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Getting Started: Donut Shoutouts

Donut Shoutouts makes it easy to recognize teammates in Slack. This guide covers setup, management, and what to expect once it’s live.

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Written by Essence
Updated over a week ago

🎥 Watch: How to Set Up Donut Shoutouts

Prefer a quick walkthrough? This short video covers:

  • How to configure your emoji, points, and channels

  • How to create and manage rewards

  • What happens when you launch

  • What it looks like in Slack


🛠 Step-by-Step: How to Set Up Donut Shoutouts


Step 1: Set Your Shoutouts Program Basics

Go to the Donut dashboard Shoutouts and configure the Basics:

  1. Emoji picker: Choose an emoji (like 🍩 or 👏) that teammates will use to give points. You can select any emoji from your Slack workspace, including custom emojis.

  2. Slack channel: Pick where Shoutouts happen—this is where teammates will tag each other and recognize wins.

  3. Launch: Click the purple "Try It" button to launch your program.

Want more customization? Click the purple "More Settings" link next to the "Try It" button to:

  1. Use a custom emoji:

    1. Click Use a custom emoji from your Slack workspace.

    2. You’ll be prompted to authorize Donut to access your workspace’s custom emoji.

    3. Once authorized, you’ll be able to select any custom emoji or alias you’ve created in Slack.

2. Points name: Customize what your points are called (e.g. Kudos, Tokens, High-Fives).


3. Reactions: Allow teammates to give points by adding the selected emoji as a reaction when someone is tagged in a message.

4. Weekly points: Set how many points each teammate can give per week


💡 Each emoji used in a Shoutout = 1 point.




Step 2: Build Your Rewards Store (Optional)

Create rewards that reflect your culture—monetary or not. On the Rewards tab, you can:

  • Add custom rewards (like PTO, coffee gift cards, or team swag), or

  • Browse Donut’s Prebuilt Rewards Library to use templates (including gift cards).

  • Set a name, description, image, point value, and visibility for each reward.

💡 Rewards are hidden by default—toggle them “on” when you're ready to launch.

✨ New: Gift Cards with Automatic Fulfillment

Want to offer gift cards as part of your rewards store? Donut supports automatically fulfilled digital gift cards from 100+ global brands—like Amazon, Starbucks, Visa, and more.


Here’s how to add them:

  1. In the Rewards tab, scroll to the Prebuilt Rewards Library and select the “Gift Card (Automatically Fulfilled)” template.

  2. Customize the reward title, image, description, and point value.

  3. Billing note:

    • If you already have a payment method on file for Donut, gift card redemptions will be billed there automatically.

    • If not, you’ll be prompted to add a credit card before enabling gift cards.

    • Gift cards are redeemed at a rate of $0.10 per point, and users can redeem amounts between $5 and $100.

    • You’ll be charged monthly for the total amount redeemed, plus an 8% service fee.

  4. Toggle the reward “Visible in Store” and click Save.

What teammates experience when redeeming:

  • Teammates pick the gift card amount based on their point balance.

  • They get a Slack confirmation with a button to claim their gift card.

  • Donut opens a secure page where they can choose a provider based on their location (e.g. Amazon, Starbucks, Visa, or donation options).

  • Once selected, they’re redirected to view and use their gift card code.

What admins see:

🧾 Pro tip: You can still offer custom rewards alongside gift cards—Donut tracks it all in one place



🚫 Don’t need rewards? No problem.


You can now launch a Shoutouts program without a rewards store. On the Rewards tab, just toggle off Enable rewards program. Recognition and point-giving will still work as usual—no rewards required.




Step 3: Assign Admins

By default, Donut Account Admins have Shoutouts admin access. You can also add more Shoutouts-specific admins in the Permissions tab.


Admins can:

  • Create and manage rewards

  • Fulfill rewards or mark them complete

  • Deactivate Shoutouts



📦 Step 4: Create a Fulfillment Channel

If you're using the rewards store, the next step is to set up a private Slack channel where Donut will post when someone redeems a reward.


Messages will include:

  • Who redeemed a reward

  • Reward details

  • A one-click “Mark Fulfilled” button

Example fulfillment message:


Once marked fulfilled, Donut will update the message to reflect completion.



Fully Customized? Set it Live!

At the top of each page in the Shoutouts settings you will see a list of the progress you've made while setting up your program.

Once you click Activate Shoutouts, you'll have the option to send a sample Slack announcement you can post to your Shoutouts channel.


📌 What Happens After Launch

Once your program is live:

  • Teammates give Shoutouts by tagging a colleague in the designated Slack channel and including the chosen emoji.

  • Donut tracks points and sends confirmation messages in Slack.

  • Each Friday at 10 AM (based on the Shoutouts admins' median time zone), Donut posts a reminder in your Shoutouts channel encouraging teammates to use any remaining points before they reset.

  • Recipients can view and redeem rewards right from Slack.

  • Admins manage setup, track fulfillment, and visibility from Slack and the Donut dashboard.


🏆 View and Use the Leaderboard

Once your program is live, Donut automatically tracks Shoutouts activity in a Leaderboard—accessible from the left sidebar menu in the Donut dashboard.

  • Top Givers and Top Receivers are highlighted for admins

  • You’ll also see each teammate’s Donuts given, received, and redeemed

  • Non-admins will only see their own totals in Slack—leaderboard visibility is admin-only

📊 Use the leaderboard to recognize high participation, celebrate milestones, or spotlight unsung heroes in team meetings or newsletters.

Pro tip: Add a fun monthly reward or team shoutout for the #1 giver!


💡 Helpful Links

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