Get Started with Optimized Donation Forms

Optimized Donation Forms provide an engaging and streamlined donor experience with continuously refined data and branding cards. Branding cards help build trust with donors using images you choose that represent your organization.

Before you build a donation form, review the prerequisites.

Donation

Donation defines the form's identify and sets up the core fundraising options for supporters.

Set Form Name and Branding

  1. Under Form name and branding, enter a name for the form.

  2. Select the branding card that displays along side the form.

    Tip: To learn how to create a branding card step-by-step, see Get Started with Branding Cards.

Set Monthly Gift as Default

Select Default monthly gift to encourage reliable recurring support, you can choose to show Monthly as the default gift options on the form instead of One-time.

Set Gift Range

By default, one-time and monthly recurring gift options always display on the form. To increase the amount donors give, under One-time gifts and Recurring gifts, enter the lowest and highest gift amounts you expect to receive.

Donors are always able to enter their own gift amount in the field that contains their suggested amount. It is a different amount below the gift amount buttons they can select from.

Note: Intelligent Ask adjusts the one-time gift amounts on the form to help increase the average gift amount.

Set Designations

Note: In Raiser's Edge NXT, designations are known as funds. For more information, see Funds.

Donations are assigned to a specific designation that represents their financial purpose. Select the designations for the form under Designations.

If you select more than one designation, you can:

  • Set a default designation that's already selected on the form under Default designation.

  • Change the display names and order, under Designation list.

    Tip: The default designation's label is Area of greatest need, but you can change the label if you prefer.

  • Let supporters enter their own designations, when you select Donors can add their own designations.

Tip: At least one designation is required on a donation form, but you can pass designations through the form's URL. To learn more, see Fundraising Parameter Hyperlinks.

Enable Tributes

Note: Tributes is available if you have the Honor/Memorial Tracking module with Raiser's Edge NXT.

To give donors an opportunity to dedicate their gift to a person or cause, you can enable tributes under Tribute gifts and choose the information to collect so you can notify honorees, friends, and family.

  1. Select Enable donors to dedicate their gift to a person or cause.

  2. Enter the name of the types of tributes you would like to collect under Tribute types.

    Tip: To include a tributes type not in the list, you can add them to Tributes Types in Settings, Tables.

  3. Select the information to collect from donors based on how you will notify honorees, friends, and family about the tribute.

Enable Comments

To enable donors to add more information about their gift, select Comments under Additional options. Donor-entered comments display on the gift record.

Select Next.

Payments and Fees

Set Gift Processing

To process transactions, the form connects to a live payment configuration in your organization's Blackbaud Merchant Services account.

  • If you have one Blackbaud Merchant Services account with only one payment configuration, the form automatically connects to that configuration.

  • If you have multiple accounts or payment configurations, you can select a payment configuration under Gift processing.

Direct Debit

To enable donors to give one-time and recurring gifts using direct debit, select Enable direct debit, under Gift processing.

Set Transaction Processing

After you configure the form, you can test it to ensure it's easy to use and not confusing to donors. By default, the form is in test mode. Under Transaction processing, you can choose to create one-time gift test records while testing it. Test mode doesn't support recurring gift test records.

Warning: Only select Start processing donations now after testing the form because you can't switch the form back to test mode or use test credit card numbers. However, when you copy a form, the copy is automatically in test mode.

Set Fee Coverage

To bring more revenue to your mission, configure the form so your donors or Blackbaud covers the online transaction fees. Under Fee coverage, select how your organization will cover fees for donations given through this form.

Select Next.

Optional Fields

Add Phone and Mailing Address

Profile fields let you collect more information, and they are optional for donors to complete after they make their donation. From Optional fields, select phone and mailing address under Profile fields.

Add Consent Preferences for Communications

From Optional fields, under Consent preferences, you can allow donors to choose specific communications they're interested in receiving. you can select up to six channels and categories for them to choose from. You can also include a consent statement, which is necessary if you add only one opt-in and would like it to be on one card. Otherwise, it will it will appear on the contact card.

Enable Add-ins

If you have access to SKY Add-ins you can select which ones to add under Add-ins.

Select Next.

Confirmations

Under Confirmations, you configure what happens after supporters submit the form.

Set Thank You Message

After a supporter submits the form, the thank you message appears to thank them and confirm that their gift was successful.

  • If you choose the default content selection, the thank you message includes the transaction information.

  • If you choose to redirect supporters to a webpage, you can include your own content without the transaction information.

Enable Social Sharing

If you select Use default content, under Thank you message, you can enable social sharing to encourage donors to share their support of your organization with their friends. The form must be embedded on your website for the social sharing options to appear.

To enable social sharing, select Display social sharing options under Social sharing.

After making their donation, a donor can quickly share the form with Facebook and WhatsApp. To share with other platforms, such as LinkedIn, donors can select Copy link and paste it in their message.

If a donor's device or browser supports native sharing, they may see More share options. By selecting this option donors can share the form quickly and directly via text messages, AirDrop (for Apple devices), or email without copying the link.

Set Closed Form Message, Date, and Time

Instead of manually unpublishing the form or deleting it, you can automatically close the form when you choose. Select Automatically close form, then set when you want the form to close and configure the message with a call to action you would like supporters to take.

Edit Thank You Email

After a supporter submits the form, the email is sent to confirm their donation with transaction details. The email contains a default message and personalization. You can edit the subject line, the message, and reply-to and from names and email addresses.

Warning: The Thank you email is not a receipt. To issue receipts use Gift Receipting or your current receipt workflow.

To edit the email message:

  1. From Confirmations, select Open email designer.

  2. Hover over the message, and select Edit.

  3. In the text editor, make any changes you need.

  4. To make personalized changes, select Merge, Donation Forms, and choose the fields you want to add.

  5. Select Apply.

Tip: If you update the content of the email, you can re-insert merge fields, such as transaction details, from Merge, Donation Forms in the text field.

To learn how to design your email, see Thank You Email Tutorial.

Send Receipts

If you use gift receipting in Raiser's Edge NXT, you can choose how supporters receive receipts after their payment.

Hidden Fields

  • To track fundraising initiatives, from Hidden fields, select a campaign, appeal, and package to the form. After the donor submits the form, this information appears in their gift record.

  • To further categorize gifts from the form for tracking and reporting purposes, from Hidden fields, select a gift subtype.

Save

Select Save and close to save the form in its current state. After you save the form, it appears in the donation forms list.

You can return to edit the form at any time. When you're ready to accept real transactions, edit the form and go to Payment and fees. Select Start processing donations now. After you select this option, you can no longer change the form back to test mode.

Next Steps

Your next steps are to test the form before you configure it to accept real transactions. After testing the form and configuring it to take transactions, publish it when you are ready.