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Fulfillment Methods Overview

Once a reward is approved in Ambassador, it needs to get to your advocate somehow — and that's where Fulfillment Methods come in. This article walks you through every available option so you can choose the approach that fits your program best. 🎁

What Are Fulfillment Methods?

Fulfillment Methods are the ways Ambassador delivers approved rewards to your advocates. You can fulfill rewards automatically via Automations, or manually from the Reward Transactions table. You'll need to enable and configure at least one Fulfillment Method before rewards can be sent.

The available methods are: Direct Payment, Portal Rewards, Storefront Rewards, External Fulfillment, and Tango Choice Products.

Note: Disbursement Link (ACH via Tango) and some catalog items like Venmo/PayPal via Tango require pre-qualification steps before they can be enabled. Contact support@getambassador.com for details.

Direct Payment

Send a specific reward item — like a coupon code, e-gift card, PayPal payout, or Shopify code — directly to the advocate via email or SMS. No extra steps or redemption required on their end.

Direct Payment is perfect for simple, one-time rewards or fixed incentives where you want the advocate to receive something instantly. It's also a great alternative to External Fulfillment if you want to take advantage of Payment Vault budgeting and campaign-level access controls.

How to configure:

  1. In Fulfillment Methods, enable Direct Payment
  2. Create a Reward Rule for each campaign (if applicable)
  3. Configure the Reward Catalog item(s) you plan to send
  4. Create a Payment Vault for each item and assign it to the applicable campaign(s)
  5. Create Email or SMS template(s) for the advocate notification
  6. Configure Automations to fulfill approved rewards with Direct Payment and send communications or webhooks

Portal Rewards

Let advocates redeem their available points or cash balance for a reward of their choice — right inside their Advocate Portal. No deduction from your funding balance or inventory happens until they actually redeem.

Portal Rewards is a great way to give advocates the power of choice while reducing upfront costs and driving continued engagement with your program. Reward options include Tango gift cards, prepaid cards, donations, Venmo/PayPal, coupon codes, custom items, PayPal payouts, and Shopify Gift Cards.

How to configure:

  1. In Fulfillment Methods, enable Portal Rewards
  2. Within each applicable Campaign, navigate to Advocate Experience and enable the Advocate Portal
  3. Customize the Portal in Pages & Widgets > Advocate Portal
  4. Create a Reward Rule for each campaign and set the reward expiration period
  5. Configure all Reward Catalog items you plan to make available (tip: use separate Payment Vaults to limit specific rewards to specific campaigns)
  6. Configure Payment Vaults to customize which rewards are available per campaign
  7. Create Email or SMS template(s) for reward notifications and redemption delivery
  8. Configure Automations to fulfill rewards with Portal Rewards, send notifications on approval, and handle the redemption event

Storefront Rewards

Send advocates a personal redemption link they can click to redeem their available balance for a reward of their choice — no portal login required. Like Portal Rewards, no deduction happens until they redeem.

Storefront is the ideal alternative if you're not using the Advocate Portal. Ambassador generates a unique redemption link for each advocate the first time a Storefront reward is fulfilled. Subsequent rewards add to the same balance — advocates can redeem right away or let rewards stack up before expiration. If you choose to enable it, advocates can also access their reward transaction history and retrieve redemption details from past emails.

How to configure:

  1. In Fulfillment Methods, enable Storefront Rewards
  2. Click Settings under the toggle to customize the Storefront display, security question, and more
  3. Create a custom Storefront domain
  4. Create a Reward Rule for each campaign and set the reward expiration period
  5. Configure all Reward Catalog items you plan to make available (tip: use Payment Vaults to customize per-campaign reward availability)
  6. Create Email or SMS template(s) for Storefront reward notifications and redemption delivery
  7. Configure Automations to fulfill rewards with Storefront, send notifications, and handle the redemption event

External Fulfillment

Fulfill approved rewards using systems or processes outside of Ambassador — useful when you need to trigger an external team or webhook to handle delivery.

External Fulfillment is the simplest option for notifying an outside system when it's time to fulfill. If you want budget tracking, campaign-level controls, or ledger visibility alongside external delivery, consider using Direct Payment with a Custom Item catalog and non-cash Payment Vault instead.

How to configure:

  1. In Fulfillment Methods, enable External Fulfillment
  2. Create a Reward Rule for each campaign (optional)
  3. Do not set up a Reward Catalog or Payment Vault
  4. Create an Email or SMS template to notify advocates when/how they'll receive their reward (optional)
  5. Configure Automations to fulfill the reward as External Fulfillment, send the advocate a notification, and optionally trigger a webhook

Tango Choice Products

Let advocates choose from Tango's pre-built catalog of digital gift cards and payout options. Reward value — plus any applicable fee — is deducted from your Tango balance at the time of fulfillment.

Tango Choice Products come in four varieties, each with a distinct feature: no expiration date (Reward Link), 6-month expiration (Promo Link), global reward conversion (Global Choice Link), and ACH direct deposit (Disbursement Link — requires pre-approval). You can't customize which rewards are included or add your own items to Tango catalogs.

How to configure:

  1. In Fulfillment Methods, enable Tango Choice Products
  2. Click Settings to enable the specific Tango Choice Products you plan to use (Note: Disbursement Link is not available until approved by Tango)
  3. Create a Reward Rule for each campaign (optional)
  4. In the Reward Catalog for Tango, select your funding currency and follow the funding instructions (no items to select — they're pre-configured by Tango)
  5. If using Disbursement Link, complete the ACH pre-approval process with Tango
  6. Create Email or SMS template(s) for reward notifications
  7. Configure Automations to fulfill approved rewards with the specific Tango Choice Product and send communications (no separate redemption automation needed — Tango handles that)

Good to Know

  • You can enable multiple Fulfillment Methods at the same time and choose different ones per campaign via your Automation outcomes.
  • Payment Vaults are used to control budgets and limit reward availability per campaign — they're required for Direct Payment, Portal Rewards, and Storefront Rewards.
  • If you're unsure which method is right for your program, your Customer Success Manager can help you evaluate your options.
  • Related articles: Reward Catalog Overview, Payment Vault Overview & Setup, Reward Rules Overview & Setup, Transactions Table Overview