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How to configure a Form campaign
How to configure a Form campaign

Create, customize, and share feature-packed donation forms designed with donors in mind.

Alyssa avatar
Written by Alyssa
Updated over a week ago

Givebutter offers three different campaign types with different features. Choose a Form if you are looking for a simple way for people to donate to your cause without any frills. You can view a demo Form campaign, or compare different campaign types to see which one is right for your organization.

Create your campaign ➕

  • To create a new Form campaign, click on New Campaign in your dashboard.

new campaign
  • A window will appear where you can select your desired campaign type. Select Start a Form.

  • Enter a title for your new campaign, and click Create Campaign.

You can switch campaign types or edit the title of your campaign if you change your mind later on.

Customize your campaign ✏️

Your new Form campaign has four tabs where you can configure information and settings.

tabs

Details 🪧

  • Title – Change your campaign title.

  • Goal – Set a campaign goal to be displayed on your campaign. As donations come in, the goal bar updates in real-time. Read more about campaign goals →

goal bar realtime
  • Theme color – Set a theme color for your Form campaign. This color is used as a gradient background for your Form, as well as the goal bar, and other accents. If toggled off, the default is a black gradient. Read more about theme colors →

  • Cover Photo – Add an optional cover photo to your campaign. Max size: 1MB.

We do not have specific recommended dimensions for Form cover photos, or a way to maintain aspect ratio to prevent these from getting cut off. Please upvote the feature request for adding this option! →

  • Description – Add a description to your campaign. This appears below the title.

If you're embedding your Form campaign on an external site, please note that the description set will not appear in an embedded Widget. You can choose to include the goal bar if you like.

no description

Sharing 🤳

General

Please note that you cannot currently use a custom domain or remove the givebutter.com prefix for your campaign. To host your Form campaign on your own website, you'll need to embed it as a Widget.

  • Scan-to-donate – Download a unique QR code that points to your campaign. Read more about using Scan-to-donate →

  • SEO Settings – Customize how your campaign appears on social media. Read more about SEO settings →

    • SEO title and description– SEO title and description override your campaign details. If left blank, the SEO settings will default to your campaign's title and description.

    • SEO image – This is the image displayed when sharing on social media. If not set, the image will default to your account's cover photo. For social media, there will be no preview image if you don't set one.

Widgets

Create and configure embeddable Widgets to install on your own external website. Donors can submit a transaction directly on your site, without being redirected. Read more about using Widgets →

Tools 🛠️

Payment settings

Configure the payment options available on your campaign.

  • Accepting payments – Turn this off if you'd like to close the ability to make payments but keep your page publicly viewable.

  • Require phone numbers – Phone numbers are optional at checkout by default. Turning this on will always require supporters to enter their phone numbers.

  • Require billing address – Some payment methods (like PayPal and Venmo) don't require billing addresses. Turning this on will require supporters to always enter their billing address. Billing address is always required for card payments.

  • Allow supporters to select to pay via check – Turning this on will include an additional option for supporters to mail you a check.

    • If enabled, you will be required to add check mailing instructions.

Donation settings

Customize and configure donation frequencies and suggested donation amounts.

one time vs monthly amounts
  • Frequencies – Choose which frequencies will be displayed to donors. If you select multiple options, you can select a default option to auto-populate. Read more about recurring donations →

  • Suggested amounts – Customize suggested donation amounts and add optional descriptions for each frequency. Read more about custom donation amounts →

    • Other – Allow donors to enter their own amount.

    • Minimum donation – Require a minimum donation amount per transaction.

Recurring donations may need to be enabled on your account before you can add multiple frequencies to your campaign.

Fund settings

Manage your campaign level fund configurations. Read more about using funds →

  • Display fund selection – Turning this off will hide the fund selector from your form. If you selected a default fund above, it will apply to all transactions.

  • Default campaign fund – Set a default fund, if applicable.

Custom fields

Add custom fields (custom questions) to your campaign to collect additional information from your donors at the time of checkout, from t-shirt sizes to dietary preferences. Read more about using custom fields →

Settings ⚙️

General

  • Publish campaign – Make this campaign publicly viewable and live. You cannot un-publish a campaign once you've started raising money.

  • Campaign type – Change your campaign type. Read more about changing campaign types →

Thank you message

Write a custom thank you message (specific to this campaign) that will appear in email receipts. Read more about thank you messages and receipts →


Fees & tips

Configure the fees on your campaign. Read more about fee settings →

  • Disable tips – By default, supporters can leave an optional tip for Givebutter. Disabling tips will increase our platform fee from 0% to 1%.

  • Hide fees – Turn this on if you'd like to hide transaction fees from supporters. Fees will be deducted from the amount donated, and absorbed by your organization.

  • Require fees – Turn this on if you'd like to require supporters to cover the transaction fees. Fees will be charged on top of the amount donated, and your organization gets the full donation amount.

Other

  • Make this campaign unlisted – Turn this on if you'd like to hide your campaign from public view and keep it unlisted. Only those with the URL will be able to find it.

  • Delete campaign – You will only be able to delete your campaign if no transactions have been processed, even offline or test transactions.

Givebutter Experts

Enhance your campaigns and raise more with the help of our trusted consultants, freelancers, and agencies. Learn more about Experts →

Upsell option 📈

Givebutter gives you the option to add an upsell feature to your campaign to help you convert donors into monthly recurring supporters. If enabled, the recurring donation upsell option appears after a donor selects a one-time donation and prompts them to consider becoming a monthly donor.

Form FAQ 🤔

Can I add my organization's contact information to my Form campaign?

Yes! We recommend adding your organization’s contact email address to the public campaign page – this is set under Account > About > Organizational Profile > Social Accounts.

contact email

Can I add a Story section to my Form campaign?

No – Form campaigns are our simplest option. You can add a campaign Story to a Page or Event campaign.

Can I add an auction to my Form campaign?

No – Form campaigns do not support auctions. You can add an auction to a Page or Event campaign.

Why is my campaign inactive? How do I make my campaign active?

There are a few reasons why a campaign would appear inactive:

  • You haven't finished setting up your account yet – you must add valid payout information before you can go live with your first campaign.

  • Your campaign will appear inactive if you've turned off Accepting Payments on your campaign's Tools tab.

  • Your campaign has been unpublished. You'll need to turn on the Publish campaign setting on your campaign's Settings tab.

  • Your campaign has an end date set in the past, and you have not opted to Accept donations after the end date in your campaign's Settings tab. You'll need to Accept donations after the end date, or remove/edit the end date.


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