Player sponsorships let a supporter sponsor one profile in a people directory (usually a player) for a set number of months, paying once, up front, through your donation page. After that the player's profile shows they're sponsored, the money is recorded as a donation with a receipt, and the sponsorship ends on its own when the term is up.

Before you start

Sponsorships build on two other features, so switch those on first:

• Directories, with a directory on the People preset for your players.
• Donations, which handles the payment and the receipt.

Then open More → Settings → Features, tick Player sponsorships - let supporters sponsor a directory profile for a term and save. The tickbox stays greyed out until Directories and Donations are both on. Switching either of them off later turns sponsorships off too.

Setting it up

Two steps: say which profiles can be sponsored, then price the terms.

1. Mark the directory. Open More → Directories, choose your people directory and go to its Settings tab. In the Player sponsorships panel, tick Profiles in this directory can be sponsored and save. The panel only appears on People directories.
2. Price the terms. Open Money → Donations, then ⋯ → Settings. Beside each of your Suggested amounts there is now a Sponsorship term (months) box. Give an amount a number of months and it becomes a sponsorship option, for example 6 months for one amount and 12 months for another. Leave the box blank and the amount stays an ordinary gift.

You can also give each amount a Name for this amount, such as Silver Sponsor.

Nothing is offered to supporters until at least one amount has a term in months. Until then, the Sponsorships tab shows a warning with a link to the donation settings.

What supporters see

Once it's set up:

• Each open profile in the directory shows a Sponsor [name] block with a button for every priced term, showing the months and the price. The button takes the supporter to your donation page with that player and term already chosen.
• A sponsored profile shows Sponsored and a thank-you line instead. The sponsor's name is never shown.
• Cards in the directory carry a Sponsored or Looking for a sponsor badge, and the public page and the website section get a Looking for a sponsor filter.
• Your donation page gets a Sponsor a player (optional) choice, listing the players who don't have a sponsor yet. Supporters can still pick A general gift to the club instead.

The rules

• One sponsor per profile at a time. Once a sponsorship is active, that profile drops off the list of players to sponsor until the term ends.
• Sponsors are never named publicly. Your team sees who sponsors whom; visitors only see that a player is sponsored.
• Only live profiles. A profile has to be published (Active) to be sponsored.
• The term starts on the day the gift is paid and runs for the number of months you priced.

If two supporters pay for the same player at almost the same moment, the first payment wins. The second is kept on the Sponsorships tab as ended, with a note to refund it or move it to another player by hand, because the money is real.

Managing sponsorships

The Sponsorships tab on Money → Donations is the record of who sponsors whom. The tab only appears while sponsorships are switched on.

• Filter by Active, Ending soon (ending within 30 days), Expired, Ended early or Awaiting payment.
• Each row shows the Player, the Sponsor, the Term, the Period with the days left, the Status and the Gift with its receipt number.
• Extend adds months to an active sponsorship. Type the Months to add and click Extend.
• End early stops a sponsorship today and makes the profile available to sponsor again.
• Export CSV downloads the list for your records.

Sponsorships also show on the sponsor's contact record under Player sponsorships, and on the player's entry in the directory under Sponsorship.

Recording a sponsorship paid another way

For a bank transfer, cash, or a gift in kind, use Record a sponsorship at the bottom of the Sponsorships tab.

1. Pick the Player. Only profiles without a current sponsor are listed.
2. Enter the Sponsor as a contact ID (the number in the contact's address in Members).
3. Choose the Term and the date it Starts.
4. Enter the Amount received and how it was paid. It's recorded as a donation with a receipt. Leave the amount blank to record the sponsorship without a gift.
5. Add any Notes and click Record sponsorship.

Emails and the end of a term

Sponsors get two emails, both of which you can edit in More → Emails & messages:

• Sponsorship Confirmed - sent when the sponsorship becomes active, whether the gift was paid online or you recorded it.
• Sponsorship Ending Soon - sent a week before the term ends, with a link to renew.

You don't need to do anything when a term finishes. A daily check marks finished sponsorships as expired, and the profile shows up again as looking for a sponsor. If you extend a sponsorship, the ending-soon email goes out again a week before the new end date.

A supporter who starts to pay but never finishes appears as Awaiting payment for up to an hour, then drops off. It never blocks anyone else from sponsoring that player.