What will I learn?
This article will introduce you to the Engaging Networks Services, our package of APIs that help you interface with and extend the Engaging Networks platform.
For agencies who would like to become an accredited technology partner you can register for our Agency Academy training.
Skill Level
You should already have experience working with APIs and have an understanding of associated technologies (i.e. HTTP methods, JSON, Curl, Authentication & Security best practice) and the data structures of Engaging Networks
The Engaging Networks Services (ENS) is our package of APIs that cover multiple types of service to solve different integration requirements for developers.
Non-sensitive services
These public services are useful for bulk statistics, social proofing (e.g. roll calls) and certain non-sensitive aggregate data representations. For example, it is the service that our display widgets use.
As the service does not return any sensitive supporter data, it can be used ‘on the page’ with javascript.
These private services are designed for the regular bulk import and export of data, outside of the Engaging Networks dashboard. They are heavy duty, and a lot of information is returned or required. These services are used for batches of data – they are not practical for single supporter updates or adding a single transaction. Examples of use:
- CRM integrations where there are large amounts of supporter updates or creations,
- Transactional import of offline donations or data collection
- Import of CRM segments defined externally to be emailed through Engaging Networks
These are accessed via the private token which must be kept secured. With the Export API, you will get every type of transaction returned from the past 32 days unless you have requested only a certain campaign type or have adjusted your export API settings or are using an Export Group. Please refer to the ‘Transactional Data format’ as this is the core of understanding how ‘supporter events’ are represented.privattt
REST services are private services programmatically accessed outside of the system. They need a special API user token which must be kept secured. They are useful when integrating external forms or apps with Engaging Networks, when single transactions or updates will occur (i.e. not in bulk).
This service can CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) a supporter remotely and post into donation, petition and other campaign pages.
The session needs to be authenticated first with the API User’s key, which will return a token to be used in subsequent calls. The token lasts for approximately one hour.
The Peer-to-peer Application Programming Interface (API) provides a way for you to integrate your existing systems with your p2p events. You can also create custom leaderboards, thermometers or searches that provide your supporter a unique experience.
For example, access donor, fundraiser, and gift information and display this data in the format you choose and in your style on your website.
The API provides secure connections to the database, allowing read access in real time.
