Donor challenges can be tracked in Atlas under Fundraising/Donor Challenge.
NOTE: In 2021 we tried to use Atlas challenges CDHC. They had three different challenges in their ED campaign. After a good deal of testing we ended up tracking the challenge using a revenue attribute instead. Issues we ran into were: only cash received was factored into the matched and remaining funds, so we could not get accurate totals as 2 of the campaigns included pledges, difficulty in showing which transactions were credited to which challenge, etc. This was solved with revenue attributes updated with global changes scheduled nightly.
Creating the challenge
Challenge type matters! Match per gift means the sponsor will match gifts multiple times during the challenge. This will add a recognition credit to each qualifying donor which will cause double-counting. You want to use Lump sum match.
The match threshold is the minimum amount that needs to be raised in order to receive the matching challenge funds. Generally you can set the threshold to be the same as the minimum amount. Matching designations is the designation where the challenge funds will go. The designations tab is where you add the designations that determine what donations will be matched. After creating the challenge you need to add all the appropriate designations to the designations tab.
Processing the Challenge
Click on the task “Update donor challenge” to add qualifying donations to the encumbered funds tab. Depending on the challenge, you may want to schedule this process to run nightly or weekly. You can also add revenue that would not ordinarily qualify for the challenge by clicking the Add button.
You will notice that the total for encumbered funds changes as you update the challenge. You will need to review the encumbered funds tab and select the revenue that qualifies for the match. Check the checkbox and click approve match. You can shift click to select multiple rows. Also bear in mind that the default filter for encumbered funds is just this month, so reset the filter if the total for encumbered funds is higher that what is visible on the tab!
When the threshold amount or the end date of the challenge is reached the challenge is marked fulfilled. At this point the challenge sponsor will have a pending donor challenge on their record. The matching monies can be applied to the challenge.
