Tags
A tag is a name and a value stored against a record in Engage. Tags are how Engage records the context around a donation, an account or a sponsorship — where it came from, what prompted it, and anything else you want to keep alongside it. A record can carry as many tags as it needs.
Tags arrive in two ways. Some are captured automatically while somebody uses your website, and describe the visit itself, such as the page they arrived on or how long they stayed. Others are lasting properties of the record, such as the campaign a donation came from or a label your team applies by hand. Both are stored the same way, so both can be reported on together.
Tag names
Tag names follow the same conventions used across the industry, so the same link works for Engage and for your other analytics tools.
| Prefix | Used for |
|---|---|
utm_ | The standard campaign parameters, such as utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign. These are the ones Google Analytics and most other tools already understand. |
ntm_ | Engage's own parameters, covering the detail that the standard set does not reach, such as the advertising platform, campaign, ad group and individual advert. Your own tags are added here too. |
The prefix is part of the name and is always kept. A tag is recorded as utm_source, not source. Engage matches a tag to your reporting by its full name, so a shortened one is still stored but will not appear against the field you meant it for.
Templates and custom tags
Engage provides templates covering the tags that a particular way of giving tends to produce, so you do not have to work out which names to use. Applying a template sets them up for you, already named and described.
You are not limited to them. Where your organisation tracks something the templates do not cover, you can add tags of your own.
The Link Builder gives you a screen for building links that carry these tags, so you do not have to assemble them by hand or remember the names.
Why this matters
Because tags travel with the donation into Engage, the record itself carries the reason it happened. Your income figures and your campaign reporting come from the same place, so there is no reconciling one report against another and no question over which is right. Engage becomes the single source of truth.
This also matters as browsers and ad blockers continue to restrict third-party tracking. Reporting that depends on external scripts loses more coverage every year. Tags are recorded against the donation as it is created, so they are not affected.
Fields and labels
Tags work on their own and do not need to be set up in advance. Anything sent to Engage is stored, whether or not you have described it first.
Describing them is what makes them readable. An analytics field or a label gives a tag a proper name and a description so it reads clearly in lists and reports, rather than appearing as the raw name it was sent as. They are a friendlier way of managing tags, not a requirement for storing them.