Adding Offline Matches & Challenges

Adding New Offline Matches & Challenges

• Visit the Campaigns section of your admin dashboard
• Select the campaign where you want to add the offline match or challenge.
• Open Online Giving → Campaign Motivation And Sharing → Matches & Challenges for the selected campaign.
• Click 'New Offline Match or Challenge'
• Select the type of match or challenge you want to create — choose from Match, Challenge - Basic, or Challenge - Winner Takes All — and enter the required details.
• Optional. Enter the match or challenge headline (up to 60 characters). If left blank, the standard language will be used.
• Description:
  • Optional. Enter details about the match or challenge or acknowledge your match donors (up to 300 characters).

Criteria for Establishing a Match or Challenge:

• Total Amount Given
• Choices for a match:
  • Per Donor – enter the donation amount you will give per donor.
  • Per Dollar – enter the amount you will give for every $1 donated.
• Choices for a Challenge:
  • Dollars needed to unlock challenge
  • Donors needed to unlock challenge
• Start and end time of the match (in your timezone).
  • If left blank, the match will appear as soon as the campaign is live and end once fulfilled or the campaign ends.
• Who Should Count Towards this Match
  • All Donors to the Campaign
  • Specific Designation or Group of Designations
  • Specific Affiliation
  • Specific Class Year
  • Any restrictions on which gifts count for a match or challenge should be using fields on the pre-payment form.
• Designation Settings
  • Where the dollars from the matching gift should be designated
  • If designations are required for the campaign, choosing a designation will be required when setting up an offline match or challenge, as well.

Note: When creating a new offline match or challenge, the designation selector lists every designation on the campaign—even those within hidden groups. Use the Designation Settings area to choose which designation receives the match or challenge dollars. Hidden groups remain invisible to donors on the public campaign page.

From there, make sure to read and agree to the terms of service, then click to "Create Match" or "Create Challenge".

Managing an Existing Offline Match or Challenge

After an offline match or challenge is set up, you can review or modify certain details:

• Campaign > Motivation & Sharing > Matches & Challenges and clicking the 'pencil' icon
• Learn more about editing offline matches and challenges.

Canceling an Existing Offline Match or Challenge

Use the pencil icon to edit the fields available on an existing offline match or challenge. If a required change is not supported by the edit form, cancel the existing entry before creating a replacement, so both entries do not remain active.

• Visit the Online Giving > Campaign Manage Donations section.
• Find the donation in question by filtering status or searching the donor ID, name, or email.
• In the Refund column, you’ll see the Cancel button, where you can remove that match or challenge.

Please note, the ability to cancel an existing offline match or challenge is only available for admins with full or edit admin privileges.

Scheduling and visibility

Can I schedule a short, time-limited matching window (for example, a one-hour match)?

Yes. Offline matches and challenges let you set a start and end date/time (displayed in your school's timezone). When creating a match or challenge under Online Giving > Campaign Motivation And Sharing > Matches & Challenges, enter the desired start and end times. For instance, to run a match for one hour, set the start time at the beginning and the end time one hour later.

What do donors see before a match or challenge’s scheduled start time?

Matches or challenges with a future start time remain hidden on the public campaign page until that start time arrives.

What happens if I leave the start or end time blank when creating a match or challenge?

Leaving the start time blank makes the match or challenge appear as soon as the campaign goes live. The end time defaults to the campaign’s end date, but you can adjust it to end earlier if needed.

Can I run a challenge but keep it hidden until donors should see it?

No. The challenge tile becomes visible as soon as the match or challenge is active. To control visibility, set a future start date/time so it only appears when intended.

Can I make a campaign live but hide it from my school page so that only people with the link can access it?

Yes. In the campaign, go to Online Giving > Campaign Setup, select the Landing Page tab, and check the Hide on School Page checkbox. The campaign will be hidden from your school’s listings but accessible via its direct URL.

Where do I set the start/end times and manage matches and challenges?

You can create or edit offline matches and challenges at Online Giving > Campaign Motivation And Sharing > Matches & Challenges. Click New Offline Match or Challenge to create a new one, or click the pencil icon on an existing item to edit it. Then, set the start and end date/times on the form.