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Documentation Giving Forms

Giving Forms

Giving Forms How-To

Browse tenant guides generated directly from the Markdown files in docs/tenant.

Introduction

Use this guide when you already know the giving-form task you need to complete and want a direct operational path.

This page is designed for common form-building and campaign tasks that fundraising teams handle regularly.

When to use this page

Use this page when you need to:

  • add designations to a form
  • configure suggested giving levels
  • turn on monthly giving
  • show campaign momentum
  • add a matching timer
  • let donors cover fees
  • update thank-you messaging
  • publish or unpublish a giving form safely

What you will learn

This guide shows you how to:

  • configure common fundraising options
  • shape the donor-facing experience without making the form unnecessarily complex
  • make choices that support both conversion and operational clarity

Before you start

Before editing a giving form, confirm:

  • what campaign or donor journey the form is meant to support
  • whether the form should be broad or highly focused
  • whether donors should see one-time gifts, monthly gifts, or both
  • whether designation choice is truly needed
  • which public momentum features actually help the campaign

A clearer campaign decision usually leads to a better form than adding options first and trying to justify them later.

Publish or unpublish a giving form

Use Publication status when you need to control whether a giving form is publicly available.

Step 1 — Open the form

Go to Giving forms, then open the form you want to update.

Step 2 — Choose the publication status

Set Publication status to:

  • Draft when the form should stay hidden while staff review it.
  • Published when the form is ready for public donation pages.

Step 3 — Save

When you save, Altrinum keeps the older internal active flag synchronized automatically.

Public donation pages require both a published status and the internal active flag. This keeps legacy records safe while giving staff one clear publication control.

AI-created donation forms always start as Draft and inactive, so they must be reviewed and published manually. Ask Altrinum may use AI-generated starter copy for the title, intro, giving prompts, and thank-you text, but deterministic safety rules still control draft status, visibility, designation selection, and persistence.

Add designations to a giving form

Use designations when donors should be able to direct their gift to one of a curated set of funds or purposes.

Step 1 — Open the giving form

Go to the form in the dashboard.

Step 2 — Enable designations

Turn on Enable designations on this form.

Step 3 — Choose the allowed designations

Select the designations you want donors to see, then save.

Donors will only see designations that are both:

  • connected to the form
  • still active

When this is a good fit

Use designation choice when:

  • donor intent genuinely matters
  • the campaign supports multiple funds
  • your team is prepared to report and steward those gifts correctly

When to be careful

Avoid a long or confusing designation list.

Too many choices can:

  • slow donors down
  • weaken conversion
  • create reporting complexity later
  • make the campaign feel less focused

Example: A community foundation might allow donors to choose between Scholarships, Community Grants, and General Fund rather than exposing a very long internal fund list.

Turn on monthly giving

Use recurring giving when the form should support an ongoing donor commitment rather than only one-time gifts.

Step 1 — Open the form settings

Go to the giving form.

Step 2 — Enable recurring gifts

Turn on Allow monthly gifts.

Step 3 — Choose the default and receipt behavior

Set the default gift type if needed, then choose whether recurring donors receive:

  • monthly receipts
  • an annual consolidated receipt

Step 4 — Save and review the public copy

Save the form and review the public language carefully.

The donor should be able to understand:

  • that the gift is recurring
  • how often it will recur
  • what that commitment means
  • what type of receipting to expect if your organization explains it publicly

Why this matters

A recurring giving option should never feel hidden or accidental.

If the page mostly sounds like a one-time appeal while recurring giving is enabled, donors may miss the commitment they are making or hesitate because the form feels unclear.

Good practice

Use recurring giving on pages where monthly support makes narrative sense, such as:

  • monthly giving programs
  • sustaining donor pages
  • long-term mission support campaigns

Configure suggested giving levels

Use suggested giving levels when you want to guide donors toward a few intentional ask amounts while still deciding whether custom entry should remain available.

Step 1 — Open the Gift options step

Go to the giving form and open the Suggested amounts section.

Step 2 — Add or reorder the giving levels

Add each suggested amount you want donors to see.

For each level, you can set:

  • amount
  • button label
  • optional short description
  • whether that level should be the default selected amount

Step 3 — Decide whether donors can enter a custom amount

Turn on Allow donors to enter a custom amount if you want flexibility beyond the suggested levels.

If needed, set:

  • minimum custom amount
  • maximum custom amount

Step 4 — Review the AI summary note if your workspace uses optimization

The same step now lets you choose whether this form should:

  • use the workspace AI Ask Optimization defaults
  • or use form-specific override settings

If you keep workspace defaults enabled, the section shows a compact inherited summary.

If you turn inheritance off, you can control:

  • whether AI Ask Optimization is enabled for this form
  • the maximum ask adjustment percent
  • the minimum prior gifts required

To change the workspace defaults themselves, use Workspace Settings → AI.

Why this matters

Suggested levels help shape the donor decision without forcing every donor into the same path.

The cleanest setups usually offer a short list of intentional amounts rather than a long ladder of barely different choices.

Preview a giving form as a supporter

Use Preview as supporter from the giving form admin page when you need to inspect how one known constituent would see:

  • suggested donation amounts
  • supported donor/contact field prefills
  • other supporter-aware giving form personalization already built into the public flow

Enter the constituent email and Altrinum opens the real public giving form in a separate preview tab.

Important:

  • preview mode does not switch your admin session
  • the preview link is short-lived
  • the preview banner shows which supporter email is being simulated
  • live donation submission is blocked from the preview screen

Show campaign momentum

Use visible campaign momentum features when supporters benefit from seeing how the campaign is progressing.

Step 1 — Enable the goal

Turn on Enable goal and enter the goal amount.

Step 2 — Show public progress

Turn on Show progress bar on public page.

Step 3 — Add optional goal copy

Use goal-related copy to explain what the total represents, then save.

When this is useful

This works especially well when:

  • the campaign has a real public target
  • progress itself helps motivate giving
  • the form is part of a time-bound campaign push

When to avoid it

Skip public progress when:

  • the campaign is quiet or private
  • the goal is not meant to be public
  • the public number may confuse more than it motivates

Example: A capital or annual appeal page might show progress publicly, while a quieter major-gift or relationship-based effort may not.

Add a matching timer

Use a matching timer when a campaign has a real, time-bound match period that supporters should know about.

Step 1 — Turn on the timer

Enable Enable matching timer.

Step 2 — Add the message

Enter the donor-facing matching copy.

Step 3 — Set the time window

Choose the start and end date/time, then save.

The timer appears on the public page only during the configured window.

Why this matters

A matching feature works best when it is specific and credible.

Donors should understand:

  • what is being matched
  • whether it is 1:1 or another structure
  • whether there is a cap
  • when the match ends

Good practice

Use matching timers for real campaign urgency, not as decorative urgency.

Tip

Keep the matching message specific so donors understand whether the match is 1:1, capped, or limited to a certain timeframe.

Let donors cover fees

Use fee coverage when your organization wants to give donors the option to help offset processing costs.

Step 1 — Enable fee coverage

Turn on Enable "cover fees" option.

Step 2 — Add the fee values

Enter:

  • the percentage fee
  • the fixed fee amount

Step 3 — Add optional checkbox copy

Add donor-facing wording if needed, then save.

Why this matters

Fee coverage can increase net revenue, but the wording should feel clear and respectful.

A donor should understand:

  • that the choice is optional
  • what the choice is doing
  • how the added amount is being calculated, if that is shown publicly

Good practice

Review the checkbox wording from the donor’s perspective. The best copy sounds helpful and transparent, not pushy.

Customize confirmation and thank-you copy

Use Confirmation & thank-you copy to shape what donors see after a successful gift and what appears in donation confirmation emails.

This is one of the most overlooked parts of the donation journey.

There are four separate fields:

  • One-time donation thank-you page message
  • Monthly donation thank-you page message
  • One-time donation confirmation email message
  • Monthly donation confirmation email message

Leave any field blank to use Altrinum's default copy for that context.

Thank-you page copy is shown on the public post-donation page. Confirmation email copy is included in the transactional donation confirmation email. These fields do not control official tax receipt or acknowledgment PDF language, and receipt emails may still be sent separately when the workspace is configured to issue them.

Use Preview one-time confirmation email or Preview monthly confirmation email beside the email fields to see the full message with sample data. The preview does not send an email, create a donation, or contact Stripe, Moneris, or BBMS. It shows Altrinum's greeting, sample amount, designation, giving form, date, reference, recurring note, tax receipt disclaimer, and support contact so you can see what is already included.

Because Altrinum already adds the greeting and operational donation details, avoid repeating phrases like Dear Jane, the amount, designation, or reference number in the custom message unless you intentionally want that repetition.

Supported tokens

The editor lists supported tokens beside the fields. Common tokens include:

  • {{ donor_name }}
  • {{ donor_first_name }}
  • {{ organization_name }}
  • {{ giving_form_name }}
  • {{ amount }}
  • {{ currency }}
  • {{ frequency }}
  • {{ designation_name }}
  • {{ donation_date }}
  • {{ receipt_number }}
  • {{ transaction_id }}

Unknown tokens are left unchanged so staff can spot them during review.

Good uses for thank-you and confirmation copy

Use the thank-you page to:

  • thank donors in the campaign voice
  • reinforce what their gift supports
  • point them to a next step
  • invite them to stay engaged
  • make recurring donors feel recognized for a longer-term commitment

Why this matters

A donor’s experience does not end when the payment goes through.

The thank-you page is part of stewardship. It can strengthen confidence, reduce second thoughts, and create continuity between the campaign story and the donor’s completed action.

Good practice

Keep the thank-you message aligned with the campaign. A scholarship appeal thank-you should not feel identical to a general-support page if the donor just responded to a specific call to action.

Before publishing or sharing a form, run one test one-time gift and one test monthly gift when monthly giving is enabled. Confirm that the thank-you page, confirmation email, donation details, and receipt behavior all match the organization's policy.

Tips and notes

Tip

Before launching a new campaign form, test one-time gifts, monthly gifts, designation behavior, and any matching window together so the donor journey feels consistent.

Tip

If a form underperforms, simplify before adding more features. Clear copy and fewer choices often help more than added options.

Warning

Do not enable public features just because they exist. A cleaner donor journey is often stronger than a more crowded one.