears on the donor side only when the entire matching gift amount is unlocked (not the total Goal Amount). Until then, the sponsor is shown on the card ("Sponsored by…") but the gift doesn't appear on the leaderboard, ticker, or heatmap.
Participation challenge: The sponsor's gift appears on the donor side when the participation goal is reached and the prize amount is unlocked.
If the goal is not reached but a sponsor was credited: The sponsor's gift won't unlock immediately. When the main campaign ends, the gift is unlocked automatically — it shows everywhere (thermometer, leaderboard, ticker, heatmap, etc.) but the challenge card will still show that the challenge was not completed.
If the goal is not reached and no sponsor was credited: The system will not ask you to credit a sponsor after the challenge ends — there's no unlock happening, so there's no sponsor to credit.
Why credit a sponsor?
Without a credited sponsor, the thermometer still updates — but the sponsor is invisible on the campaign page (no leaderboard, no ticker, no heatmap) and the admin-side total won't match the donor-facing total. Crediting a sponsor solves both.
Here's a side-by-side:
Simple example
A challenge on the page says: "If 50 alumni give, a donor will match $25,000."
The admin credits Marissa as the sponsor with a $25,000 gift tied to this challenge. The card now shows "Sponsored by Marissa."
50 alumni give.
The $25,000 match amount is automatically added to the thermometer — donors see it update in real time.
The card displays "Goal reached." Marissa's gift appears on the leaderboard, gift ticker, and heatmap.
Without a credited sponsor:
The thermometer still updates the same way.
Marissa won't appear on the leaderboard, gift ticker, or heatmap.
The admin can still mention Marissa in the challenge name or description.
What the donor sees
When a sponsor's gift is tied to a challenge, the campaign card shows "Sponsored by [donor name]" on the card image, along with the match details and goal progress. This is visible to all donors browsing the giving page.
When the goal is met, the card displays a "Goal reached" pill. Donors who give after the goal is reached still appear in the donor list, as long as the challenge is still active.
Anonymous sponsors
If the sponsor does not want to be identified on the card, the admin can mark the gift as anonymous. The sponsor's name is removed from the "Sponsored by" text on the card, but the gift remains tied to the challenge and will still unlock when the goal is met — appearing on leaderboards, ticker, and heatmap as an anonymous gift.
Without a credited sponsor, donors see the same challenge card — progress, thermometer, match details — but without the "Sponsored by" attribution.
Managing sponsors
Removing a sponsor
You can remove a sponsor from a challenge only before the gift unlocks. Once the challenge goal is met and the gift becomes visible on the giving page (leaderboard, ticker, heatmap), you can no longer remove the sponsor.
When you remove a sponsor before the unlock, the gift goes back to being an unassociated sponsor's gift — it remains on the admin side and can be tied to a different challenge.
Adding a sponsor's gift from the Gifts tab
You can also add a sponsor's gift directly from the Gifts tab by clicking "+" and turning on the "Sponsor's gift" toggle. The gift will be marked as a sponsor's gift and will remain hidden from the donor side until it is tied to a challenge and that challenge unlocks.
To tie it to a challenge later, go to the Sponsor Challenges tab, find the challenge under "Not Credited," and select the existing gift.
Which challenges show in the Sponsor Challenges tab?
Only challenges that have an unlock amount — matching gift challenges and participation challenges with a prize amount. Custom challenges, participation challenges without a prize, and fund highlights do not appear here.
FAQs
Can I add a sponsor's gift without crediting it to a challenge?
Yes, that's fine. The gift will not show on the campaign page leaderboard, ticker, or heatmap — the thermometer will however, show the matched amount, irrespective of you adding a sponsor's gift. Do this only when you don't want to credit a sponsor to a challenge but still want the admin-side and donor-side amounts to match.
Can I tie more than one gift to a challenge?
No. It is not possible today. Each challenge can have only one gift tied to it.
I do not want the tied gift to show if the challenge goal is not met. What can I do?
The only way to prevent this is to untie the gift from the challenge (remove the sponsor) before the campaign ends.
I have a challenge sponsor who gave more than the challenge amount. How do I add the whole amount but tie only the challenge amount to the challenge?
It is not possible to split a single gift between a tied and untied portion. You have to create two gifts in such cases — one tied to the challenge for the challenge amount, and the other as a normal gift for the remaining amount.
What if I add a challenge's sponsor gift as a normal gift, without marking it as a sponsor's gift?
For a matching gift challenge or a participation challenge with a prize amount — yes, the amount will be double-counted on the thermometer. The system automatically adds the matched/prize amount when the challenge unlocks, so adding the sponsor's gift again as a normal gift counts it twice. In these cases, always mark the sponsor's gift using the sponsor's gift toggle.
For any other challenge type (custom challenge, participation without a prize, fund highlight), it is fine to add the sponsor's gift as a normal gift — there is no automatic unlock, so no double-counting.
If the main campaign thermometer automatically updates to show the matched challenge gifts, then why is there a need to credit a sponsor to a challenge?
If you don't credit a sponsor, the donor sponsoring the challenge will not be shown on the campaign page as one of the donors. They will be missing from the leaderboard, gift ticker, heatmap, etc. Also, the total raised amount you see on the main campaign page (donor-facing side) will not match with what you see on the admin side — the admin side will end up showing a lesser amount.
I want to unlock the tied gift right after the power hour challenge ends. How should I do that?
If the challenge goal is met, the tied gift is added to the campaign page automatically. It will appear in leaderboards, heatmaps, gift ticker and be included in gift and donor counts.
I want to unlock the tied gift a day after the campaign ended. How should I do that?
This is not possible. A tied gift gets added as soon as the goal of the challenge is met or when the actual campaign ends. If you want to control when the challenge sponsor's gift appears on the campaign page (leaderboard, heatmap, gift ticker, gift and donor counts), then create a custom challenge or a participation challenge without a prize amount.
I want to also show that the challenge thermometer is completed when the tied gift is unlocked. Something should show that the sponsor has actually made the gift. How should I do that?
This is not possible today.
I want the matching gift amount or the prize amount to be split across the funds of my choice. How do I do that?
Edit the sponsor's gift, and under the Gifts/gift splits section, split the challenge amount across multiple funds. Make sure the total amount matches the challenge goal (the one the gift is tied to).
I don't want it split across all the funds associated with the challenge. I would like to associate it with a fund of my choice. How?
Same as above — edit the sponsor's gift and under Gifts/gift splits, set the fund to whichever fund you prefer.
I have multiple donors sponsoring a challenge. How should I credit a sponsor in such a case?
This is not possible today. Each challenge can have only one gift tied to it.
I have a couple who have made a large gift, and their gift is spread across multiple challenges. Can I link a gift to more than one challenge?
Not possible. You have to create separate gifts for each challenge.
I don't want to unlock a tied gift if the goal is not reached. How should I go about it?
A tied gift gets added when the goal is met or when the main campaign ends — whichever happens first. If you want control over when the sponsor's gift appears, create a custom challenge or a participation challenge without a prize amount instead.
I have a donor who has made a $10,000 gift, and we have decided to add only $5,000 to a challenge. How should I do that?
Create two separate gifts — one as a sponsor's gift tied to the challenge for $5,000, and the other as a normal gift for the remaining $5,000.
The challenge sponsor gifts are already in our Raiser's Edge. We do not want them to be synced to RE when we are syncing other gifts. What should we do?
Edit the sponsor's gift, and scroll to the "Sync Details" section. Enter the RE Gift ID in the External Database ID field, or enter the batch number the gift is a part of. Adding one of these details will ensure the gift is marked as Synced and will not sync back to RE when you are syncing other gifts.
What does "Sponsor's gift" toggle mean?
Any gift with this toggle turned on is treated as a sponsor's gift on Almabase. It tells the system not to count this gift toward the thermometer (since the matched amount is already added automatically when the challenge unlocks). This toggle also lets you tie the gift to a specific challenge. Only turn this on for gifts that represent a challenge sponsor's contribution — not for regular donor gifts.
The gift amount on the admin side is lower than what I see on the donor-facing page. Why?
This generally happens when you have a matching gift challenge or a participation challenge with a prize amount, but no gift is tied to it. The system adds the matched/prize amount to the donor-facing thermometer automatically, but no corresponding gift exists on the admin side. If you do not want to credit a sponsor to the challenge but still want the amounts to match, create an offline gift for the difference amount and mark it as a sponsor's gift.