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 visible on your webpage, supporters can browse by sponsorship type or search for a specific filter. To get started, they simply select their desired giving level from the dropdown menu and click Sponsor Now.
• On the Donation page, visitors who are new to your organization or not logged in will be prompted to enter their payment details as they complete the donation form. After submitting their donation, they are automatically added to your REACH Supporter database, based on their email address, including the appropriate Supporter/Sponsorship relationship.
• Existing supporters can click Log In at the top of the donation form to access their Donor Portal and complete their donation using the payment information already on file.
• When logged in to their Donor Portal, current supporters can:
  • View past donations made to your organization
  • Review their active sponsorships
  • Cancel a sponsorship (optional)
  • From the Supporter’s Sponsorships page, supporters can also start a Conversation or make an additional donation toward a sponsorship.
• All new sponsors will receive a confirmation email based on the template located under Settings > Email Templates > New Sponsorship.
• Additional settings for sponsorships and recurring donations can be set up under Settings > General Settings using the Sponsorships and Recurring Donation tabs.

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.