Overview
Manual rewards let you issue a reward outside of standard campaign logic, which isuseful when:
A reward failed but cannot be approved due to the campaign being stopped, the reward being deleted, or essential data missing
The event that triggers the reward failed to process correctly
A customer or user escalation needs a fast resolution
A partner or client asks you to reward someone outside typical criteria
Manual rewards are created directly on the participant’s profile in Flow campaigns. This guide explains how to issue them properly and ensure they include all required information.
How to Manually Reward a Person
Step 1: Locate the Participant's Profile
Navigate to Extole's User Support.
Use People Search or Event Live View to find the person.
Click into their profile to begin issuing a manual reward.
⚠️ Always confirm you’re on the correct profile — advocate vs. friend can be easy to mix up.
Step 2: Investigate Before You Reward
Before creating a manual reward, take a moment to review the participant’s history. This ensures you're not duplicating rewards or missing context.
Things to Check:
Does the person already have a reward for this campaign or referral?
If yes, was it already earned, failed, or still pending?
Did a rule failure cause the reward to be denied?
If so, consider approving the failed reward instead of issuing a new one.
⚠️ Issuing a manual reward without proper review can lead to:
Duplicate rewards
Reporting inconsistencies
Violation of campaign rules (e.g., multiple rewards per person or relationship, exceeding the annual reward value limit, etc.)
Step 3: Start the Manual Reward
In the participant’s profile, click the + New Reward button.
The participant’s name and email will be prefilled at the top for reference.
Step 4: Select Program, Campaign, and Reward
Use the dropdown menus to choose:
Program
Campaign
Specific Reward
Once selected, confirm you're issuing the correct reward by checking the Reward Supplier Link that appears below the reward field.
If the reward you want to select is grayed out, the associated campaign may not be live or the reward may be missing a reward supplier.
Step 5: Add a Reason for Manual Rewarding
In the Notes field, document why this reward is being issued manually.
Example note:
"Manual reward due to missing first/last name in original event. Verified eligibility with client."
This note will be saved in the reward details for future reference.
Step 6: Add Related Person (if applicable)
If the reward is part of a two-person program:
Add the email address of the related person (e.g., the advocate in a friend reward).
This helps prevent future duplicate rewards for the same referral relationship.
Step 7: Include Additional Data (as needed)
Some rewards require extra data to be fulfilled (e.g., shipping info, order ID, account number).
In the Additional Data section, add any required fields:
Example Field Name | Example Value |
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🔍 Tip: Review the campaign’s flow using the Flow Builder to see what data is expected. Typically, this is data being passed on the business event that triggers the reward. Matching this data ensures the reward issues correctly and appears uniformly in reporting.
Step 8: Choose Whether to Force Approval
If you want the reward to go out regardless of rule evaluation:
Toggle on "Approve reward even if rules fail"
Use this option when the participant doesn’t meet normal conditions but you want to honor the reward anyway
Ff you want the system to still evaluate rules and only send the reward if all rules pass:
Leave the "Approve reward even if rules fail" toggled off
Step 9: Create the Reward
Review all fields one last time.
Click Create Reward.
The reward will appear in the participant’s profile and, if all requirements are met, will be issued.
Best Practices
Investigate first – Always review the campaign, event, and expected data before issuing.
Fill in all known data – This improves reward delivery and reporting accuracy.
Be consistent – Manual rewards should match the format and standards of automatically issued rewards.
Document clearly – Your notes help teams understand why the reward was issued later.
Troubleshooting
If creating a manual reward fails, you may want to check the following:
Your latest campaign changes have been published.
The reward supplier associated with the reward is adequately funded.