Overview
Tributes are used when a gift, pledge, or planned gift is made in honor or memory of a person, organization, fund, or other record. A tribute may include:
- A linked tribute record, such as a person, company, foundation, fund, or other record
- A free-text honoree name when no linked record exists
- An occasion, such as “In Honor Of” or “In Memory Of” or other customized occasion type
Tribute and occasion data can be imported through the standard Upload Dataset tool. This article explains which import destinations to use and how to map multiple tributes.
Always remember to test your imports in your Test Environment before running the import in Production.
Using the Tribute Destinations
For new imports, use the Gift – Tribute destinations.
These destinations support current tribute import functionality, including:
- Multiple tributes on the same gift
- Different occasions for different tributes
- Free-text honorees
Slate also includes legacy Gift – Honoring destinations. These are still supported and existing imports that use them may continue to work. However, for new import work, the Gift – Tribute destinations are recommended because they provide more flexibility and support mixed tribute splits.
Tribute Import Concepts
Before mapping the import, it is helpful to understand the three types of tribute information you may import.
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Tribute record | A linked Slate record being honored, such as a person, fund, company, foundation, or other record. |
| Tribute honoring (other) | A free-text honoree name, used when the honoree does not have a linked Slate record. |
| Tribute occasion | The occasion associated with the tribute, such as “In Honor Of” or “In Memory Of.” |
A tribute can use a linked record, a free-text honoree, or both as a fallback approach.
For example, you may map a tribute record ID and a free-text honoree name so the import can link the record when a match is found and use the free-text value when no match is found.
Tribute Import Destinations
The available Gift – Tribute Record by... destinations depend on the identifiers available in your database.
Gift – Tribute Record by Slate ID is a standard destination.
Other Gift – Tribute Record by... destinations may appear when fields are configured as Unique for Merging, allowing Slate to use those values to identify and link the correct tribute record.
In addition to record-matching destinations, the following tribute destinations may also be available:
| Destination | Use |
|---|---|
| Gift – Tribute Record by Slate ID | Links the tribute to a record using the standard Slate ID. |
| Gift – Tribute Record by... | Links the tribute to a record using another unique identifier configured for merging. |
| Gift – Tribute Honoring (other) | Imports a free-text honoree name. |
| Gift – Tribute Occasion | Imports the occasion for the tribute. |
Use the destination that matches the identifier in your source file.
For example, if your source file contains the honoree’s Slate ID, map that column to Gift – Tribute Record by Slate ID. If your source file contains another unique identifier, use the corresponding Gift – Tribute Record by... destination when available.
Understanding Group and Subgroup
Tribute destinations include two mapping values: Group and Subgroup.
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Group | Identifies which gift, pledge, or planned gift in the source row the data belongs to. |
| Subgroup | Identifies which tribute within that gift, pledge, or planned gift the data belongs to. |
For a single gift with one tribute, use the defaults:
- Group:
1 - Subgroup:
1
For multiple tributes on the same gift, keep the same Group and change the Subgroup.
For example:
| Data | Group | Subgroup |
|---|---|---|
| Gift 1, Tribute 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Gift 1, Tribute 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Gift 1, Tribute 3 | 1 | 3 |
For multiple gifts in the same source row, use the Group to identify the gift and the Subgroup to identify the tribute for that gift.
| Data | Group | Subgroup |
|---|---|---|
| Gift 1, Tribute 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Gift 1, Tribute 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Gift 2, Tribute 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Gift 2, Tribute 2 | 2 | 2 |
All fields for the same tribute should use the same Group and Subgroup. This includes the tribute record, free-text honoree, and occasion.
Prepare the Source File
Your source file should include one column for each piece of tribute data you plan to import.
For one tribute on a gift, the source file might include:
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| Donor ID | 000123456 |
| Tribute Record Identifier | 000987654 |
| Tribute Occasion | In Honor Of |
| Tribute Honoring Text | Jane Smith |
| Gift Amount | 100.00 |
| Fund | Annual Fund |
For multiple tributes on one gift, include separate columns for each tribute:
| Column |
|---|
| Tribute 1 Identifier |
| Tribute 1 Occasion |
| Tribute 1 Honoring Text |
| Tribute 2 Identifier |
| Tribute 2 Occasion |
| Tribute 2 Honoring Text |
Map One Tribute for One Gift
To import one tribute for one gift:
- Map the donor, gift, amount, fund, status, and other standard gift fields as usual.
- Map the tribute identifier column to the appropriate Gift – Tribute Record by... destination.
- Map the occasion column to Gift – Tribute Occasion.
- If needed, map the free-text honoree column to Gift – Tribute Honoring (other).
- Use Group 1 and Subgroup 1 for each tribute-related destination.
Example:
| Source Column | Destination | Group | Subgroup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tribute Record Identifier | Gift – Tribute Record by... | 1 | 1 |
| Tribute Occasion | Gift – Tribute Occasion | 1 | 1 |
| Tribute Honoring Text | Gift – Tribute Honoring (other) | 1 | 1 |
Map Multiple Tributes for One Gift
To import multiple tributes for the same gift, use the same Group and a different Subgroup for each tribute.
Example:
| Source Column | Destination | Group | Subgroup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tribute 1 Record Identifier | Gift – Tribute Record by... | 1 | 1 |
| Tribute 1 Occasion | Gift – Tribute Occasion | 1 | 1 |
| Tribute 1 Honoring Text | Gift – Tribute Honoring (other) | 1 | 1 |
| Tribute 2 Record Identifier | Gift – Tribute Record by... | 1 | 2 |
| Tribute 2 Occasion | Gift – Tribute Occasion | 1 | 2 |
| Tribute 2 Honoring Text | Gift – Tribute Honoring (other) | 1 | 2 |
Import Multiple Gifts with Mixed Tribute Occasions
This can occur when a source row includes more than one gift or pledge, and each gift or pledge has its own tribute information.
Use:
- Group to identify the gift or pledge
- Subgroup to identify the tribute for that gift or pledge
Example:
| Source Column | Destination | Group | Subgroup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gift 1 Amount | Gift – Amount | 1 | — |
| Gift 1 Fund | Gift – Fund | 1 | — |
| Gift 1 Tribute 1 Record Identifier | Gift – Tribute Record by... | 1 | 1 |
| Gift 1 Tribute 1 Occasion | Gift – Tribute Occasion | 1 | 1 |
| Gift 1 Tribute 2 Record Identifier | Gift – Tribute Record by... | 1 | 2 |
| Gift 1 Tribute 2 Occasion | Gift – Tribute Occasion | 1 | 2 |
| Gift 2 Amount | Gift – Amount | 2 | — |
| Gift 2 Fund | Gift – Fund | 2 | — |
| Gift 2 Tribute 1 Record Identifier | Gift – Tribute Record by... | 2 | 1 |
| Gift 2 Tribute 1 Occasion | Gift – Tribute Occasion | 2 | 1 |
This structure keeps each tribute attached to the correct gift.
Importing Tribute Data for Pledges and Planned Gifts
The same general mapping pattern may also be available for pledges and planned gifts, using their corresponding destination categories.
For example:
| Destination Category | Example Destination |
|---|---|
| Giving - Pledge | Pledge – Tribute Record by... |
| Giving - Pledge | Pledge – Tribute Occasion |
| Giving - Pledge | Pledge – Tribute Honoring (other) |
| Giving - Planned Gift | Planned Gift – Tribute Record by... |
| Giving - Planned Gift | Planned Gift – Tribute Occasion |
| Giving - Planned Gift | Planned Gift – Tribute Honoring (other) |
Use the same Group and Subgroup logic:
- Group identifies the pledge or planned gift.
- Subgroup identifies the tribute within that pledge or planned gift.
Review the Import
After the import runs:
- Review the import summary for errors or warnings.
- Spot-check several gift records to confirm the expected tributes and occasions were added.
- Confirm that linked tribute records resolved correctly.
- Confirm that free-text honorees appear where expected.
- Run a query, if needed, to review imported tribute records in bulk.
Troubleshooting
A tribute did not import
Confirm that the record identifier in the source file matches an existing record. For example, if you mapped a Gift – Tribute Record by... destination, the value must match a record using that identifier.
If you expected a free-text honoree to be used, confirm that Gift – Tribute Honoring (other) was mapped and that the source column contained a value.
The tribute imported, but the occasion is missing
Confirm that the occasion value in the source file matches an existing configured occasion value in Slate. If the value does not match, the tribute may import without an occasion.
Multiple tributes are not appearing correctly
Confirm that each tribute uses a unique Subgroup value.
For example, two tributes on the same gift should not both use Group 1 / Subgroup 1. The first tribute should use Group 1 / Subgroup 1, and the second should use Group 1 / Subgroup 2.
A tribute is attached to the wrong gift
Review the Group values. The Group determines which gift, pledge, or planned gift the tribute belongs to. If the Group is incorrect, the tribute may be associated with the wrong item in the source row.
Free-text honoring did not appear
If a linked tribute record is successfully found, Slate may use the linked record instead of the free-text honoring value. Use Gift – Tribute Honoring (other) when you need to import a honoree name that is not linked to an existing Slate record.
Best Practices
- Use Gift – Tribute destinations for new tribute imports.
- Test in the Test environment before importing into Production.
- Use separate source columns for each tribute and occasion.
- Keep the same Group and Subgroup for all fields that belong to the same tribute.
- Use Subgroup values to distinguish multiple tributes on the same gift.
- Spot-check records after import before relying on the results broadly.