Commit the full amount of a match or challenge

This article covers GiveCampus campaign administration. Available controls can vary between the classic and redesigned campaign interfaces.

The creation form includes “If my match [or challenge] is not completely met, I will still give the full amount,” and the form initially checks it. Review it deliberately. When enabled, expiration processing can fill the remaining commitment to its maximum even without enough qualifying gifts. When the donor intends only earned matching dollars, do not treat this as a harmless display preference. A particular campaign's final amount still requires inspecting the saved setting, dates, state and gift records.

Why does an online gift show $0 when the campaign has a minimum donation?

An unsuccessful challenge can leave an online gift record showing $0 when the donor did not choose to give the full amount if the challenge was not met. The challenge has a gift/donation ID because the commitment was recorded, but no payment is collected for that zero-dollar outcome. This is not an ordinary $0 donation submitted through checkout and does not mean the campaign's minimum donation was bypassed.

A challenge's recorded value can remain zero until its qualifying threshold is reached. If the challenge ends without meeting its conditions and the full-amount option is off, there is no positive amount to charge. The retained record can move to pledged_unpaid. A gift ID by itself is not evidence that a payment was collected.

If the donor selected “If my challenge is not completely met, I will still give the full amount,” the full commitment is eligible for checkout even when the threshold was not met. Actual payment success must still be verified separately.

Check the record before explaining a $0 row

1. Confirm whether the record is an online gift or an offline gift.
2. For an online record, check whether its gift type is Challenge (or Match), its recorded value and maximum commitment, and whether the full-amount option was selected.
3. Check the offer's end date and status. An active challenge can show $0 before its threshold is reached; do not call it unsuccessful merely because its current value is zero.
4. For an expired, unsuccessful challenge with the full-amount option off, the $0 record represents an uncollected commitment. Review payment details if you need to confirm that specific gift's transaction history.

An expired match with no earned matching dollars can also remain unpaid when the full-amount option is off. An unmet challenge or match is different from a payment-processing failure: pledged_unpaid is not the same state as pledged_failed.

A $0 offline entry can separately be used for administrative donor credit. Do not assume an online $0 record is an offline joint-donor entry, and do not recommend changing offline records without checking the gift type and source. If the record is an ordinary online donation rather than a match/challenge, or the details do not fit this explanation, ask Support to review its gift ID.