When you create a sponsorship, Rhythm copies the benefits that apply at that moment. The sponsorship does not keep pulling benefit details from the opportunity after it is created. This article explains which benefits a sponsorship starts with, how Rhythm sets each expiry date, and why later opportunity changes do not update existing sponsorships.
Which Benefits a New Sponsorship Starts With
A new sponsorship copies two kinds of benefits from its opportunity:
- Included benefits. Rhythm copies every benefit the opportunity includes for all sponsors. Buying more than one of the opportunity does not multiply those benefits, so a sponsorship with a quantity of two still gets one copy of each included benefit.
- Optional benefits the sponsor chose. Rhythm also copies the optional benefits the sponsor selected from the opportunity’s optional benefit groups, based on the sponsor’s application. If the same application requested more than one opportunity, optional benefit selections for another opportunity on that application can be copied too. Check the sponsorship’s benefits to confirm they match what the sponsor chose for that specific opportunity.
If the sponsor chose an optional benefit that no longer exists on the opportunity when Rhythm creates the sponsorship, Rhythm skips that choice. The missing optional benefit does not stop the rest of the sponsorship from being created.
Warning
If an opportunity benefit is missing a type or a quantity, the sponsorship fails validation and is not created. Keep an opportunity’s included benefits fully filled in while sponsors are actively buying it.
How a Benefit’s Expiry Date Is Worked Out
An opportunity benefit can use one of two expiry rules. The sponsorship’s copy keeps the same kind of expiry rule used on the opportunity benefit:
- A fixed date. The benefit expires on the specific date you set on the opportunity. Rhythm copies that exact date to the sponsorship, even if the date has already passed when the sponsorship is created, and does not warn you.
- A relative expiry. The benefit expires a set period after the sponsorship is created, such as one year after purchase. Rhythm calculates that date from the day it creates the sponsorship.
If a benefit’s expiry setting is missing or does not use one of these two recognized types, Rhythm leaves the expiry date blank on the sponsorship’s copy of that benefit.
Rhythm calculates relative expiry dates only when it creates a sponsorship from an order. If staff enter a sponsorship directly on the Console form instead of creating it from an order, Rhythm does not calculate a relative expiry for its benefits. After Rhythm calculates a relative expiry date, that date stays fixed. If you change the sponsorship’s own date later, Rhythm does not recalculate the benefit’s expiry date.
Why Later Opportunity Changes Don’t Reach Existing Sponsorships
Rhythm copies benefits once, when it creates the sponsorship. After that, the sponsorship has its own benefits, separate from the opportunity. If you later add, remove, or change benefits on the opportunity, or change a benefit’s expiry rule, those changes do not update sponsorships that were already sold. Their benefits and expiry dates stay exactly as they were when Rhythm copied them.
Tip
If you need to change what an existing sponsor’s sponsorship includes, changing the opportunity’s benefit catalog will not update it. Add, change, or remove the benefit directly on that sponsorship.
Related Reading
For what an opportunity’s benefits and sold counts look like before anyone buys them, see Sponsorship Opportunities Explained. For how sold and remaining counts for benefits are kept up to date after a sponsorship changes, see How Sold and Remaining Counts Work.