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Tribute Gifts in DonorDock

Tribute Gifts in DonorDock

8/26/2026
Gifts
Memorial Gifts
Transactions
Tribute

Tribute Gifts are donations made in honor or memory of another person. DonorDock allows you to record tribute details directly on the gift so your organization can track the honoree, dedication contact, and related information for acknowledgments and reporting.

Tribute information can be entered manually when creating or editing a gift. Donors can also provide tribute information when making a donation through a DonorDock Online Giving Page if tribute giving is enabled on that page.

💡 Tribute information is stored on the gift for tracking and informational purposes. DonorDock does not send a notification to the dedication contact simply because tribute information was added to the gift. A receipt for a tribute gift goes only to the donor.

Tribute Types

When a gift is marked as a memorial or honorarium, you can select one of two Tribute Types.

Tribute Type

Description / Usage

Honor

Used when a gift is made to celebrate, recognize, or honor someone.

Memorial

Used when a gift is made in memory of someone who has passed away.

Add Tribute Information to a Gift

When creating or editing a gift:

  1. Open the gift entry or Edit Gift panel.

  2. Select the checkbox for This gift is a memorial or honorarium.

  3. Complete the applicable tribute fields.

  4. Click Save.

Selecting the tribute checkbox exposes the additional tribute fields on the gift.

Tribute Gift Fields

Gift Field

Description / Usage

Tribute Type

Identifies whether the gift is an Honor or Memorial gift.

Tribute Message

Stores a message or additional description associated with the tribute.

Honoree Name

Name of the person being honored or remembered.

Dedication Contact Name

Name of the person your organization may wish to notify about the tribute gift.

Dedication Email

Email address for the Dedication Contact.

Dedication Address

Street address for the Dedication Contact.

Dedication City

City for the Dedication Contact.

Dedication State/Province

State or province for the Dedication Contact.

Dedication Postal Code

ZIP or postal code for the Dedication Contact.

Dedication Country

Country for the Dedication Contact.

Tribute Gifts from Online Giving

Tribute giving is available on DonorDock Online Giving Pages where donors can provide tribute information as part of the donation process.

The information the donor submits is stored on the resulting gift record and can be viewed alongside the other gift details.

Reporting on Tribute Gifts

Common tribute-related report fields include:

Report Field

Description

Tribute?

Displays True or False based on whether the gift is marked as a memorial or honorarium.

Tribute Type

Shows whether the tribute is an Honor or Memorial gift.

Tribute Message

Displays the tribute message stored on the gift.

Honoree Name

Displays the name of the person being honored or remembered.

Dedication Contact Name

Displays the name of the dedication contact.

Dedication Address

Displays the dedication contact's street address.

Dedication City

Displays the dedication contact's city.

Dedication State/Province

Displays the dedication contact's state or province.

Dedication Postal Code

Displays the dedication contact's ZIP or postal code.

Dedication Country

Displays the dedication contact's country.

Notification Email

Displays the email address associated with the dedication contact.

Create a Tribute Gift Report

  1. Navigate to Reporting > Reports.

  2. Open a standard Gift Report or click + Create to create a new Gift Report.

  3. Add the main filters you want to use.

  4. Click Run Report.

  5. Open the Columns menu.

  6. Add Tribute? and any additional tribute fields you want to display.

  7. Click Apply.

  8. If you only want to see tribute gifts, filter the Tribute? column to True.

  9. Select Save As if you want to reuse the report in the future.

Tribute Merge Tags

Transactional Templates include Gift Merge Tags you can use to personalize receipts, thank-you letters, and other gift-specific communications with tribute information.

Merge Tag Name

Merge Tag

Gift Tribute Type

{{gift.tribute_type_string}}

Gift Tribute Description

{{gift.tribute_description}}

Gift Honoree Name

{{gift.honoree_name}}

Gift Dedication Contact Name

{{gift.dedication_contact_name}}

Gift Dedication Address

{{gift.honoree_address1}}

Gift Dedication City

{{gift.honoree_city}}

Gift Dedication State/Province

{{gift.honoree_state_or_province}}

Gift Dedication Postal Code

{{gift.honoree_postal_code}}

Gift Dedication Country

{{gift.honoree_country}}

Gift Dedication Email

{{gift.honoree_email}}

Gift Merge Tags are available on Transactional Templates because they pull information from a specific gift record.

Creating Tribute Thank-You Templates

You can use Transactional Templates to create receipt or thank-you communications that include tribute information.

For example, a donor acknowledgment might include the Honoree Name, Tribute Type, or Tribute Message using Gift Merge Tags.

When working with a bulk group that includes both tribute and non-tribute gifts, consider separating the gifts into different reports or recipient groups so you can tailor the communication appropriately.

For example:

  • One report containing tribute gifts

  • One report containing non-tribute gifts

This helps prevent tribute-specific wording or blank tribute merge tags from appearing in communications where they do not apply.

Dedication Contact Notifications

The Dedication Contact fields allow your organization to store information about the person who should be informed of the tribute. These fields do not create a separate Contact record and do not send a notification.

If your organization wants to notify the Dedication Contact, use the stored information to create a new contact to send communications.

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