A way of crediting a donation to someone other than the legal donor of record, to preserve a relationship.
A soft credit records the influence or involvement of a person in a gift without counting them as the legal donor of record. The "hard credit" goes to the entity that actually gave the funds, while a soft credit recognizes an individual associated with the gift.
Common examples include a gift made through a donor-advised fund (hard credit to the sponsoring organization, soft credit to the advising individual), a matching gift from an employer, or a spouse whose partner wrote the check.
Soft crediting keeps relationships and giving histories accurate so the right person is thanked and stewarded. Handling hard and soft credits correctly is a core capability of any serious fundraising CRM.
See it in Kindly
A charitable giving account, held at a sponsoring organization, from which a donor recommends grants to nonprofits over time.
A donation that is matched, often by an employer, multiplying the impact of the original gift.
Software that tracks donors, gifts, and relationships to help nonprofits raise and steward money.
A written thank-you and receipt a nonprofit sends a donor to recognize a gift and document it.
Manage donors, volunteers, members, and events together in one nonprofit platform, for one predictable subscription with no cut taken from donations.
