Use the Meta / Facebook Conversions API to send recent transaction events from Avid to Meta for improved ad optimization, event matching, and attribution.
Use this article when…
- You want Meta to optimize ads using donation or purchase events from Avid.
- You need server-side events in Meta Events Manager (Conversions API).
- Your Meta Audience appears, but conversions are missing or inconsistent.
Applies to and prerequisites
| Product area | Pathways > Push Audiences |
|---|---|
| Integrations | Facebook Ad Manager connected in Settings |
| Data requirements | A transaction-based Audience (for example, Recent Donations (Last 7 Days)) built from a transaction dataset that includes: event_time (transaction timestamp) and event_id (unique transaction identifier). |
| Meta requirements | Meta Business account with a configured Meta Pixel and Conversions API access. You must know the correct Pixel ID. |
| Permissions | Access to Pathways and permission to create and activate Pathways for your organization. |
| Time to complete | 10–15 minutes, plus time to verify events in Meta Events Manager. |
Why “Last 7 Days” matters
Meta only accepts Conversions API events that occurred within the last 7 days. Events older than that window are rejected, even if the audience sync completes successfully.
How the Meta Conversions API works in Avid
Avid sends Conversions API events to Meta through its data sync layer. When you activate a Meta Conversions pathway:
- You select a transaction-based Audience in Pathways.
- Avid prepares event data from your transaction dataset.
- The data is sent to Meta as conversion events.
Seeing an Audience appear in Meta Ads Manager does not guarantee that Conversions API events are being accepted. If required fields are missing, Meta silently rejects the events.
Security note
Avid handles all customer data used in Meta’s Conversions API in accordance with our SOC 2 controls. Any data sent to Meta is hashed before transmission, following Meta’s Business Tools requirements.
For details, see our Security & Compliance FAQ and Meta documentation on Advanced Matching.
Steps
- Open Pathways in Avid.
- Go to Push Audiences and locate the Audience you want to send.
- Confirm the Audience is built on a transaction dataset and limited to the last 7 days (between today and last 7 days).
- Use Recent Donations (Last 7 Days) when possible.
- If you create a custom Audience, filter on the transaction (or created) date (not last modified date).
-
If you rely on Meta for revenue reporting, limit the Audience to online transactions only.
Sending offline gifts improves optimization but may inflate digital revenue in Meta reporting.
- In the Audience row, select Facebook Ad Manager as the Pathway.
- Under Information, select Conversions as the Destination Object.
-
Map all required Meta fields:
- Meta Pixel ID (required for every event)
-
Event Name (for example,
Donate) -
Action Source (for example,
website) - Event Time (transaction timestamp)
- Event ID (unique transaction identifier)
If Meta Pixel ID, Event Time, or Event ID are missing, Meta rejects all events. The pathway may appear active, but no conversions are recorded.
- Map additional fields to improve match quality:
- Phone
- First Name, Last Name
- City, State, Postal Code
- Click Save and activate the pathway.
What you'll see
You have an active Meta Conversions API pathway sending recent transaction events from Avid to your Meta Pixel. Meta can now match, optimize, and attribute these events based on your campaign settings.
Common reasons for rejected records
Meta will reject events that are missing required data or fall outside accepted time windows. Review each item below before activating your pathway.
| Gotcha | What happens | How to fix |
|---|---|---|
| Empty donor information | Meta rejects all events in a batch if customer fields (first name, last name, email, or phone) are blank. | Add audience filters so that first name, last name, and at least one of email or phone are not empty. |
| Wrong date field | Using Last Modified instead of the actual transaction date can pull in stale or irrelevant records. | Set your date filter to the Transaction Date (date received) column, not Date Created or Last Modified. |
| Transactions older than 7 days | Meta ignores events with a timestamp older than seven days. | Filter your audience to last 7 days of transaction data. |
| Future-dated transactions | Some CRM records carry a future transaction date, which Meta also rejects. | Add an additional filter: Transaction Date ≤ today to exclude future dates. |
| Offline transactions included | Sending offline transactions (cash, check, in-person) to Meta produces low match rates and wasted events. | Filter your audience to online transactions only. |
Best practice: use Pathway Filters to set up additional filters for each connection
Rather than modifying the shared audience that other pathways may also use, apply destination-specific rules with the additional Pathway Filter feature on each pathway mapping.
Example: If your pathway pushes data to Mailchimp, add an additional Pathway Filter where Email is not blank. This ensures every record sent to Mailchimp has a valid email address without changing the underlying audience used by your other pathways.
How to add an Additional Filter
- Open the pathway and scroll to the mapping section.
- Locate the filter icons in the top-right corner of the data-source row.
- Click the filter icon
to open the Pathway Filter panel.
- Add your condition (for example, Email is not blank).
- Save. The filter appears alongside your audience filter when you view the mapping.
You can stack multiple Additional Filters per data source. Each data source in your pathway can have its own set of filters, so you only send records that meet the destination's requirements.
Troubleshooting
Meta rejects all events — "Missing required customer information"
Cause: One or more records in the sync batch have blank first name, last name, email, and phone fields. Meta requires at least some customer identifiers on every event.
Fix: Edit your audience or add an Additional Filter to exclude records where donor contact fields are empty. At minimum, ensure email or phone is not blank.
Events appear but show zero matches in Meta Events Manager
Cause: Records are older than seven days or have a future transaction date. Meta silently drops these events.
Fix:
- Confirm your date filter uses the Transaction Date field (not Date Created or Last Modified).
- Set the range to last 7 days.
- Add a filter to exclude future-dated transactions: Transaction Date ≤ today.
Low match rates despite high event volume
Cause: Offline transactions (cash, check, in-person gifts) are included. These records typically lack the digital identifiers Meta needs to match.
Fix: Filter your audience to online transactions only. This improves match quality and reduces wasted event volume.
Same audience used for multiple destinations — don't want to change it
Cause: Your audience is shared across pathways (for example, Meta and Mailchimp), and each destination has different data requirements.
Fix: Use the Additional Filter feature on each pathway mapping instead of modifying the audience. This lets you add destination-specific rules (like Email is not blank for Mailchimp) without affecting other pathways that use the same audience.
Notes and limits
- Meta rejects events older than 7 days.
- Missing Pixel ID causes a 100% event failure.
- Broader Audiences improve learning but may distort revenue reporting.
Next steps
- Verify event delivery in Meta Events Manager.
- Monitor event match quality and deduplication status.
- Adjust Audience filters for reporting vs. optimization needs.
- If Meta shows the connection but no events appear, review required field mappings or contact Avid Support.