How to Create a Donation Form

An effective, optimized online donation form is the first step to raising funds in today's digital world. That's why it is where you should always start!

To create your own donation form with Donorbox, follow the steps below. Then, you'll decide whether to share this form using a Donorbox-hosted fundraising page (find more details in the next lesson), or by embedding it into your own website.

Step 1

Start by logging in. You'll automatically be brought to your Donorbox Dashboard. Then, click on "New Donation Form" under "Quick Start".

Step 2

This will open up our campaign creator. Here, you can name your campaign, edit the form's language, and set a fundraising goal.

Satisfied with your choices? Select 'Create Donation Form'!

Step 3

Next up, you will be guided through each step of building your own custom fundraising campaign form.

You can select your donation form color, enable UltraSwift™ Pay (this is automatically turned on for new campaigns - learn more in the 'How To: Customize Your Campaign' lesson), and set the preferred donation intervals for your nonprofit, as well as the default and recommended intervals.

Once done, click 'Next'.

Step 4

Now, select your preferred currency.

Or enable multiple currencies for accepting donations.

And make changes to your suggested default 'One Time' and 'Monthly' donation amounts - we recommend making suggested donation amounts for recurring gifts smaller than those for one-time gifts. Donors are more likely to make a commitment to a recurring donation with a smaller amount, even if the total gift amount will be higher over time.

You can also add impact details and set a minimum donation amount here if you'd like.

Want to ask donors to cover fees as part of their donations? Simply scroll down and toggle on the 'Ask donors to cover processing fee' option.

You can also add a piece of disclaimer information to your page for transparency.

Step 5

Click 'Next' to add tribute donations or donation designations to your donation form. This will enable donors to make gifts in honor or memory of someone, as well as automatically send a personalized message to the honoree.

Then, decide if you want to give donors the chance to choose where their gift will go with donation designations. When this is enabled, you can list several designation values so that donors can select a specific mission, program, or project to support.

Decide what information you’ll be collecting from your donors.

Finally, draft a custom thank you message for your donors to see once they’ve made the donation. You can also redirect the donor to another page instead of our standard thank you page, giving you more flexibility with branding and design.

Once you have gone through the editor and you’ve customized it to your liking, click Update. This will save your campaign before moving on to building your Fundraising Page!

Donation Form Example

Tarjimly chose to embed their Donorbox donation form within their own website, enabling them to create a fully-branded experience for their donors. This donation form features an impactful call to action, plus donation descriptors, drop-down designations, a monthly giving option, and a goal meter. Their donation form fits in seamlessly with their page, making it quick and easy for supporters to make a gift online, without ever leaving the Tarjimly website.