A sponsorship can be started by a Supporter from the organization’s public sponsorship page or by an Admin on behalf of a supporter in the REACH Admin Console.

Starting a Sponsorship as a Supporter#

• Once your sponsorships are set up and viewable from your webpage, a supporter can sort for types of sponsorships or search for a particular sponsorship, and initiate a sponsorship directly from that page by choosing the level of giving from the dropdown and clicking the Sponsor Now button.    
• On the Donation page, if a visitor is not logged in, or is new to your organization, they will be asked for payment details when completing the donation form. Once the donation is submitted, they will be automatically added to your REACH Supporter database, including the Supporter/Sponsorship relationship.
• Current Supporters can click Log In to their Donor Portal at the top of the donation form to use the information on file to complete their donation.
  • When current supporters are logged in to their Donor Portal, they can also view past donations made to your organization, view their current sponsorships and cancel a sponsorship (optional).  
  • From the Supporter’s Sponsorships Page, supporters can start a Conversation or add an additional donation to the Sponsorship.

Starting a Sponsorship as an Admin#

Admins can set up a Sponsorship for a Supporter in the REACH admin area, for both Offline (cash or check) and Online (credit card or other automatic) donations.

Note: This should always be started from the Sponsorship record.

• Go to Sponsorships and search for the Sponsorship the Supporter would like to sponsor.  
• Next to the Sponsorship, click the Actions > View Sponsors icon or click on the name of the sponsorship to bring up their record.
• Click the +New Sponsor button.
• For the  Payment Type, choose Online for credit card or other automatic online payments, Offline if the supporter will be giving by cash or check or Legacy if the sponsorship is being managed in a different system.
  • Note: Both Online and Offline options will be tracked for Past Due payments.  Any Sponsorship set as Legacy will not be flagged in REACH when payments are past due.  
• Select the number of shares the supporter would like to sponsor.  
• Start typing in the Supporter name. If they already have a record, it will be pulled in. You can also add a new supporter by selecting + New Supporter and entering their information.  
• Optional – enter a Soft Supporter
  • Note: A soft supporter is not the same as a soft credit. It is intended to be used for a supporter that is not providing any funds but needs to be given access to the sponsorship – perhaps another family member of the sponsor. In this case, they have the same access to a sponsorship in terms of Notifications, access to Conversations, etc., but receives no donation credit.
• If you are going to be adding multiple sponsorships for a supporter, repeat this process for each sponsorship until all are added to the cart
• Click the Checkout button
• If it is an Online payment method, you will then need to complete the payment process by adding or selecting a payment method

Note: To convert Legacy or Offline sponsorships to Online Recurring sponsorships, please refer to our this article.

Online Payment Type#

• You will be taken to the cart for checkout. Ensure that the cart information is correct.
• Click Checkout to be taken to the payment screen.
• Set a Date, a future date is allowed
  • Note: The sponsorship will be noted as sponsored but the first donation will not take place until the date you indicate.
• Verify the purpose, amount, currency and payment type.
• Add a Reference Number or code if desired.
• Select the preference for Transaction Fee
• Select the preferred Recurring Period
• Choose an End Date (optional) and review other options.
• Click Create.
• Complete the set up by either clicking Use Account on File or Change Payment Method.
  • When you click the Submit Payment button, unless you chose a start date in the future, the credit card listed will be charged right away and a confirmation email will automatically be sent to the supporter.  

Payment reminders are sent out using our Default Email Template (refer to our System Generated Emails article for more information). Yearly recurring donors receive a system notice one week prior to when their next donation is to be processed. 

Recurring Donation for Multiple Sponsorships#

If you will be setting up for a supporter a recurring donation for multiple sponsorships, the process is going to be slightly different. The basic steps are to set up each sponsorship using the Offline payment type, and then converting all sponsorships to Online.

• First use the instructions for Offline Payment type below to set up EACH sponsorship as Offline.
• Once each sponsorship has been set up, navigate to the supporter’s record and click on the Sponsorship History tab.
• At the top of that screen, in the blue box, click the button that says Convert All to Online.
• In the next screen, review the cart that all sponsorships are there. (Note: You may need to remove any other sponsorships in the cart that may have been started previously and not completed.)
• Click Checkout
• You will then be taken to the donation page to set up the recurring donation schedule and details.
• Once submitted, complete the required payment method information.
• Once all has been submitted, the recurring donation will be listed in the supporter’s Donations tab under Recurring Donations.

If you are replacing sponsorships on an existing recurring donation, please visit this article for specific instructions.

Offline Payment Type#

• You will be taken to the Sponsorship Supporter Relationship page.
• At the bottom of the page, click Donation Actions, then select + Add Donation
• Enter the Date and Payment Type
• Select whether you would like to Send Email Receipt
• Click Save Donation
• Tip: Check that your offline payment date is on or after the Sponsor Since date in the Sponsorship-Supporter record. Offline sponsorship donations must have a payment date on or after the Sponsor Since date in order to be included in Tracked Given. See more in Past Due Donations.

See also Entering Donations.