How to Create and Execute a One-Off Incentive

Step-by-step guide for admins to create, configure, and execute a one-off incentive.

Who can use this feature

Requires the Super Admin admin permission.

Who this is for

Admins and program managers who need to grant points to a group of people outside the normal peer recognition flow — for example, a project bonus, seasonal appreciation, or onboarding reward.

What you'll achieve

By the end of this guide you'll have created a one-off incentive, chosen its recipients, and executed it so that every eligible person receives their points immediately.

Before you begin

You have the Global permission, the Create Programs permission, or Manager membership on the program
You know roughly who should receive points (everyone, a hand-picked list, or a segment like a team or country)
You've decided how many points each person should get

Creating a new program requires a workspace-level permission (Global or Create Programs). Once the program exists, anyone added as a Manager member can configure and execute it.

Incentives use their own budget entry — they do not draw from anyone's monthly recognition allowance.

Steps

1. Create the incentive

Open Admin settings → Programs → Incentives in the sidebar. On the incentives list, click Create Program. Enter a descriptive name (for example, "Q2 project completion bonus") and confirm. PraisePal creates a draft and opens the incentive detail page.

2. Configure settings

Switch to the Settings tab and click Edit. Fill in:

Points per recipient — a whole number, at least 1.
Message — the text every recipient will see alongside their points. This is required before you can execute.
Program visibility — defaults to on so a post appears on the Home feed after execution. Turn it off for quieter distributions like sensitive bonuses.
Image (optional) — upload a PNG, JPG, GIF, or WebP to accompany the message and feed post.

Click Save when you're done.

3. Choose the audience

Head over to the Recipients tab. Pick one of three targeting options:

Option	How it works
Everyone	All active members in the workspace
Specific people	Search and select individual members
By segment	Filter by team, permission group, or country — select at least one filter

After making your selection, click Refresh to preview a sample of matching members and see the total eligible count. When you're satisfied, click Save to lock in the audience.

4. Add program members (optional)

If you want someone else to help manage this program — or give a finance colleague visibility into the spend — switch to the Members tab and click Add member. Choose a workspace user and assign them a role:

Role	What they can do
Manager	Edit settings, choose the audience, execute, and manage other members
Finance	View the budget tab (read-only) — useful for spend auditing

You can add or remove members at any time. Program members access the program through their My Programs view on the Incentives page.

5. Preview and execute

Back on the incentive header, click Execute. A confirmation dialog shows:

Recipients — the number of eligible people
Points per recipient — the value you configured
Total points — recipients multiplied by points per person

This cannot be undone. Execution grants points to every eligible recipient and permanently locks the incentive. You will not be able to edit settings or change the audience afterward.

Review the summary carefully, then click Confirm execution.

What to expect after

Every eligible recipient's point balance increases by the configured amount.
Each recipient receives a notification with your message.
The incentive status changes to Completed and all settings become read-only.
If Program visibility is on, a post appears on the Home feed with your message and image.

The Recipients tab now shows the actual list of people who received points — useful for auditing or answering questions from your team.

Common mistakes

The Execute button is greyed out

Two things must be in place before you can execute: a points per recipient value greater than zero, and a non-empty message. If either is missing, the button stays disabled with a tooltip explaining what's needed. Also make sure you've saved any in-progress edits on the Settings tab first — the button is disabled while editing.

"No eligible recipients" appears in the confirmation dialog

The audience you saved doesn't match any active workspace members right now. Go back to the Recipients tab, adjust your targeting (check team assignments, permission groups, or country filters), and save again. Click Refresh to verify the eligible count before retrying execution.

I executed the wrong audience or point amount

Execution is permanent — the incentive and its settings are locked once confirmed. If a correction is needed, create a new one-off incentive targeting the right group. For individual adjustments, use the Adjust points option on a user's profile instead.