Empowering your donors to choose their donation designation can result in more gifts for your organization – and it can seriously streamline your workflow. It's easy to add donation designations in a dropdown on your Donorbox form. Read on to learn how!
It’s true – one of the top reasons donors choose to support a nonprofit organization is knowing the difference their gift will make in the lives of others.
What if there was a way for donors to choose the specific impact of their gift?
Good news – there is! Designated gifts make it possible for donors to not only select the nonprofit they would like to support but which element of that nonprofit they’d most like to make an impact on.
Offering donation designations is an easy way to allow donors to specify the mark they’d like to leave on your organization.
Donation designations enable your donors to tell you how they want their gifts to be used by your organization.
Designated gifts are typically directed to one area of the organization, like a specific service, emergency response situation, or capital campaign. When donors designate a gift, nonprofits must use it for the program or fundraiser selected by the donor.
For example, a humanitarian organization may offer three programs that donors may designate their gifts for – their homeless shelter, their food pantry, and their rehab services. And a zoo may encourage donors to give to specific animals and exhibits.
See how Nova Ukraine is using a customized donation form created on Donorbox to help donors direct their donations to one of the four areas of impact.
While offering designated donation options may feel like you are placing limitations on gifts, it can be very beneficial to do so.
For one, enabling donors to choose the program or fundraiser empowers them to feel even more invested in their impact. And, when a donor feels invested, they are more likely to donate again.
It’s also easier to show specific impact for a donor’s designated gift, as well as to segment donors for future appeals based on their giving history. For example, if a supporter donates to your summer camp program, you know to send them stories and photos from the camp as a thank you. And you can target them with appeals for the continued support of that program.
In addition, personal connections drive donations. And donors are more likely to connect with a specific service, such as a program that helped a loved one. A grandparent of a child who received medical care may give to help another in the same situation. And a volunteer who cared for adoptable dogs may donate to provide shelter for those animals.
UWC Adriatic promotes multiple fundraising initiatives within one donation form by using a simple drop-down menu integrated directly into the form.
Create a Customized Donation Form
Pro tip: It’s always best to offer a ‘Where the need is greatest’ option so that donors can still opt to give unrestricted funds to your organization.
It’s easy to implement designated gift options with Donorbox’s innovative fundraising form! Simply follow the steps below to add them to your form and find designations on the dashboard.
If you haven’t already, you’ll first need to sign up for a free Donorbox account here.
Donorbox doesn’t charge any set-up or monthly fees. You just pay a low platform fee (which starts at 1.75% for the Standard plan and is even lower at a flat 1.5% when you upgrade to higher plans) and payment processing fees per transaction.
Already registered with Donorbox? Click here to log in to your dashboard!
Click “Campaigns” as shown below.
Next, click the “+New Campaign” button to start creating your fundraising campaign.
We have a guide to help you get started with Donorbox. Follow the instructions in the article to create a donation form, connect your payment processor, and start using the campaign.
We have another article here to help you edit your fundraising page on Donorbox once you’ve created the campaign.
After you’ve created a campaign, select the “Edit Campaign” button for that specific campaign to enter the campaign editor.
From here, click “Edit Form” and then choose “Tributes” from the drop-down menu.
In the left-hand toolbar, find “Enable donation designations” and toggle it on.
When the options appear, you’ll need to add a “Designation label” – this will show as the title of this section on your form. Now, add your “Designation values”. Adding at least one is mandatory.
Once you’re happy with your choices, hit “Save and Preview” and your form will automatically populate with your new donation designation field and options. Plus, you’ll be able to see it in action in the “Preview Your Form” panel!
Be sure to share your new options with your donors through email, social media, and on your blog.
To find a designated gift on a donation record, first, go to the “Donations” tab in the left-hand navigation of your Donorbox dashboard. Here, you’ll be able to see all donations.
If a donation designation has been made for a gift, you will find it in the “Campaign & Designation” column. The campaign is listed first in blue, and the designation (if there is one) is listed second in black.
Providing your donors with the option to make designated gifts can lead to increased donations for your nonprofit. With donation designations, donors feel they have a more direct impact in an area of your organization to which they feel connected.
It also provides you with a detailed giving history that enables you to better target thank yous as well as future appeals.
Plus, it’s easy to add donation designations to your giving form with Donorbox. Simply sign up for a free Donorbox account and follow the steps above to start accepting designated gifts today!
Donorbox is an all-in-one fundraising solution for nonprofits, offering donor management, event-ticketing as well as membership campaign options in addition to fundraising features. Our features are simple to use and affordable, and you can start fundraising in just about 15 minutes! Join 80,000+ other organizations across 96 countries on this journey of growth and success.
For those willing to take their fundraising and donor management efforts to the next level, we have a success package called Donorbox Premium. Get access to the knowledge and expertise of industry experts (coaches and technical team) as well as a dynamic set of high-powered tools. Pricing is personalized for each nonprofit!
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Kara has several years of experience in communications and marketing for nonprofit organizations. Her love for serving others began while fundraising for and attending mission trips. She then worked with multiple local nonprofits through various marketing agencies and volunteer opportunities before becoming a communications manager at Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis for more than four years. Kara now specializes in writing and enjoys sharing her experiences and knowledge with others on this platform.
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Kara Schmid