Custom Leaderboards for Campaigns

Leaderboards create friendly competition and highlight top-performing segments in your community. Use them to show which class years, teams, or designations are most active and motivate supporters to rally around shared goals.

Quick access — where to find and create custom leaderboards

1. In your campaign settings, go to the Leaderboards section and click Manage Custom Leaderboards, then Add Leaderboard.

This opens the interface to create custom leaderboards for friendly competition.

Quick capability summary:

• Create leaderboards for affiliations or designations.
• Display donor counts and optionally hide dollar totals.
• Set up separate leaderboards for different groups (e.g., class years or named groups).

Steps to create a custom leaderboard:

1. Open the campaign you want to edit and access its management area.
2. Navigate to the Leaderboards section and click Manage Custom Leaderboards, then Add Leaderboard.
3. Configure the leaderboard by choosing the type and selecting the rows you want to display (for example, specific class years or named groups).

Practical tips:

• To display a leaderboard on a specific tier or team page, open that tier’s campaign page and use its Custom Leaderboards section. Leaderboards created on one tier won’t appear on others.
• Use the "Hide Dollars Raised" option to emphasize donor counts over fundraising totals.
• For head-to-head or house-style competitions, consider creating separate leaderboards or distinct rows within one leaderboard to show each group’s donor count and dollar total side-by-side.

With Custom Leaderboards, you can create multiple leaderboards tailored to your campaign strategy.

 

Getting Started

Navigate to your campaign settings: Motivation & Sharing > Leaderboards > Manage Custom Leaderboards > Add Leaderboard

 

Configure Your Leaderboard

 

Basic Settings

Goal configuration

The Goal Configuration section appears between Basics and Row Configuration. It includes:

• Leaderboard Goals: Select Yes or No to display a Goal column.
• Leaderboard Goal Percentages: Select Yes or No to display a Percentage to Goal column.
• Goal Calculation: When a goal column is enabled, choose whether goals are automatically computed (dividing the overall campaign goal evenly across rows) or manually provided (enter a custom goal per row in Leaderboard Rows).
• Goal Type: If using manually provided goals, choose either Dollar Amount or Unique Donor Count as the metric.

Note: The Hide Dollars Raised option in Row Configuration appears only if at least one goal column is enabled and the selected goal type is not Dollar Amount.

Choose your configuration:

Choosing the right leaderboard type (when to use Affiliation vs Designation)

• Use an Affiliation leaderboard to compare individual affiliation values (for example, class years). This type lets you add rows for each value using a searchable list and a Select All option once basic settings are complete.

• Use a Designation leaderboard to show fundraising performance for specific funds, programs, or designations (for example, a soccer fund or scholarship program). This type displays donation counts and totals for each designation across all donors.

• To view a designation’s performance across all donors without affiliation filtering, simply create a Designation leaderboard without enabling affiliation filtering.

Designation leaderboards with affiliation filtering

To restrict a Designation leaderboard to donors from a specific affiliation type (for example, Alumni or Parents), enable the Affiliation Filtering control in the leaderboard builder.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Open your campaign and go to Motivation & Sharing > Leaderboards > Manage Custom Leaderboards > Add Leaderboard.
2. In the Basics section, set Leaderboard Type to Designation.
3. Check the Affiliation Filtering box. The label reads: "Only show designation data from donors of a particular affiliation".
4. When checked, a list of affiliation types (for example, Alumnus, Friend, Parent) appears. Select one or more types to restrict which donors’ gifts are counted.
5. Configure rows and appearance, then save and publish the leaderboard.

Quick notes:

• The dropdown labeled Leaderboard Type offers two options: Affiliation and Designation.

• The affiliation control for Designation leaderboards displays types as checkboxes that limit donor selection when enabled.

Important limitation:

The Affiliation Filtering feature filters only by affiliation type (for example, all Alumni) and does not allow filtering by specific values such as a particular class year or a range of years.

How to display class‑year breakdowns for designation-related goals

Because a single leaderboard cannot combine a designation filter with a specific class-year value, consider these approaches:

Option A – Class‑year participation across all designations:

• Create an Affiliation leaderboard and add rows for each class year you want to display. This counts gifts from donors in those class-year values, regardless of designation.

Option B – Overall designation performance:

• Create a Designation leaderboard without affiliation filtering to display donation totals for each fund or program.

Option C – Combined view:

• Build two leaderboards and display them together:

1. A Designation leaderboard showing overall totals for a specific designation.
2. An Affiliation leaderboard showing class-year participation.

Option D – Specific affinity tracking:

• If tracking a specific team or championship, treat each team as its own designation (for example, by naming it "Team — Championship"). Then build a Designation leaderboard with one row per team designation, optionally using affiliation filtering by type.

Example scenarios

• To show class years (e.g., 1976–1980) donor counts, build an Affiliation leaderboard and add a row for each year.

• To display overall totals for a fund, build a Designation leaderboard and add the corresponding designation as a row.

• To view totals for a fund specifically from alumni, build a Designation leaderboard, enable Affiliation Filtering, and select Alumnus. (Remember: You cannot restrict further by specific class years within the same leaderboard.)

• To compare Men's Soccer totals for a specific range of class years, create one Designation leaderboard (for overall totals) and one Affiliation leaderboard (for each class year) and display them side by side.

Row configuration reminders

• Affiliation leaderboards allow breakdown by specific year values using the row builder's searchable list. • The Select All option for class years appears only after completing the basic settings. • For Designation leaderboards with affiliation filtering, verify that the intended affiliation type(s) are correctly selected.

 

• Leaderboard name: What donors will see on the page
• Header and text colors: Use hex codes to match your campaign branding
• Hide Dollars Raised: In the Row Configuration section, choose whether to hide the dollars raised column on the leaderboard.
• Help Text: An optional field in the Basics section. Any text you enter appears below your leaderboard’s name on the campaign page.

Setting Up Class Year Leaderboards

To create a leaderboard showing class participation:

 

Select "Affiliation" as the leaderboard type

Choose the specific class years you want to display (like Class of 1996, 1997, etc.)

When you get to the "add rows" section, you'll see a "Select All" option for your class years

Note: The "Select All" option only appears after you've configured the other settings first

 

Managing Leaderboard Rows

When adding rows to your leaderboard:

 

• For cleaner display: Remove non-class year affiliations (Alumni, Faculty/Staff, Friends, Parents, Students) from class-specific leaderboards
• Create separate leaderboards: Consider making different leaderboards for class years vs. general affiliations
• Customize appearance: Adjust header colors to match your school branding (default colors can be reset if needed)

Leaderboard Types Explained

 

Affiliation-Based Leaderboards

• Show competition between different donor groups (Alumni, Parents, Faculty, etc.)
• Can be filtered by specific class years
• Perfect for reunion campaigns or class challenges

Designation-Based Leaderboards

• Display which funds or programs are receiving the most support
• Help donors see popular giving areas
• Encourage giving to underperforming designations

s

Leaderboard not updating? Ensure your campaign is live and gifts are being processed

Technical Details

 

How Counts Are Calculated

• Donor counts: Unique individuals giving to each category
• Dollar amounts: Total funds raised for each category
• Percentages: Category performance relative to overall campaign

Data Refresh

• Leaderboards update in near real-time
• Live campaigns show updates within 20 minutes
• Completed campaigns may have delayed updates

Troubleshooting

Q: I don't see the "Select All" option for class years. What's wrong? A: Complete all the basic settings (leaderboard type, name, colors) first. The "Select All" option only appears after the initial configuration is done.

Q: My leaderboard shows the wrong colors. How do I fix it? A: Go back to your leaderboard settings and update the header color using the correct hex code. Make sure to save your changes.

Q: Should I include all affiliations in my class leaderboard? A: For cleaner display, remove non-class affiliations (Alumni, Faculty/Staff, Friends, Parents, Students) from class-specific leaderboards. Consider creating separate leaderboards for different affiliation types.

Q: Why are my affiliation percentages over 100%? A: This happens when donors select multiple affiliations or when some donors don't select any affiliation. It's normal behavior, not an error.

Customizing Leaderboard Display Options

Removing Dollar Amount Columns

You can remove the dollar amount column from a custom leaderboard by setting the "Hide Dollars Raised" option to Yes in the leaderboard builder.

Available customization options:

• Leaderboard name and header text
• Display colors using hex codes
• Number of entries shown
• Sorting criteria
• Leaderboard type: Choose either Affiliation or Designation. To restrict a Designation leaderboard to donors from a specific affiliation type, enable the Affiliation Filtering option in the Basics section (this is not a separate leaderboard type).

Geographic/Map Leaderboards on Tier 2 Pages

Map leaderboards are currently only available on the main campaign landing page and cannot be displayed on Tier 2 (tiered landing) pages.

Tier 3 Custom Leaderboard Limitations

Why Tier 2 Leaderboards Don't Appear on Tier 3 Pages

Custom leaderboards in tiered campaigns are unique to each tier level and cannot be replicated across different tiers.

Key limitations:

• Tier 2 custom leaderboards only appear on their specific tier 2 landing page
• Tier 3 pages (individual team/department pages) cannot display tier 2 leaderboards
• Each tier level requires its own separate custom leaderboard setup

Creating Leaderboards for Tier 3 Pages

To add custom leaderboards to tier 3 pages, you must create them individually:

1. Navigate to each tier 3 page you want to add a leaderboard to
2. Go to the Custom Leaderboards section in that page's settings
3. Create a new leaderboard specific to that tier 3 page
4. Configure the leaderboard with relevant criteria for that specific team/department
5. Publish the leaderboard when ready

Important notes:

• This process must be repeated for each tier 3 page
• You cannot copy or replicate leaderboards between tiers
• Each tier 3 leaderboard will only show data relevant to that specific page

Alternative Approaches

If you want consistent leaderboard information across multiple pages:

• Consider using campaign updates to highlight leaderboard information
• Use the main tier 2 leaderboard as your primary display
• Create tier 3 leaderboards only for pages that need unique competitive elements

Help text (optional): Enter a short description that appears below the leaderboard’s name on the campaign page.

Default Row Count: Select the number of rows to display per page by default (options: 10, 25, 50, or 100).

Row Sort Order: Define the default sort order for leaderboard rows. Options include Dollars Raised (Lowest to Highest or Highest to Lowest), Donor Count (Lowest to Highest or Highest to Lowest), Row Display Name (A to Z or Z to A), and when enabled, Percentage to Goal (Lowest to Highest or Highest to Lowest).