Overview
Gift fields and prompts determine what information can be stored on gifts, pledges, planned gifts, opportunities, and opportunity notes in Slate. Some fields are required, some are standard fields provided by Slate, and others can be customized by each institution.
Use this article to understand:
- Which fields are required to create a gift, pledge, or planned gift
- Which standard fields are available for gifts, pledges, planned gifts, opportunities, and opportunity notes
- When to create custom gift fields
- Which standard prompts can be customized
- How prompt configuration affects where values appear in Slate
Required Gift Fields: FAST
Every gift, pledge, or planned gift must include four required data points.
An easy way to remember these required fields is FAST:
| Required Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Fund | Identifies the designation or fund receiving the gift. |
| Amount | Stores the gift, pledge, or planned gift amount. |
| Status | Determines the overall category of the record, such as Received, Pledged, or Planned. |
| Type | Identifies the type of gift, such as cash, check, credit card, pledge, or planned gift. |
These four fields define the foundation of the giving record: where the gift is designated, how much it is for, how Slate should categorize it, and what kind of gift it is.
Standard Giving Fields
Slate includes standard fields for gifts, pledges, planned gifts, opportunities, and opportunity notes. These fields are available without creating custom fields.
Before creating a custom field, review the standard fields to determine whether Slate already provides an appropriate place to store the information.
Standard Fields for Gifts, Pledges, and Planned Gifts
The following standard fields are available for gifts, pledges, and planned gifts.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Amount | Required. Stores the gift, pledge, or planned gift amount. |
| Fund | Required. Connects the giving record to a fund. |
| Type | Required. Uses the gift_type prompt. |
| Status | Required. Uses the gift_status prompt. |
| Date | Stores the gift, pledge, or planned gift date. |
| Opportunity | Connects the giving record to an opportunity, when applicable. |
| Campaign | Connects the giving record to a campaign, when applicable. |
| Appeal | Connects the giving record to an appeal, when applicable. |
| Suggested Soft Credits | Supports configured suggested soft credit behavior. |
| Soft Credits | Stores soft credit relationships. |
| Soft Credit Type | Uses the gift_related_type prompt to identify the type of soft credit, when soft credit types are used. |
| Amount Override | Allows a soft credit amount to differ from the gift amount. |
| Occasion | Uses the gift_occasion prompt, commonly used for tribute gifts. |
| Honoring | Stores the person or record being honored or memorialized. |
| User | Stores the associated user. |
| Notes | Stores notes about the giving record. |
| Anonymous | Indicates whether the gift should be treated as anonymous. |
| External ID | Stores an external identifier. |
Campaign, Fund, and Appeal fields can be used to connect gifts to their respective dataset records.
Fields for Gifts Only
The following standard fields apply only to gifts in the Received category.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Fulfilling | Used when a gift fulfills a pledge or planned gift. |
| Fair Market Value | Stores the fair market value of the gift, when applicable. |
| Tax Amount | Stores the tax-deductible amount, when applicable. |
Fields for Pledges Only
The following standard fields apply only to pledges.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Configure Installments | Indicates whether pledge installments should be configured. |
| Start Date Override | Sets a custom start date for pledge installments. |
| Number of Installments | Defines the number of pledge installments. |
| Months Between Installments | Defines the installment frequency. |
Fields for Pledges and Planned Gifts
The following standard fields apply to both pledges and planned gifts.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Revocable | Indicates whether the pledge or planned gift is revocable. |
| Write-Off Date | Displays conditionally for configured write-off gift statuses. |
| Write-Off Amount | Displays conditionally for configured write-off gift statuses. |
| Amount Override | Allows an override amount to be stored when applicable. |
Core Gift Prompts
Several standard gift fields use prompts. Prompts control the values users can select when entering or updating giving records.
The most important gift prompts to review are:
| Prompt | Prompt Key | Used For |
|---|---|---|
| Gift Status | gift_status |
Categorizing gifts, pledges, and planned gifts. |
| Gift Type | gift_type |
Identifying the type of giving record. |
| Gift Occasion | gift_occasion |
Identifying tribute or memorial gift occasions. |
| Soft Credit Type | gift_related_type |
Identifying the type of soft credit, when soft credit types are used. |
Prompt values should be clear, consistent, and meaningful to users. Avoid creating multiple values that mean nearly the same thing.
Gift Status
Gift Status is one of the most important giving prompts because it determines the category of the giving record.
Prompt key: gift_status
The standard Gift Status values include:
| Category | Values |
|---|---|
| Planned | Planned Gift; Fulfilled Planned Gift; Planned Gift Write Off |
| Pledged | Pledged; Fulfilled Pledge; Pledge Write Off |
| Received | Received |
The status category determines where the status appears:
| Category | Appears For |
|---|---|
| Planned | Planned Giving |
| Pledged | Pledges |
| Received | Gifts |
The Unfulfilled Pledge category is a special category. It associates the status with pledges and excludes unfulfilled pledges, such as write-offs, from the Fulfilling dropdown in the gift entry modal.
Write-Off Date and Write-Off Amount
The Write-Off Date and Write-Off Amount fields display conditionally based on the selected Gift Status.
For write-off statuses, the following configuration can be added to the XML Configuration tab of the relevant gift_status prompt value:
<p>
<k>write_off</k>
<v>1</v>
</p>
For databases provisioned after May 2025, this configuration is included for the standard Pledge Write Off and Planned Gift Write Off values.
For older databases, this configuration may need to be added manually.
Gift Type
Gift Type identifies the type of giving record being entered.
Prompt key: gift_type
Preexisting values include:
- Cash
- Check
- Credit Card
- Online
- Planned Gift
- Pledge
By default, Gift Type prompt values appear for gifts, pledges, and planned gifts. Institutions can limit a Gift Type value so that it appears only in certain areas. In the XML tab on any given prompt, add the following PKVs to restrict the types to a particular category.
Display a Gift Type for Pledges
<p>
<k>status_category</k>
<v>Pledged</v>
</p>
Display a Gift Type for Gifts
<p>
<k>status_category</k>
<v>Received</v>
</p>
Display a Gift Type for Planned Gifts
<p>
<k>status_category</k>
<v>Planned</v>
</p>
If a Gift Type should appear in more than one area, include multiple configuration blocks.
For example, this configuration displays a Gift Type only for gifts and pledges:
<p>
<k>status_category</k>
<v>Received</v>
</p>
<p>
<k>status_category</k>
<v>Pledged</v>
</p>
If a Gift Type should appear for gifts, pledges, and planned gifts, no limiting configuration is needed.
Gift Occasion
Gift Occasion is commonly used for tribute gifts, such as gifts made in honor or in memory of someone.
Prompt key: gift_occasion
Preexisting values include:
- In Honor of
- In Memory of
Institutions can add additional occasion values when needed. Keep occasion values focused on the nature of the tribute or recognition, rather than creating values for reporting categories that could be captured elsewhere.
Soft Credit Type
Soft Credit Type can be used to identify different types of soft credit relationships on gifts, pledges, and planned gifts.
Prompt key: gift_related_type
By default, there are no Soft Credit Type values in a database. If an institution wants to use soft credit types, those values must be created using the gift_related_type prompt.
Soft Credit Type is optional. Institutions do not need to create soft credit types in order to use soft credits.
Institutions can create one or more soft credit types if they need to distinguish between different types of soft credit. Before doing so, consider how those values will be used in queries, reports, dashboards, and exports.
Opportunity Fields and Prompts
Opportunities, sometimes referred to as proposals, include their own standard fields and configurable prompts.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Name of the opportunity. |
| Date | Opportunity date. |
| Status | Uses the gift_project_status prompt. |
| User | Associated user. |
| Opportunity Type | Uses the gift_project_type prompt. |
| Funding Type | Uses the gift_project_funding_type prompt. |
| Fund | Connects the opportunity to a fund, when applicable. |
| Campaign | Connects the opportunity to a campaign, when applicable. |
| Anticipated Ask Amount | Expected ask amount. |
| Probability | Opportunity probability. |
| Asked Date | Date the ask was made. |
| Asked | Indicates whether the ask has occurred. |
| Description | Opportunity description. |
| External ID | Stores an external identifier. |
Expected and Received values appear after a pledge or gift is connected to the opportunity.
The following opportunity prompts can be customized:
| Prompt | Prompt Key | Preexisting Values |
|---|---|---|
| Opportunity Status | gift_project_status |
In Progress; Partially Funded; Funded; Declined |
| Opportunity Type | gift_project_type |
Annual Fund; Capital; Corporate Scholarship; Event Sponsorship; Grant; Major Gift; Planned Giving |
| Opportunity Funding Type | gift_project_funding_type |
Capital and Current Operations values |
Opportunity Status
Opportunity Status controls the status options available for opportunities.
Prompt key: gift_project_status
Preexisting values include:
- In Progress
- Partially Funded
- Funded
- Declined
By default, opportunities are available for selection in the gift entry modal. If opportunities with a specific status should not appear in the Opportunity dropdown, add the following configuration to that Opportunity Status value:
<p>
<k>show_opportunity</k>
<v>0</v>
</p>
When this configuration is used, opportunities with that status do not appear in the Opportunity dropdown in the gift entry modal.
Opportunity Notes
Opportunity Notes are available after an opportunity has been created and saved.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Date | Date of the note. |
| Time | Time of the note. |
| User | User associated with the note. |
| Subject | Subject of the note. |
| Notes | Note details. |
In the user interface, these are referred to as Opportunity Notes. In some import destinations or technical references, the related data may still appear as Opportunity Log.
Custom Gift Fields
In addition to standard fields, institutions can create custom fields scoped to gifts.
A custom gift field should be used when your institution needs to store information on a gift, pledge, or planned gift that does not belong in an existing standard field.
Examples might include:
- Internal processing details
- Stewardship classifications
- Institution-specific gift indicators
- Data needed for local reporting or downstream business processes
To create a custom gift field:
- Create a new custom field.
- Set the field’s Scope to Gift.
- Use the Gift Tabs Insert setting to determine where the field appears.
A custom gift-scoped field can appear on:
- Gifts
- Pledges
- Planned Gifts
A field can appear in one, two, or all three areas. If no Gift Tabs Insert option is selected, the field appears in all three gift categories.
When to Use a Standard Field vs. a Custom Field
Use a standard field when Slate already provides a field that matches the data you need to store. Standard fields are usually the best option because they are already connected to Slate’s built-in gift workflows, reporting, fulfillment behavior, and related records.
Use a custom gift field when the information is specific to your institution and does not fit an existing standard field.
Before creating a custom field, consider:
- Is there already a standard field for this information?
- Should the value apply to gifts, pledges, planned gifts, or all three?
- Will the field be used in imports, forms, queries, reports, rules, dashboards, or exports?
- Does the field need to be visible to all users or only certain users?
- Is the field collecting operational data, reporting data, or user-facing information?
- Should this be a free-text field, a field with a prompt list, or a field that connects to another record?
Keeping custom fields purposeful helps reduce redundancy and makes reporting easier.
Configuration Considerations
When configuring gift fields and prompts, consider both data entry and reporting.
A prompt value may appear simple to add, but it can affect:
- Which values users see when entering gifts, pledges, planned gifts, or opportunities
- Which records are available for fulfillment
- Whether write-off fields appear
- How gifts are grouped in queries and reports
- How imports should be mapped
- How dashboards, exports, rules, and forms reference giving data
Before changing a prompt value that is already in use, review how existing records, queries, reports, forms, imports, and automation may depend on that value.
Recommended Approach
Use the following approach when reviewing or configuring gift fields and prompts:
- Start with FAST. Confirm that every gift, pledge, or planned gift includes Fund, Amount, Status, and Type.
- Use standard fields whenever possible. Standard fields are already connected to Slate’s giving workflows and reporting.
- Create custom fields only when needed. Custom fields should capture institution-specific information that does not fit an existing standard field.
- Keep prompt values clear and distinct. Avoid duplicate or overlapping values that may confuse users or complicate reporting.
- Keep soft credit types simple. Only create multiple soft credit types when each type has a clear and distinct business purpose. You may not need any soft credit types.
- Review downstream effects. Consider imports, forms, rules, reports, dashboards, and fulfillment workflows before making changes.
Thoughtful field and prompt configuration helps users enter giving data accurately, keeps gift records easier to understand, and supports cleaner reporting across advancement workflows.