What are Bonus Points?
Bonus Points are admin-sent recognition points you can award for special occaisions—like promotions, work anniversaries, or personal milestones. Recipients get a private Slack DM from Donut and the points are added to their balance, where they can be redeemed in the Rewards Store (if enabled).
Who can use Bonus Points?
Anyone with Shoutouts & Points admin access on your plan can:
Create reusable Bonus Events (templates)
Send Bonus Points to one or more recipients
View a log of past Bonus Points in Bonus History
There’s no limit to the number of points you can send.
Where to find Bonus Points
In the Donut dashboard, go to:
Admin tools → Shoutouts & Points → Bonus Points
You’ll see two tabs:
Bonus Events: Create and manage reusable templates (events) and send them
Bonus History: View a complete log of all Bonus Points you’ve sent
Bonus Events (reusable templates)
Bonus Events are reusable templates for common milestones (for example: Wedding Gift, New Baby, Promotion, Employee Referral).
From the Bonus Events tab, you can:
Send a bonus event (one-off send using the template)
Edit an event (pencil icon)
Delete an event (trash icon)
Add Bonus Event to create a new template
Create a Bonus Event
Go to Bonus Points → Bonus Events
Click + Add Bonus Event
Fill in the fields:
Event name (required)
Admin-facing name only (“This name is only visible to admins.”)
Description (optional)
Add guidance for when other admins should use this event (for example: eligibility notes or internal policy).
Message (required)
The message that will be sent to each recipient in a private DM.
Supports Slack-style formatting (bold/italics/strikethrough/quotes/code)
You can personalize using the placeholder:
{{Recipient}}.
Add GIF (optional)
Include a GIF in the DM.
Bonus amount (required)
Set the number of Points each recipient will receive.
You’ll see a value estimate like “= $X.XX per recipient” based on the exchange rate.
Exchange rate note: 1 Donut Coin = $0.10, applicable to monetary rewards like gift cards when the Rewards Store is enabled.
Send Bonus Points
From Bonus Points → Bonus Events, find the event you want to send.
Click the purple Send button
In the send modal:
People to recognize: Search and select Slack users
Message: Review or edit the message (supports
{{Recipient}})Bonus amount: Confirm the amount per recipient
Click Send
What happens next
Each recipient gets a private DM from Donut with your message.
The DM includes a confirmation line like: “You received a X Points bonus from @yourname.”
Points are added to the recipient’s balance.
Recipients can view their updated balance in their Profile:
Profile → My Points & Shoutouts
If your Rewards Store is enabled, recipients can redeem points for rewards or gift cards.
Bonus History (track what’s been sent)
To view past Bonus Points:
Go to Bonus Points → Bonus History
Use filters to narrow results:
Search for specific Slack users
Filter by time range (for example, “All time”)
Review the log, including:
Bonus Event name
Donut Coins sent
Date
Recipient
If nothing has been sent yet, you’ll see an empty state message indicating you haven’t sent any bonuses.
How Bonus Points relate to Shoutouts and Automatic Points
Bonus Points are separate from Shoutouts, but the points still contribute to the broader Donut Points ecosystem, including:
Points earned from Shoutouts
Points earned from other point-earning activities (like Points for Intros, if enabled)
Points sent via Bonus Points