---
title: "Matching Gifts"
slug: "matching-gifts-1"
status: "new"
updated: 2026-08-24T18:09:35Z
published: 2026-08-24T18:09:35Z
canonical: "knowledge.technolutions.net/matching-gifts-1"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://knowledge.technolutions.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Matching Gifts

Slate supports a complete matching gift workflow — from automatically identifying potential matching gifts when a donor's gift is received, to fulfilling those matches when the company sends payment. This process is built on a shared, crowdsourced repository of company matching gift policies that benefits all Slate for Advancement institutions.

This article explains how the matching gift process works from end to end: how policies are managed, how Slate identifies and creates potential matches, how statuses are tracked, and how a fulfilled matching gift is entered and linked back to the original donor gift.

## Key Concepts

### Central Matching Gift Repository

Slate maintains a central repository of companies and their matching gift policies. This repository is shared across all Slate for Advancement institutions. When one institution adds a company, adds a policy, or updates a policy, that information becomes available to every other institution using the repository. Over time, as more institutions contribute, the repository becomes richer and more current.

### Company & Foundation Records

Each institution maintains its own local company and organization records. These are stored as dataset records of the "Companies and Foundations" dataset. A company record can exist independently, but its matching gift policies are only visible and usable once it is linked to the central repository. These dataset records will be referenced throughout this article as local company records.

### Repository Companies

A repository company is a company record in the central Slate repository. It has a name, an optional address, and can have one or more matching gift policies. The repository company record can be linked to a local company record, making the shared policies available for that local company.

### Matching Gift Policies

A matching gift policy describes the rules a company uses to match employee donations. Policies are attached to repository company records and are visible to all institutions that have linked a local company to that repository record.

A policy may include:

| **Field** | **Description** |
| --- | --- |
| Name | A label for the policy, such as “Standard Match” |
| Status | Whether the policy is active or inactive |
| Effective Date | The first date the policy applies |
| Expiration Date | The last date the policy applies |
| Match Ratio | The multiplier applied to the donor’s gift, such as `1.00` for a 1:1 match |
| Minimum Donation | The minimum donor gift amount required for a match |
| Maximum Match Amount | The maximum amount the company will match for a single gift |
| Annual Maximum Match Amount | The maximum amount the company will match for a donor during the policy fiscal year |
| Fiscal Year Start | The month and day used to determine the company’s policy fiscal year |
| Payout Schedule | How frequently the company typically pays matches |
| URL | A link to the company’s matching gift program page |
| Notes | Additional information about the policy |

Inactive policies remain visible but are not evaluated for automatic matching.

### **Originating Gift**

The originating gift is the donor’s original received hard-credit gift.

This is the gift that Slate evaluates to determine whether a potential matching gift should be created.

### Potential Matching Gifts

A potential matching gift is a gift created on the donor's record to represent a match that may be forthcoming from the company. It has **Status Category** of “Matching” and its parent field points to the originating received gift. Potential matches are created automatically when a received gift meets a company's policy criteria, or they can be entered manually.

### Fulfilled Matching Gifts

A fulfilled matching gift is the actual received gift from the company, entered on the company's record. It is linked back to the potential match (and through that, to the original donor gift) through Slate's fulfillment workflow. It is the hard credit gift on the company’s record.

### Matching Gift Lifecycle Flow

At a high level, the matching gift workflow follows this sequence:

1. An institution links a local company record to a company in the central matching gift repository.
2. One or more matching gift policies exist for that repository company.
3. A donor with an employment record for that company makes a received hard-credit gift.
4. Slate evaluates the gift against active matching gift policies for the donor’s employer.
5. Slate creates a potential matching gift on the donor’s record if the gift qualifies.
6. Staff review and update the potential matching gift as needed.
7. The company sends payment.
8. Staff enter the hard credit gift on the company record.
9. The company gift fulfills the potential matching gift.
10. Slate links the fulfilled company gift to the potential match, and the potential match remains linked to the original donor gift.

## **Permissions and Shared Repository Stewardship**

Because matching gift policies are stored in a central repository, policy changes affect all institutions using that repository company.

Users need the **Giving Update** permission to add or modify matching gift policies.

When editing policies, keep the following in mind:

- Policy additions affect all institutions linked to the repository company.
- Policy updates affect all institutions linked to the repository company.
- Inactive policies are not used for automatic matching.
- Institutions should generally inactivate outdated policies instead of deleting them.
- Policy information should be verified before saving.
- Notes should be useful to other institutions, not just your own.

> [!CAUTION]
> 🔔 Important!
> 
> Matching gift policies are not institution-private. A policy added to the repository is shared. If a policy is specific only to your institution, do not add it as though it were a general company policy.

## How the Central Matching Gift Repository Works

When an institution links one of its local company records to the central repository, Slate displays matching gift policies from the central repository on that company's record. From the company's "Matching Gift Policies" tab, users can see all policies — including those added by other institutions — and can add, edit, or deactivate policies.

> [!CAUTION]
> 🔔 Important!
> 
> All policy changes, additions, and deletions affect the global repository. A policy you add, edit, or deactivate will be changed for every institution using that same repository company. This is by design — the goal is a crowdsourced, continuously improving database of accurate matching gift policies. Institutions are expected to be good stewards of shared policy data.

### Linking or Adding a Local Company to a Repository Company

Before Slate can evaluate matching gift eligibility or display policies, a local company record must be linked to the central repository.

To link a local company:

1. Open the local company record.
2. Navigate to the **Giving** tab and select **Matching Gift Policies**.
3. If the record is not yet linked, a message will display: "This record has not yet been linked to a shared company record. Please link to see matching gift policies."
4. Click **Link Record**.
5. In the dialog, type the company name to search the central repository. A live lookup searches against the shared repository.
6. Select the matching repository company from the results and click **Save**.

The local company will now be linked to the repository company, and all policies that company will appear on the local record's Matching Gift Policies tab.

#### What if the company is not in the central repository?

If no match is found during the search, a "No matches found. **Add new Company**" link appears. Clicking it opens a dialog that is pre-filled with the local company's name and address. Confirming saves the company to the central repository and automatically links it to the local record.

To unlink a local company from the repository:

1. Navigate to the **Giving Tab** and select **Matching Gift Policies**
2. Click the **Edit** link that displays on top of the table containing the policies
3. In the dialog, click **Delete**

A confirmation prompt warns that existing gifts will not be affected. After unlinking, the local record will no longer display repository policies, and no new potential matches will be generated based on central policies.

### Adding or Updating Matching Gift Policies

Policies are managed from the **Matching Gift Policies** tab on a linked local company record.

#### Add a new policy

1. Click **New Matching Gift Policy**.
2. Enter the details for the policy. Required fields are:
  1. Name
  2. Match Ratio
  3. Minimum Donation
  4. Maximum Match Amount
  5. Fiscal Year Start Day
3. Click **Save**.

#### Edit an existing policy

1. Click on the policy from the policies list.
2. Make your changes in the dialog.
3. Click **Save**.

#### Deactivate a policy without deleting it

1. Open the policy from the policies list.
2. Set the **Status** field to **Inactive**.
3. Click **Save**. Inactive policies are not evaluated during matching but remain visible.

### Global Policy Updates

When you save a policy change, Slate writes that change to the central repository and triggers a synchronization to all connected institutions. This means:

- A policy correction you make will take effect for your institution and all others.
- A new policy you add becomes visible to all institutions using that repository company.
- Deactivating a policy removes it from matching evaluation everywhere.
- Adding a company to the repository makes it available for other institutions to link to their local companies

This crowdsourced model ensures that policy data improves over time, but it also means that incorrect data can spread. Always verify that changes are accurate before saving.

## Identifying Matching Gifts

When a donor makes a gift, Slate check whether the gift should be queued for matching. The following conditions must all be true for a gift to be evaluated:

- The gift's status category corresponds to the **Received** category (potential matches are not created for pledges and planned gifts).
- The gift is a **hard credit** gift.
- The Automatic Matching Gifts configuration key is set to **Enabled**.

When these conditions are met, the gift is queued in Slate's deferred trigger system. The matching process runs as part of Slate's regular background service, which executes about every 15 minutes.

What the process does:

1. Retrieves all recently-received gifts that are pending matching evaluation.
2. For each gift, looks up the donor's job/employment records to identify any employer companies.
3. Checks whether the employer company's is linked to a repository company.
4. Retrieves active matching gift policies from the central repository for any linked companies.
5. Evaluates each policy's criteria against the gift.
6. Calculates the potential match amount for each qualifying policy.
7. Selects the highest-value policy.
8. Creates a potential matching gift record on the donor's record.

### Matching Policy Criteria and Eligibility

Slate evaluates the following for each policy:

| Criteria | How It’s Evaluated |
| --- | --- |
| Active | Policy must be marked as Active |
| Effective / Expiration Dates | Gift date must fall within the policy's effective–expiration date range (either or both endpoints may be blank, which means "no limit") |
| Minimum Donation | Gift amount must be ≥ the policy's minimum |
| Employment | The donor must have a job record linking them to the employer, and that employer must be a dataset record linked (via sid) to the repository company that owns the policy |
| Employment Dates | The job's start and end dates must include the gift date (blank start/end means no constraint) |

### Calculating the Potential Match Amount

For each qualifying policy, Slate calculates the potential match amount as follows:

**Step 1: Per-gift match amount**

This amount is calculated by multiplying the gift amount by the ratio, limited by the maximum match amount.

For example, if the gift is $500 and the ratio is 1.00 (1:1) with a $1,000 maximum match amount, the initial match amount is $500. If the gift is $1,200 and the ratio is 1.00 with a $1,000 maximum match amount, the initial match amount is $1,000.

**Step 2: Annual maximum check**

Slate calculates the policy's fiscal year boundaries based on fiscal year start date of the policy relative to the gift date. We then sums all prior fulfilled matching gifts in that fiscal year for the same donor and policy, and reduce the available match accordingly.

If the available match is less than the calculated per-gift amount, the match amount is reduced to what is still available. If the available match is zero or negative, the match amount is zero, and no potential match is created for that policy.

Annual maximum is optional: If a policy has no annual maximum, Slate uses only the per-gift maximum.

## Multiple Policies and Multiple Employers

A donor may have multiple qualifying matching gift options. Slate handles this differently depending on whether the donor has multiple policies for the same employer or multiple eligible employers.

### Multiple Policies for the Same Employer

A company may have more than one active matching gift policy.

When more than one policy qualifies for the same employer, Slate creates only one potential matching gift for that employer. Slate selects the highest-value qualifying policy using this order:

1. Highest match amount
2. Highest annual maximum
3. Earliest fiscal year start date
4. Policy ID (final tiebreaker so results are consistent)

Only one potential matching gift record is created per originating gift, per employer.

### Multiple Employers for the Same Donor

If a donor has multiple employers and more than one employer has an eligible matching gift policy, Slate can create one potential matching gift per eligible employer.

For each employer, Slate evaluates that employer’s active policies and selects the highest-value qualifying policy for that employer.

For example, if a donor has eligible employment records with two companies, and both companies have qualifying policies, Slate may create two potential matching gifts for the same originating donor gift: one for each employer.

## How Potential Matching Gifts are Created

Potential matching gifts are created in two ways:

**Automatically (on a deferred basis):**

When the Automatic Matching Gifts configuration key is enabled, Slate evaluates for potential matches on a recurring basis. This process evaluates all gifts that have been queued since the last run and creates potential matches where criteria are met.

The automatic process also handles reversals: if an originating gift is reversed, any associated potential matching gift is automatically deleted.

**Manually**

Users with Giving Update permission can create a potential matching gift manually from the Potential Matching Gifts tab on a donor record. Upon clicking the **New Potential Matching Gift** link, you will be prompted to select:

- **Originating Gift** — the gift this potential match is linked to
- **Policy** — an eligible policy (only policies with active employers in the donor's job records are displayed)

### What Fields are Copied to the Potential Matching Gift

When Slate creates a potential matching gift, it copies the following fields from the originating gift:

- Fund
- Notes
- Occasion
- Honoring/tribute information
- Campaign
- Project
- Appeal
- Source
- Anonymous flag
- Source gift

The potential match uses:

- The donor's record (not the company's) as the gift record
- The match amount (calculated from the policy)
- The originating gift's ID as its parent field
- The policy ID that triggered the match
- A gift type drawn from the lowest-order prompt with Matching status category
- A gift status drawn from the lowest-order prompt in the Matching status category

The potential match does not include:

- Payment information
- Soft credits from the originating gift

Soft credits from the originating gift are applied later during fulfillment, when the company’s received gift is entered.

### What Does Not Recalculate Automatically

Potential matching gifts are created based on the gift, employer, and policy information available at the time Slate evaluates the originating gift.

After a potential matching gift is created, Slate does not automatically recalculate or update it when related information changes.

| **Change** | **Effect on Existing Potential Matches** |
| --- | --- |
| Originating gift amount changes | Existing potential match amount does not recalculate. |
| Originating gift date changes | Existing potential match eligibility does not recalculate. |
| Fund, campaign, project, appeal, or other copied fields change on the originating gift | Existing copied values on the potential match are not automatically updated. |
| Matching gift policy is edited | Existing potential matches created from the prior policy values are not updated. |
| Matching gift policy is inactivated | Existing potential matches remain in place. |
| Donor employment information changes | Existing potential matches are not automatically revised. |
| Local company is linked to or unlinked from the repository | Existing potential matches are not automatically revised. |

If a potential matching gift needs to reflect updated information, users should edit the potential matching gift manually, create a new manual potential match where appropriate, or update its status to reflect the institution’s workflow.

### Where Potential Matching Gifts Appear

On a **donor's record**: The Potential Matching Gifts tab appears in the Giving section of a person record. This tab shows all gifts with a category of Matching.

On a **company record**: Company records show a Potential Matching Gifts tab that displays all potential matches whose associated policy belongs to that company. This allows users to see all outstanding potential matches for a given employer in one view.

On a **gift record**: Opening a potential matching gift displays its details, including the originating gift it is linked to, the associated policy, the match amount, and its current status.

In **queries and reports**: The gift query base includes potential matching gifts. These potential matching gifts will be in the Status Category of Matching.

## Gift Status and Gift Type for Potential Matching Gifts

### Gift Status

The status is set to the lowest-order prompt with the gift_status key that has the category of Matching. At setup, Slate inserts four default status prompts in the Matching category:

| Status | Default Order | Typical Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Potential | 5 | Slate identified as a possible matching gift |
| Expected | 10 | Staff believe the donor or company is likely to complete the match. |
| Matched | 15 | Staff have confirmed or processed the match. |
| Not Expected | 20 | Staff do not expect the match to be fulfilled. |

Because "Potential" has the lowest order (5), new potential matches are automatically assigned this status.

Administrators can add, reorder, or rename these statuses in the Prompts tool. Changing the order affects which status is automatically assigned to newly created potential matches.

#### Changing the Status Manually

On a donor record, open a potential matching gift and click **Edit**. You can change the status to any active prompt in the Matching category (e.g., from "Potential" to "Expected" or "Not Expected"). Save the gift.

Changing the status — either manually via an administrator or via a mapping destination on a form — will allow institutions to track anticipated potential matches as they learn if the donor intends to complete the claim process with their employer.

### Gift Type

When a potential matching gift is created, it is assigned the gift type that is the lowest-order prompt with the gift_type key that has the category of Matching in its XML configuration. At setup, Slate automatically inserts a "Matching" type prompt if one does not already exist.

To add this Matching PKV to existing prompts, add the following to the XML configuration of the prompt:

```xml
<p>
  <k>status_category</k>
  <v>Matching</v>
</p>
```

## Turning Automatic Matching On or Off

Automatic matching is controlled by the Automatic Matching Gifts configuration key.

When **enabled**: Every time a gift is saved (inserted or updated), it is queued for matching evaluation. The background service processes the queue and creates potential matches.

When **disabled**: No new potential matches are created automatically. Existing potential matches are not affected. Manual entry of potential matching gifts is still possible.

### Recommended Use During Imports or Bulk Updates

Because the automatic matching trigger fires on every qualifying gift insert or update, a large batch gift import while automatic matching is enabled will queue every imported gift for matching evaluation. Depending on the size of the import and how many donors have linked employers, this can create a large number of potential matches.

Recommended workflow prior to bulk imports of gifts:

1. Before starting the import, temporarily disable the Automatic Matching Gifts configuration key.
2. Complete the import.
3. After the import is complete, re-enable the configuration key.
4. Once enabled, the matching process will pick up newly queued gifts as they are created.

## Reviewing and Managing Matching Gifts

From the Potential Matching Gifts tab on a **donor record**, you can:

- View all potential matching gifts, sorted by date.
- Click any row to open the gift detail and review or edit the status, amount, policy, notes, and other fields.
- Add a new potential matching gift manually using the New Potential Matching Gift link.
- Customize the columns displayed using the Customize View button.

From the Potential Matching Gifts tab on a **company record**, you can:

- View all potential matches associated with policies belonging to that company.
- Click any row to open the gift detail.
- Navigate to the company's Matching Gift Policies tab to manage policies.

## Fulfilling a Potential Matching Gift

When the company sends the matching gift payment, it should be entered on the company's record, not the donor's record.

### Entering the Matching Gift on the Company Record

1. Open the company's record in Slate.
2. Navigate to the Giving tab and click the Gifts subtab.
3. Click New Gift.
4. In the gift entry form, locate the Fulfilling dropdown.
5. This dropdown displays pledges, planned gifts, and — under the Matching Gift Fulfillment group — any outstanding potential matching gifts associated with policies that belong to this company.
6. Select the appropriate potential matching gift from the Matching Gift Fulfillment group.

When a potential match is selected, we pre-fill the gift form with information from the potential matching gift, including the fund, campaign, project, appeal, and other copied fields.

### How Soft Credits Are Applied

When a company gift fulfills a potential matching gift, Slate applies soft credits based on the originating donor gift.

The fulfilled company gift has:

- Hard credit to the company making the payment
- Soft credit to the donor associated with the potential matching gift
- Additional soft credits copied from the originating donor gift, if applicable

This allows the company to receive hard credit for the matching gift payment while preserving the donor’s indirect relationship to the company’s matching gift.

### How the Fulfilled Gift Connects Back to the Original Gift

The data connections work as follows:

- The potential matching gift (on the donor's record) has its parent field pointing to the originating received gift.
- When a company gift is created and fulfills the potential match, the company gift's parent field is set to the potential match's ID.
- Through this two-step chain — **company gift** → **potential match** → **original donor gift** — Slate can directly trace the fulfilled matching gift back to the donor gift that triggered it.
- This linkage is what populates the "Fulfilling" display on a saved company gift (showing the associated potential match with date, fund, and amount) and enables accurate reporting on fulfilled matching gifts.

## Common Administrative Workflows

### Setting Up Matching Gifts for the First Time

1. Ensure the Automatic Matching Gifts configuration key is enabled.
2. Verify that the default prompts exist: in the Prompts tool, confirm there is at least one gift_type prompt with status_category = Matching PKV and at least one gift_status prompt in the Matching category. Slate adds these automatically if they are not present.
3. Ensure your institution's company records are connected to the central repository
4. Ensure donor records have current job/employer information referencing those company records.

### Fulfilling Multiple Potential Matches from One Company Payment

A company may send one payment that fulfills potential matching gifts for multiple employees.

In this case, enter the company payment as a new gift on the company record and use the **Split** functionality to allocate the payment across multiple potential matching gifts.

Each split can fulfill one potential matching gift. This allows one company payment to be associated with several employee matching gift fulfillments while preserving the connection from each fulfilled split back to the appropriate potential match and original donor gift.

1. Open the company record.
2. Navigate to **Giving > Gifts**.
3. Click **New Gift**.
4. Enter the company payment information.
5. Use **Split** to divide the gift across the relevant potential matching gifts.
6. For each split, select the appropriate potential match from the **Fulfilling** dropdown.
7. Confirm the amount for each split.
8. Save the gift.
9. Manually update the statuses of the fulfilled potential matches, if your institution tracks fulfilled matches with a status such as **Matched**.

### Linking Multiple Local Companies to the Repository

For each company in your database:

1. Open the company record.
2. Go to Giving > Matching Gift Policies.
3. Click "Link Record" and search for the company in the repository.
4. If not found, use "Add new Company" to add it and link it automatically.

### Periodically Reviewing Policy Accuracy

Matching gift policies change frequently. Establish a process for periodic review:

1. Pull a list of companies with linked policies.
2. Verify the policies against the company's current website or other resource.
3. Update or deactivate outdated policies from the company's Matching Gift Policies tab.

One of the major benefits of all Slate institutions contributing to the central repository is that as policies are updated, all institutions can take advantage of the most up-to-date information.

### Processing Fulfillments at Year-End

1. Run a query for potential matches in "Expected" or "Potential" status from the prior fiscal year.
2. For each company that has sent a check, enter the received gift on the company record and select the matching fulfillment in the Fulfilling dropdown.
3. Update the status on any potential matches that are confirmed not coming (e.g., change to "Not Expected").

## Example Scenarios

### Example 1: A Donor with a 1:1 Match Policy

Jane Doe donates $500 to your annual fund. Jane's employment record shows she works for Acme Corporation. Acme is linked to a repository company with a policy: 1:1 match ratio, $100 minimum, $2,000 maximum match per gift, no annual maximum.

Slate evaluates: $500 × 1.00 = $500 (within the $2,000 maximum). A potential matching gift of $500 is created on Jane's record with status "Potential."

### Example 2: Multiple Policies, Highest Match Wins

John Smith donates $1,000. His employer, BigCo, has two active policies:

- Policy A: 0.50 ratio, $5,000 maximum → potential match = $500
- Policy B: 1.00 ratio, $750 maximum → potential match = $750

Slate selects Policy B because it produces the higher match amount ($750 > $500). One potential matching gift of $750 is created.

### Example 3: Annual Maximum Limits the Match

In the current fiscal year, Jane has already had two matched gifts against the same policy totaling $800 (out of an $1,000 annual maximum). Her new $500 gift has a per-gift match of $500. But only $200 remains in the annual maximum ($1,000 − $800 = $200). Slate creates a potential match of $200 — not $500.

### Example 4: A Policy Update from Another Institution

Another institution discovers that Acme Corporation changed its match ratio from 1.00 to 0.50 and updates the policy in the central repository.

Your institution sees the updated policy on your linked Acme company record.

Future automatic matching evaluations use the updated policy.

Existing potential matching gifts created before the policy update are not automatically recalculated.

### Example 5: Disabling Matching Gift for a Bulk Import

Your institution is importing 5,000 historical gifts, many of which belong to donors with linked employers. Before importing:

1. Set the Automatic Matching Gifts configuration key to Disabled.
2. Run the import.
3. Re-enable the configuration key.
4. New gifts entered after re-enabling will be evaluated normally. The historical imported gifts will not generate potential matches (because they were not queued while the key was enabled).

### Example 6: Fulfilling a Matching Gift

Three months after Jane's $500 gift, Acme Corporation sends a $500 matching check. You open Acme's record in Slate, go to Giving > Gifts, and click New Gift. In the Fulfilling dropdown, under "Matching Gift Fulfillment," you see Jane's $500 potential match. Select it, complete the gift entry for Acme's $500 received gift, and save. The gift is now on Acme's record, Jane receives a soft credit, and the fulfilled gift is linked back to Jane's original $500 donation through the potential match record.

### **Example 7: Gift Below the Minimum Donation**

Jane Doe donates $50.

Her employer has an active policy with a $100 minimum donation.

Because the gift does not meet the policy minimum, Slate does not create a potential matching gift.

### Example 8: Multiple Eligible Employers

Jane Doe donates $500.

Jane has active employment records with two companies:

- Acme Corporation
- BigCo Foundation

Both companies are linked to repository companies with qualifying active matching gift policies.

Slate evaluates each employer separately and may create:

- One potential matching gift for Acme Corporation
- One potential matching gift for BigCo Foundation

Each potential match is tied to the same originating donor gift but associated with a different employer policy.

### Example 9: Fulfilling a Single Matching Gift

Jane Doe donates $500.

Slate creates a $500 potential matching gift based on Acme Corporation’s policy.

Three months later, Acme sends a $500 matching gift payment.

A staff member opens Acme’s company record, creates a new received gift, and selects Jane’s potential matching gift from the **Fulfilling** dropdown.

After the gift is saved:

- The company receives hard credit for the $500 gift.
- Jane receives soft credit.
- The company gift links to Jane’s potential matching gift.
- Jane’s potential matching gift remains linked to her original donor gift.

If the institution uses a **Matched** status, staff should manually update the potential matching gift status.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Can we have our own private matching gift policies that don't affect the central repository?** No. All policy changes save to the central repository. There is no mechanism for institution-private policies. If you need to track policy information that is specific to your institution, consider adding a new policy with an explicit naming convention and notes to indicate the policy is intended just for your institution.

**Can the same donor have multiple potential matching gifts at once?** Yes, if the donor has multiple eligible employers.

Slate creates one automatic potential matching gift per originating gift per eligible employer. If a donor has multiple employers with qualifying policies, Slate can create one potential match for each employer.

For a single employer with multiple qualifying policies, Slate selects the highest-value policy and creates one potential matching gift for that employer.

Only one potential matching gift is created per originating gift (the highest-value policy wins). However, if a donor makes multiple gifts, each gift is evaluated separately, and each can produce its own potential matching gift.

**What happens if the originating gift is voided or reversed?** Slate automatically deletes the associated potential matching gift when the originating gift is reversed.

**Can I edit the amount on a potential matching gift?** Yes. Opening the potential matching gift record and editing it allows you to adjust fields including the amount. Manual adjustments override the system-calculated amount.

**Do existing potential matches update if the original gift changes?** No. Existing potential matching gifts do not automatically recalculate when the originating gift amount, date, or copied fields change. If the potential match should reflect updated gift information, edit the potential matching gift manually.

**Does fulfilling a potential matching gift automatically change its status?** No. Fulfillment does not currently update the potential matching gift’s status. Update the status on the potential match manually after fulfillment.

**What if a donor has no current employer?** If the donor has no job record, or no job record with a company linked to the repository, no potential match is created.

**What if the employer company is not linked to the central repository?** If the company record's is not linked to the central repository, no policies are found, and no potential match is created. You must link the company to the repository first.

**Do matching gifts appear in the gift totals for the donor?** Potential matching gifts (status_category = Matching) on the donor's record are not hard credit gifts. They are informational records representing expected company payments. Fulfilled matching gifts are on the company's record with a soft credit back to the donor. How these are counted in giving totals depends on your query and report configuration. Filters for the status category should be considered when aggregating donor giving amounts.

**Can I manually add a potential match without an originating gift?** No. A potential matching gift requires selection of an originating gift. You cannot create a potential match without tying it to a specific received gift.

**Are manual potential matches limited by the automatic eligibility rules?** No. Manual potential matches override the automatic eligibility rules. When a user creates a potential matching gift manually, Slate saves the values entered by the user.

## Troubleshooting

If Slate did not create a potential matching gift automatically, review the following:

| **Question** | **What to Check** |
| --- | --- |
| Is automatic matching enabled? | Confirm the **Automatic Matching Gifts** configuration key is enabled. |
| Is the originating gift received? | The gift must have a status category of **Received**. |
| Is the gift a hard-credit gift? | Automatic matching evaluates hard-credit gifts. |
| Does the donor have an employment record? | The donor must have a job or employment record. |
| Was the donor employed on the gift date? | Employment dates must include the gift date. |
| Is the employer a local company record? | The employment record must point to a company record. |
| Is the company linked to the repository? | The local company must be linked to a repository company. |
| Does the repository company have active policies? | At least one active policy must exist. |
| Is the gift date within the policy dates? | The gift date must fall within the policy’s effective and expiration date range. |
| Does the gift meet the policy minimum? | The gift amount must meet or exceed the minimum donation amount. |
| Has the annual maximum been reached? | If no annual capacity remains, no potential match is created for that policy. |
| Was the gift created while automatic matching was disabled? | Gifts saved while disabled are not automatically queued for evaluation. |
| Does a potential match already exist? | Existing potential matches are not automatically recalculated or replaced. |

If the gift should have a potential match but one was not created automatically, users can create a potential matching gift manually.