Customize Your Personal Board Settings and Notifications
Each DonorDock team member can customize their board settings, including how nudges appear on the Action Board and which email notifications they receive. These settings let you control how and when you are prompted to take action, so DonorDock fits your workflow rather than interrupting it.
Personal board settings apply only to your user account. Administrators cannot set these preferences for you. Each team member must manage their own notification and nudge settings.
How Personal Board Settings Work
Your personal settings control:
Whether you receive email notifications when Board activities are assigned to you
Whether you receive email notifications when Otto creates new nudges or actions
Which nudges appear on your Action Board
Nudges are system-generated suggestions to engage with contacts. They are not actions themselves and do not create activity records until you convert them into a specific action. Nudges appear only on the Action Board and do not show on contact records or in activity reports until you take action on them.
Steps at a Glance
Open your profile settings
Review your email notification preferences
Customize which nudges you receive
Save your changes
Full Navigation Steps
Step 1: Open Your Personal Profile Settings
You can access your personal board settings in two ways:
Option A: From the Settings Menu
Click the Settings menu (grid icon in the top right of DonorDock)
Select My Profile
Option B: From the Action Board
Open the Action Board
Click Customize at the top of the board
Both options take you to your personal profile page, where you can update notification and nudge settings.
Step 2: Configure Email Notifications
On your profile page, you can toggle the following email notifications:
Send assigned activity email notification
Receive an email when an Action, Ask, or Project activity is assigned to you.Send new action notification
Receive an email when Otto creates a new action or nudge for you.
These automated emails allow you to stay aware of new work and reminders directly from your email inbox, even when you are not logged into DonorDock. This helps keep track of changes and new assignments throughout the day.
Step 3: Customize Nudge Types
From your profile settings, you can choose which types of nudges appear on your Action Board. This lets you focus on the reminders and suggestions that are most relevant to your role.
Disabling nudge types you do not use helps reduce noise and keeps your Action Board focused.
Step 4: Save Your Preferences
Once you have updated your notification and nudge settings, save your changes. Your Action Board will update to reflect your preferences.
Nudges
Nudges are system-generated suggestions to engage with contacts based on your data and engagement history. They are meant to prompt timely outreach, such as following up after a gift, reconnecting with a donor who has gone quiet, or acknowledging an important milestone.
Nudges are not actions themselves. They do not create an activity record in DonorDock until you choose to act on them. When you convert a nudge into an action, you select the activity type, such as a phone call, email, task, or Ask, and that activity is then created and tracked like any other activity in DonorDock.
Nudges only appear on the Action Board. They do not show on contact records and are not included in activity reports until they are converted into a specific activity. This keeps nudges lightweight and focused on prompting action without cluttering activity history until real work begins.
Available Nudge Types
Nudge Name | Description |
|---|---|
Daily 5 | Generated suggestions that are created by the system if you have not engaged with a donor within 30 days or more. No more than five of these daily tasks will show in the suggestions on any given day. |
First Gift Anniversary | Notification on the anniversary of the Donor's first gift |
Major gifts | When setting up your organization's settings, you can define what constitutes a major gift. The default value is $1000.00, but you can configure this field to align with your organization's operating practices. |
Spike-up gifts | A spike-up gift is one that is out of the ordinary for a donor. For example, if a donor's average gift is $50 and they then give a $350 donation, that would be a spike. A spike-up gift is a great opportunity to reach out to a donor and learn more about what drove them to give more than they normally do. Did something change with their personal circumstances? Did something your nonprofit did resonate with them? You can set the amount above their average gift that triggers the spike-up gift notification in your Settings. The default value is $100.00 |
First gifts | As the name suggests, this is a nudge to engage with a donor when they give their very first gift to your nonprofit. This deserves an individual engagement activity |
Second gifts | Perhaps even more important to your organization than a first gift, the second gift is significant as it moves a donor from a one-time giver to a retained donor. This is a big deal and deserves an engagement touch-point from your organization. You will receive a nudge on the ActionBoard for every second gift |
Reactivated donors | Donors that have moved from an archived to an activated status |
Donor moving toward inactivity | The donor has not given a gift in at least 6 months, and has not had any interaction in at least 3 months |
Donor birthdays | The birthday of the Donor |
Pledge payment reminders | When a donor payment for the pledged amount is due |
Contacts marked as deceased are automatically excluded from nudges.
Otto Tips
🧭 Tune your signal: Turn off nudges that do not apply to your role so your Actions Board stays focused.
⚓ Let your inbox help: Email notifications are handy when you are away from DonorDock but still need to stay on top of assignments.
🛟 Take the shortest route: The Customize button on the Actions Board is the fastest way to adjust your personal settings.
🗺️ You’re the captain of your board: Only you can change your personal board settings, so set them up to match how you work best.
