What is custom field mapping?
When you sync an HRIS with Donut, Donut imports standard fields like names, emails, and departments. If your HRIS keeps a detail in a custom field instead, Donut can map that field to the right place. Once mapped, the value syncs on the same schedule as the rest of your HRIS data.
Fields Donut can map
Birthdays: power birthday channels in Celebrations and Milestone Points.
Start dates: power work anniversaries in Celebrations, onboarding Journeys, and Milestone Points.
Manager: stored as the manager’s email address, so Journeys can send messages to a teammate’s manager.
Employment type: powers the participants filter in Shoutouts.
When you need it
Most HRIS platforms send these fields to Donut automatically. Identity providers like Okta and Entra send less data by default, so custom field mapping comes up most often there.
A couple of signs a mapping might be missing:
Birthdays or work anniversaries aren’t appearing in Celebrations even though your HRIS is synced.
You select Filter by role type from HRIS in Shoutouts and no employment types appear to choose from.
How to set it up
Confirm the data is stored in a custom field in your HRIS. If it isn’t tracked yet, your team will need to add and maintain the field there.
Check the format: dates should be
yyyy-mm-dd, and manager should be stored as the manager’s email address.Message our support team with the fields you’d like mapped, and we’ll configure the mapping on our side.
That’s it! Once the mapping is in place, updates you make in your HRIS carry over to Donut on the next sync.
FAQs
Do mapped fields stay up to date?
Yes. Mapped fields sync on the same schedule as the rest of your HRIS data. Update the field in your HRIS and Donut picks up the change.
Which HRIS platforms support custom field mapping?
Any HRIS you can sync with Donut. It comes up most often with Okta and Entra, since those platforms send fewer fields by default.
Can Donut import team or department data from Okta custom fields?
No. Okta groups work as simple tags rather than named group types, so Donut can’t map department data from Okta. See Okta and Entra HRIS: What to Know for details.
If you have any questions or feedback, click the purple Donut button on the bottom right of your screen to open up a chat with our support team!