An gift is considered unauthenticated when a donor makes a gift via Advance Web Community (AWC) or Encompass Online Community without logging on first. Since the donor did not log on prior to making the transaction, AWC or Encompass does not know the Entity ID of the donor, thus a generic Entity ID, as specified in System Option 85, is associated with the transaction. During the review process, it is the responsibility of the gift entry operator in Advance to locate the entity that should be properly credited for the gift and associate their Entity ID with the transaction. If the correct entity does not exist in the database, it is at the discretion of the entry operator to create a new entity, if their permission settings allow.
The primary benefit of allowing unauthenticated gifts is to allow non-alumni (parents, grandparents, friends, etc.) to make donations to the institution.
The term unauthenticated should not be confused with and is not synonymous with the term anonymous, which indicates the true identity of the entity is unknown, or by design, is to be hidden from all but the most essential staff.