Enabling automatic soft crediting by relationship types

In this article:


Overview

This article reviews how to customize constituent relationships and enable automatic soft crediting of gifts for certain relationship types.

Menu option types in Little Green Light are customizable from Settings > Menu Items. The available types are shown in the left column of the screenshot below, under "Constituent categories". 

Setting up automatic soft crediting

Adding or updating the constituent relationship types

Relationship types allow you to assign possible relationship values and their reciprocal relationship value (i.e., brother/sister, husband/wife, and so on) to records in LGL. A few sample relationship values are provided with your LGL account, but you can also add custom values by clicking on the Add value button at the top of the Relationship Type section.

Enabling soft crediting requires updating the relevant relationship type/s. First click the  Constituent relationships tab to access the relationship types in your account.

You can add automatic soft crediting to any relationship, as long as the relationship is reciprocal. Add or edit the relationship type, select the category of relationship (family, relative, work, other), name the value, and set the reciprocal type:

Selecting the automatic soft crediting option

Once you've selected the "Reciprocal Type", the option to set up automatic soft crediting of gifts for that relationship type will display. Select "Yes".

The screenshots below show what the gift record will look like once the setting is enabled and you're entering a gift for a constituent who has a reciprocal relationship with a "spouse"-type record:

Because we enabled the constituent relationship type of "Spouse" to automatically soft credit a record with a reciprocal relationship type of "Spouse", Carol Brady's soft credit has been automatically populated in the Related gifts section of Mike Brady's gift record. 

NOTE: If you do not want to soft credit the gift to the spouse, click the "Remove" button to remove it.

Once you have followed these instructions, all imported gifts that come into your LGL account via the Flex Importer, LGL Forms, or integrations with third-party software applications will be soft-credited automatically.

Retroactively apply an automatic soft credit

Once you have turned automatic soft crediting on in your LGL account, you may find that certain gifts that were entered prior to turning the setting on should have the soft credit applied but do not. To update these gifts so the soft credit is applied, follow these instructions:

1. Export the individual gifts that you want to apply a soft credit to (search for these in the Fundraising tab), and export the records using two columns: 

  • LGL Constituent ID
  • LGL Gift ID

2. Now import the file, mapping those two columns in the Flex Importer. The import should now trigger the creation of the soft credits (because the setting has been turned on in your LGL account).

If many of your gift records need to be updated, we recommend trying the process described with five constituents to ensure all is working smoothly before proceeding with a large import. If the data is coming in correctly in your test, you can then proceed with the rest of the import.