---
title: "Create individual and bulk gift cards on the dashboard | Loopz Gift Cards"
description: "Create a single gift card or a batch of gift cards from the Loopz dashboard, choose how they're funded, and email them to recipients now or later."
canonical: https://www.loopz.io/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard
---

You can create gift cards directly from the Loopz dashboard, without a sale at a register or on your online store. Create a single gift card for one recipient, or many gift cards at once for an event, a promotion, or a corporate order. Both follow the same four steps: the gift card details, the funding source, delivery, and a final review.

## Who should read this

Merchants and staff who issue gift cards by hand: complimentary cards, store credit, donations, employee rewards, or bulk orders paid for outside of Loopz.

## Before you start

- You need a [gift card program](/guides/setup-a-gift-card-program) with at least one enabled card design for digital gift cards. See [creating a new card design in the dashboard](/guides/create-a-card-design-on-the-dashboard).
- To activate physical gift cards, you need blank cards on hand. See [ordering physical gift cards](/guides/ordering-physical-gift-cards-for-your-gift-card-program).
- Gift card amounts can't exceed the **Maximum Balance** of your program.

## Where to find it

Go to the [dashboard](https://dashboard.loopz.io/) and click **Create Gift Card** at the top of the **Home** screen.

![Home screen quick actions with the Create Gift Card button](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/01-home-create-gift-card.png)

You can also open the **Gift Cards** screen and click **New Gift Card** in the top-right corner.

![Gift Cards screen with the New Gift Card button](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/02-gift-cards-new-gift-card.png)

## Choose single or multiple gift cards

Choose the kind of gift card creation you need:

- **Create a single gift card**: one gift card for one recipient.
- **Create multiple gift cards**: any number of gift cards, each with its own amount and recipient, created in one go.

![Choice between creating a single gift card and multiple gift cards](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/03-choose-card-type.png)

## Create a single gift card

### 1. Gift card

Enter the **Amount** to load onto the gift card, then choose its format:

- **Digital Card**: pick the card design from the **Gift card design** dropdown. The design is shown on the gift card email and wallet page.
- **Physical Card**: link a blank physical card that will be activated with this amount. See [Link a physical card](#link-a-physical-card) below.

Next, add the gift recipient:

- **New Recipient**: enter the recipient's **Name** and **Email**. **Phone** is optional.
- **Search Recipient**: search for an existing customer of your program and select them.
- **No Recipient**: create an anonymous gift card. This option is only available for physical cards, since a digital card needs an email address to reach its holder.

![Gift card step with amount, digital card format, card design and new recipient details](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/04-gift-card-details.png)

Click **Next**.

### Link a physical card

When you choose **Physical Card**, the card design dropdown is replaced by a **Link a card** box. Click it to link the blank card you're handing over.

![Physical Card selected with the Link a card box](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/05-physical-card.png)

In the **Link a card** dialog, either:

- **Scan QR Code**: scan the QR code on the card with your computer's camera.
- **Enter Gift Code**: type the full gift card number, the last 8 characters of the card number, or the card's External ID.

Click **Link Card**. The card's design is shown in place of the **Link a card** box.

![Link a card dialog with the Enter Gift Code option](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/06-link-a-card.png)

### 2. Funding source

Choose how the gift card amount is funded. This is recorded on the gift card's activation and shows up in your reports.

- **Store Credit**: the gift card is issued as store credit. Choose a **Reason** (Refund, Compensation, Reward, Transfer, Employee, Donation, Return or Other) and add an optional **Note**. The reason and note aren't shared with the customer.
- **Cash**: the customer paid in cash.
- **Payment Card**: the customer paid by card outside of Loopz. Choose the **Card Type** and enter the **Last 4 Digits** for reference. The card isn't charged.
- **Other**: any other payment method. Enter a **Tender Name**, for example "Company check".

Then choose the **Activation Location**. The activation is attributed to this location in your reports. Your primary location is selected by default.

![Funding source step with Store Credit selected and the activation location](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/07-funding-source.png)

Click **Next**.

### 3. Delivery

Choose how and when the recipient receives the gift card:

- **Email Now**: the gift card email is sent as soon as the gift card is created.
- **Scheduled Email**: the gift card email is sent at the **Delivery time** you pick, at least one hour from now. Use it for birthdays and holidays.
- **Skip Delivery**: no email is sent. This is the only option when the recipient has no email address.

For emailed gift cards, you can add an optional **Message** that appears in the email, then choose the **Email template**:

- **Gift Received**: the standard gift card email.
- **Store Credit Received**: the store credit email. Choose it when you're issuing the gift card as store credit.

A live preview of the email is shown on the right as you make changes. To change the content and styling of these emails, see [customizing emails sent by your gift card program](/guides/customize-emails-sent-by-your-gift-card-program).

![Delivery step with Scheduled Email, a message and the Gift Received email preview](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/08-delivery.png)

Click **Next**.

### 4. Review

Check the gift card, the funding source and the delivery details. Click **edit** next to **Funding source** or **Delivery** to go back and change them.

![Review step with the gift card, funding source and delivery summary](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/09-review.png)

Click **Create Gift Card**. When the gift card is created, its card number and recipient are shown. Click **Done** to close the dialog. The new gift card appears on the **Gift Cards** screen.

## Create multiple gift cards

Creating multiple gift cards follows the same steps, but the first step builds a list of gift cards. The list is shown on the right under **Gift cards**, with the count in brackets.

### 1. Gift cards

Add gift cards to the list in either or both of these ways.

**Add gift cards one at a time.** Enter the **Amount**, choose **Digital Card** or **Physical Card**, pick the card design (or link a physical card), and fill in the recipient the same way as for a single gift card. Set **Quantity** to create several identical gift cards for the same recipient, then click **Add Gift Card**. The amount and card design stay filled in, so you can quickly add the next recipient.

**Upload a gift card list.** Drag a file onto the **Upload gift card list** area, or click it to choose a file. The gift cards in the file are added to the list using the card design currently selected. Supported files:

- **CSV and Excel spreadsheets**: one row per gift card. Columns are matched by their headers, so "Name", "Recipient Name" or separate "First Name" and "Last Name" columns all work, as do "Email" and "Amount" or "Value". Add a "Quantity" column to create several gift cards from one row.
- **PDFs, documents and images**: for example a scanned order form or a photo of a printed list. We read the recipients, emails and amounts from the file.

For example, this CSV adds three gift cards:

| Name | Email | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sam Rivera | sam.rivera@example.com | 50 |
| Priya Patel | priya.patel@example.com | 50 |
| Chris Nguyen | chris.nguyen@example.com | 100 |

![Multiple gift cards step with the add form, upload area and a list of four gift cards](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/10-multiple-gift-cards.png)

Review the list before continuing. Click **edit** on a gift card to load it back into the form and change it, **remove** to delete it, or **clear all** to start over.

> If an uploaded file has an amount above your program's **Maximum Balance**, the upload is rejected with the row number. Fix the amount in the file and upload it again.

Click **Next**.

### 2. Funding source

Choose the funding source and **Activation Location**, the same as for a single gift card. The funding source applies to every gift card in the list.

### 3. Delivery

Choose **Email Now**, **Scheduled Email** or **Skip Delivery**, and add an optional **Message**. With multiple gift cards there's a third email template:

- **Gift Received** or **Store Credit Received**: each recipient gets their own email with their gift card.
- **Bulk Gift Received**: one email with all the gift cards is sent to the **Recipient Email** you enter. Use it when a single person, such as an event organizer or a corporate buyer, hands the gift cards out.

![Delivery step with the Bulk Gift Received template, a recipient email and the bulk email preview](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/11-bulk-delivery.png)

Click **Next**.

### 4. Review

Check every gift card in the list, the funding source with the total amount, and the delivery details.

![Review step with four gift cards, the total funding amount and the bulk delivery details](/website/images/guides/create-gift-cards-on-the-dashboard/12-bulk-review.png)

Click **Create Gift Cards**. A progress bar shows the gift cards being created. When it finishes, you'll see each gift card with its card number. If some gift cards couldn't be created, they're marked as failed with the reason, and the others are still created. Click **Done** to close the dialog.

## FAQ

- **Is the payment card charged when I choose Payment Card as the funding source?** No. The card type and last 4 digits are recorded for reference only. Take the payment through your usual payment method.
- **Can I create a gift card without sending an email?** Yes. Choose **Skip Delivery** in the delivery step. You can share the gift card details with the customer yourself.
- **Can I change a scheduled delivery after creating the gift card?** Yes. Open the gift card on the **Gift Cards** screen to change its delivery.
- **Which card design is used for gift cards from an uploaded file?** The card design selected in the form when you upload the file. Use **edit** to change the design of an individual gift card afterwards.
- **Do gift cards created on the dashboard trigger incentives?** No. [Incentives](/guides/create-an-incentive-for-your-gift-card-program) aren't applied to gift cards created on the dashboard, so the amount you enter is the amount loaded onto the gift card. To give a bonus, include it in the amount.