Appeals are an industry‑standard tool used by nonprofits to better understand their fundraising performance. Campaigns are required for every transaction on Givebutter, and funds (donation designations) can determine how the money will be used. Appeals fill the missing piece of the puzzle – helping you track how your organization initiated a donation or asked for support.
What is an appeal? How do appeals differ from campaigns?
A campaign is where donations are raised. (Example: Paws & Claws Fundraising Gala)
A fund (donation designation) is how donations can be allocated. (Veterinary care fund, shelter renovations, pet adoption support)
An appeal is the method used to solicit donations. (Direct mail postcard, email newsletter, in-person donor ask at the event)
Appeals are especially helpful for organizations migrating from other platforms, where historical appeal data is part of their donor records. Tagging donations with the appropriate appeals in Givebutter ensures that past performance and attribution data stay intact. You can create appeals for specific communication channels, fundraising events, or even individuals – whatever makes sense for your organization's workflow and reporting needs.
Creating appeals ➕
You can create new appeals from both your account settings and your campaign settings. Multiple campaigns can be directed toward a single appeal, regardless of where it was created.
At the account level
Go to your dashboard and click on Settings in the sidebar menu. Click on the Account tab at the top of the page, and click on Appeals in the sub-menu.
Click Add new.
Enter an Appeal name (required) and optionally an Appeal code.
Click the checkbox if this is an active appeal, and it will be labeled as Active in your dashboard. If left unchecked, the appeal will be labeled as Inactive.
Click Add appeal at the bottom of the page to create the appeal.
To set a default campaign for an appeal, navigate to that specific campaign first. Default campaigns can’t be assigned from Account Settings.
At the campaign level
If you add an appeal to a specific campaign, incoming donations from that campaign will automatically be logged to that appeal in your dashboard.
In your dashboard, go to the specific campaign you'd like to add an appeal to, and click on the Settings tab at the top of the page.
Scroll down to the section called Appeals. Click Select appeal. (You can select an existing appeal that you've already created, or create a new one from this page.)
To create a new one, click Add new. Enter an Appeal name (required) and optionally an Appeal code. Click Add appeal to create it.
Click the dropdown menu under Select appeal and select the appeal you just created, and hit Save.
Migrating appeal data ✈️
If you’re migrating to Givebutter from another system, you can preserve your historical attribution data by including appeal names or codes directly in your transaction import file. There's no need to manually create appeals ahead of time – Givebutter will automatically create appeals based on the appeal data included in your import. This ensures that your legacy data remains intact and performance information is carried over seamlessly into your new reporting tools.
If a matching appeal already exists in your account, we will update that appeal and totals with the newly imported transactions.
Editing or deleting appeals ⚙️
In your Account Settings, click Appeals in the sub-menu, and click the three dots [...] next to the appeal to update the name/code or adjust campaign assignments. (Appeals can be created, but cannot be edited or deleted from your campaign's Settings tab.)
To edit an appeal's name, code, or active status, click Edit appeal.
To delete an appeal, click Delete appeal. Existing donations tagged will still retain the original appeal tag, but it won’t be available for new donations.
Using appeals 📁
Appeals operate entirely behind the scenes and are not visible or selectable by donors during the checkout process. When a donation is made to a campaign with a designated appeal, that appeal tag is automatically applied to the transaction.
If you’ve created an account-level appeal without assigning it to a specific campaign, you can still manually tag transactions from your dashboard. Appeals are designed to reflect the method or channel used to solicit a gift (such as a direct mail postcard, an Engage email, or an in-person paddle raise), all within the same campaign. When migrating from another platform, you can also import historical donations that include appeal names or codes to preserve accurate attribution.
Manually logging credit ✏️
You can manually add an appeal attribution to a transaction. You can also edit or remove the default appeal for a specific transaction if one was applied manually or automatically.
Navigate to your Transactions page and locate the transaction you wish to edit.
Click on the transaction, and in the sidebar that appears on the right side of the page, scroll down to the Funds & credit section.
To add an appeal attribution, click Add an appeal, then select an appeal from the dropdown.
To edit or remove an existing appeal attribution, click the edit icon on the right side of the appeal name.
Tracking individual performance 💼
Appeals also offer a way to track the performance of individual fundraisers or solicitors as an alternative to peer-to-peer fundraising. You can use appeal codes to distinguish between efforts under the same overall appeal. For example, you might create a single appeal named “Phone-a-thon 2025” to capture donations from that initiative. To see how individual team members performed, assign each person a unique appeal code, like: PAT25_JM for John M., PAT25_SR for Sarah R., and so on.
If you get an error message that won't allow you to create a new appeal with the same name, ensure that all appeals with that name have a code added.
This setup allows you to view and report on the aggregate success of the Phone-a-thon, while also understanding how each individual contributed. You’ll be able to:
Compare the donation volume and the total raised by each solicitor
Identify top-performing individuals or teams
Incentivize and recognize fundraisers with accurate attribution
Maintain clean data under one unified appeal name
This is particularly useful for campaigns with multiple fundraisers working under the same banner, such as board giving drives, ambassador-led events, or staff-led outreach initiatives. Appeal codes are optional, but they give you a flexible way to track individual results.
Reporting 🧮
Appeals are included as a field in your transaction data, making it easy to filter, sort, and report on the performance of different fundraising efforts. When you view or export your transactions, you’ll see an Appeal column, along with any associated Appeal Code, allowing you to compare results across methods, campaigns, or individual fundraisers.
FAQ 🤔
Can I use one appeal for multiple campaigns?
Yes! You can link multiple campaigns to the same appeal – this can be done from each campaign's Settings tab.
Can I point one campaign to multiple appeals?
No, there can only be one default campaign per appeal.
What if I forgot to create an appeal before transactions were submitted?
You can retroactively create the appeal in Givebutter and then tag the existing donation entries (via export and import or manual edit) with the correct appeal.
Can donors choose an appeal during checkout?
No, appeals are an internal feature for your organization to track methods/channels. Donors will not see or select appeals. Donors can select a fund (donation designation) at checkout as applicable.
Do appeals replace funds or campaigns?
No, appeals are distinct: a campaign is where you raise money, a fund is how the money is spent, and an appeal is the method you used to ask for money. The same campaign can have dozens of related funds or appeals.