At REACH, we understand that security and privacy in the online world of data and donor management, payment processing and child sponsorship is a critical issue. We understand its importance and are dedicated to addressing it through as many means as possible. 

These are some of the many built-in features and methods in which REACH addresses security and privacy in terms of sponsorships.

If there is an additional privacy and security feature you aren’t sure if REACH offers, or you’d like to request, please contact us. 

Sponsorship’s Title/Name#

The Title/Name field is displayed on the public Sponsorship Profile.

To help protect a sponsored individual’s privacy, many organizations choose one of the following approaches:

1. Use the first name only in the Title/Name field, and store the last name in a custom field that is visible only to Sponsors or Admins.
2. Use an alphanumeric identifier instead of the sponsorship’s name. Simply enter a unique combination of letters and/or numbers in the Title/Name field.

Creating and Adding a Sponsorship Name Custom Field#

If you choose either option, we recommend creating a Sponsorship Name custom field with the Referral set to Sponsorship Type.

• Go to Data Setup > Custom Fields
• Click on + New Field
• Add a Title
• Choose Sponsorship Type as your Referral
• Choose the appropriate visibility:
  • Show to Sponsors Only – Sponsors will see the sponsorship’s name after they have signed in to the Donor Portal and are sponsoring the individual.
  • Show in Admin Console Only – The sponsorship’s name will only be visible to administrators within the Admin Console.
• Click Create

Then to add the sponsorship name custom field to your sponsorships:

• Edit your Sponsorship Type.
• Next to Custom Fields, add the newly created custom field named Sponsorship Name
• Save your changes

Next, open each Sponsorship profile and enter the individual’s name in the Sponsorship Name custom field.

Depending on the visibility you selected:

• If Show to Sponsors Only is enabled, the name will appear to sponsors after they sign in to the Donor Portal.
• If Show in Admin Console Only is enabled, the name will only be visible to administrators.

Updating Existing Sponsorships#

If your Sponsorship Title/Name currently contains the individual’s full name and you’d like to switch to one of the privacy options above:

• Create the Sponsorship Name custom field
• Export your Sponsorship list
• Update the export file by:
  • Changing the Title/Name field to your preferred format (first name only or an alphanumeric identifier).
  • Moving the full name into the Sponsorship Name custom field
• Re-import the updated file to apply the changes.

As with any import, we recommend testing with a small number of records first to ensure your fields are mapped correctly before importing your full dataset.

Sponsorship Images#

A profile image is required for Sponsorships to display publicly in REACH.

If you prefer not to display a sponsorship’s actual photo, you can upload an avatar or other placeholder image instead.

REACH Tip: Canva offers a variety of free avatar graphics and is available at no cost to eligible registered nonprofits. For best results, resize images to 900 × 900 pixels before uploading them to REACH.

Some organizations choose to use a generic “Photo Available After Sponsorship” image as the public profile photo. In this case, the sponsorship’s actual photos are stored in the Sponsorship Album and are only visible to logged-in sponsors.

Making Sponsorship Albums Private#

To allow only sponsors to view a sponsorship’s photos:

• Edit the appropriate Sponsorship Type.
• Enable the Private Albums option.
• Open the Sponsorship’s profile.
• Select Actions > Album.
• Upload the sponsorship’s images to the album.

REACH Tip: To make all Sponsorship Albums private, regardless of Sponsorship Type, navigate to Settings > General Settings > Sponsorships and enable Make sponsorship albums hidden from the public and visible only to logged-in sponsors.

When a sponsor is signed in to the Donor Portal, they can view their sponsorship’s photos by selecting View Profile next to their sponsorship and clicking the Album tab. If a sponsor is not signed in, the Album tab will not be displayed, ensuring the sponsorship’s photos remain private.

Sponsorship Profiles #

REACH offers several sponsorship classifications – sponsorship status, sponsorship visibility, and sponsorship program status.

In terms of privacy, you can choose to modify the sponsorship’s visibility to Hidden, either individually or for all sponsorship profiles in a Sponsorship Type. Any sponsorship’s marked as Hidden will not be viewable on your public webpage but only visible to sponsors when logged into their donor portal. 

To hide all fully sponsored sponsorship profiles, view the full instructions here.

To hide an individual sponsorship’s profile:

• Go to the Sponsorship’s profile
• Click Actions > Edit
• Check the box next to Hidden
• Click Save Changes

To hide all sponsorship profiles within a Sponsorship Type:

• Go to the Sponsorships > Sponsorship Types
• Click Actions > Edit
• Check the box next to Hide
• Click Save Changes

Limit Search Engine Indexing for Sponsorship Profiles#

To enhance confidentiality, the indexing of your sponsorship profiles by search engines like Google or Bing is restricted. This setting is enabled by default. While it prevents your profiles from appearing in search results, anyone with the direct link to your profile will still be able to view it.

This option can be found by going to Settings > General Settings > Sponsorships tab.

If you need to fully prevent public viewing of sponsorship profiles, edit the sponsorship profile to mark as Hidden.

Sponsorship Birthdate#

REACH is designed to automatically display a calculated age instead of the birthdate on a sponsorship profile page. 

In a sponsorship’s profile record, when you enter the birthdate into the Date of Birth field:

The birth date is recorded on the back-end and available to be filtered in Reports. 

For example, you can filter by Sponsorship Date of Birth in the Sponsors Report and in the Sponsorships Report, as shown below: 

On your public page, the Sponsorship Date of Birth will be automatically calculated to an Age to keep the birthdate private. 

Sponsorship Conversations#

Using REACH, sponsors and sponsorships can exchange messages using our Sponsorship Conversations feature. However, any conversations exchanged must be moderated by an Admin. 

Any new Conversations will be indicated by a red number next to Sponsorships > Conversations. 

From here, an Admin can review the Conversation sent and determine next steps. 

Refer to our Sponsorships Conversations article for more detailed information. 

Sponsorship Grouping#

Some organizations choose to not sponsor individual children as a privacy safeguard.

We’ve seen organizations list sponsorships based on age/grade. 

For example: Primary Age Boy, where the number of Shares available are increased because the grouping includes all Primary Age boys in the sponsorship program.

We’ve also seen organizations list sponsorships by classroom. 

Both of these options require setting up a Sponsorship Type with the larger number of Shares available and then adding a generalized Sponsorship profile (ex: Primary Age Boy or 3rd Grade Classroom) under that Sponsorship Type. 

Once a supporter sponsors this way, the admin will then create the sponsorship supporter relationship on the admin side. This can be done by having individual sponsorships marked as Hidden and then creating the sponsorship-supporter relationship from the Admin Console. Refer to our Replacing a Sponsorship for a Supporter article. 

Sponsorship Messages and Updates (Private Messages)#

You can send Private Messages, updates about a sponsorship, directly to sponsors. These messages will appear on the sponsorship profile and in the Donor Portal once the sponsor logs in. You can also include a link to a video or file in the message.

To send a private message, go to the sponsorship’s profile and select Actions > New Message. Alternatively, click on the Messages tab and click New Message.

Prepare your Message, and be sure to mark as Private if you want the Message to only appear to sponsors when they are logged in.

From the Donor Portal, the sponsor can then view the Message by clicking on the sponsorship’s name.

Or, when logged in, they can view the Message on the Messages tab from the sponsorship’s public profile. If marked Private, the sponsor must be logged in to view. If not marked Private, the Message is public.

Supporters can be automatically notified when a new Message is posted by enabling the Supporter Daily Digest Email.

To do so, go to:

• Go to Settings > General Settings > General tab
• Click on Enable Supporter Daily Digest Email

Refer to our Messages article for additional information on Messages.