Donation Forms

Note: ATTENTION: Starting March 18, Blackbaud will begin auditing all donation forms for PCI compliance. Forms not updated to use either the embedded or modal checkout element will be automatically updated with the checkout modal, which could potentially cause layout changes and impact processing. API forms cannot automatically update, so you must take action to manually update API forms ahead of breaking changes. See Auto Migration FAQs.

Warning: All credit and debit card transactions must use the new checkout by March 2025 to meet Payment Card Industry standards. Configure your active, new, and recurring card payment forms with checkout to meet PCI standards before March 2025.

Tip: New eLearnings for checkout are available now! See Level Up with Luminate Online.

Use donation forms to collect online (credit and debit card, direct debit, and digital wallet) donations and record offline (usually cash and check) donations.

Donation forms must belong to a Donation Campaign. New forms include adjustable, default settings inherited from the campaign. To access donation forms from Online Giving either manage a campaign or select All Donation Forms.

The list below identifies some donation form options you may encounter as you create and edit your forms. Select a link to learn more about a term.

  • Constituent matching - Automatically search to match donors to existing constituent records to update records, prevent the creation of duplicate constituent records, and improve receipting.

  • Designated giving - Allow donors to direct their donation to an entity or person, such as the History Department or Manu Prakash.

  • Donation Levels - Create and manage donation levels in a donation form to provide suggested donation amounts.

    Gift Service Center - Allow donors to update billing information, skip or cancel payments, change gift amounts, or change the payment schedule in a self-service website you control and configure.

  • Membership - Not available for all sites. Offer memberships associated with donation levels on your donation forms, or re-purpose your donation form to be a membership sign up form.

  • Merchant account Identify roles and permissions related to payment processing. Define information about how money should be transferred from a donor to your organization's bank account.

  • Notifications - Set automatic notifications of specific donation conditions such as gifts exceeding a threshold value or tribute gifts. Edit campaign settings to set campaign specific notifications.

  • Offline donation - Allow constituents to accept donations to be processed and recorded without the donor present. Common examples are cash and check donations handed to the constituent. Choose if constituents can enter these gifts themselves or if an administrator must enter these gifts.

  • Political gift queuing threshold - Set a threshold amount so that gifts exceeding that amount are added to a Pending Contribution list. Gifts on this list are pre-approved by the donor's bank but will not be processed until authorized by your administrator. Because Political contributions are subject to more regulations, it is important to learn and adhere to those regulations that apply to your campaign and fundraising effort.

  • Redirect - Set a secondary URL to which visitors will be automatically redirected if they cannot access your donation form.

  • Responsive layout - Configure a responsive layout to optimize the form for any device.

    Tip: You configure both the donation form AND the page wrapper to create a truly responsive experience. See CSS Code Snippet for Responsiveness and Make a Donation Form Responsive.

  • Source code - Track how users are finding and interacting with your donation forms with URL variables. You may also add subsource codes to increase your understanding. For example, if you have a link to your donation form in an email and another on your website, you can identify which link led a donor to your form. See About Source and Subsource Code for a more detailed explanation.

  • Sustaining gift - Also known as Recurring Gifts. Allow donors to schedule a series of automatic payments. These gifts can be indefinite, toward a total value, or for a defined time period.