Gift Donation Function: Activation, Configuration, Variables and Evaluation

INHALTSVERZEICHNIS

• Good to know
• Activate Gift Donation
• Prepare Delivery
• Configure Form
• Pre-select Gift Donation in Form
• Variables for the Content of the Certificate
• Example Certificate
• Overview and Evaluations

In this article, you will learn how to activate the option for gift donations including a certificate in your FundraisingBox and then configure it in desired donation forms.

Good to know

• With this function, you offer your donors the easy possibility to gift a donation to someone. After the donation, the donating person receives a certificate in the form of a digital PDF document, which can then also be printed for the person receiving the gift.
• First, the function must be activated in your FundraisingBox. Then, there is the option to enable gift donations in every form.
• Images and texts to be used for the certificates can be predefined by you.
• The certificate is sent as an attachment in a separate email to the donating person. For this, a corresponding email template is necessary.

If you cannot unlock this function in your FundraisingBox, then you need a version update. If you have questions, please contact us.

Note: To use this function meaningfully in the donation form, you must first set up an email extension and a sender address. Please make sure that the sender name is specified in the sender address.

Activate Gift Donation

1. If you want to activate the gift donation function, click on the Store section on the left in your FundraisingBox .
2. Here you will find the gift donation function in the Fundraise area.
3. Click on Activate now to call up more information and the activation option
4. Check the box for Activate Gift Donation and then click on save.

Prepare Delivery

1. Since the certificate is sent via email, an email extension and a sender address must first be set up in your FundraisingBox, if not already done.
2. Then create an email template with transaction as template variables.
3. This template is sent via email after the donation in addition to an automatically configured thank-you email to the donor. Example of possible template content:

   {% if company_name != "" %} Dear Sir or Madam, {% elseif salutation_de == "Frau" %} Dear Mrs. {{last_name}}, {% elseif salutation_de == "Herr" %} Dear Mr. {{last_name}}, {% elseif salutation_de == "Ehepaar" %} Dear Family {{last_name}}, {% else %} Dear {{first_name}} {{last_name}}, {% endif %} thank you again for your support. Attached you will find the certificate for your gift donation, which you can pass on to the recipient. If you have any questions, I am at your disposal. Best regards, Max Mustermann

Note: This template is to be selected in the gift donation settings and is not the same as the thank-you email template! If, for example, you select the template for the thank-you email also in the gift donation settings, then the thank-you email would be sent twice in principle.

Customize Thank-You Email

To avoid potential queries from donors who do not find a certificate in the thank-you email, we recommend adding a note in the thank-you email template regarding the second email with the certificate. Ideally, use the variable {{is_gift_donation}} with an If/Else statement, so that only donors who have made a gift donation receive this additional information.

Example Template:

{% if company_name != "" %} Dear Sir or Madam, {% elseif salutation_de == "Frau" %} Dear Mrs. {{last_name}}, {% elseif salutation_de == "Herr" %} Dear Mr. {{last_name}}, {% elseif salutation_de == "Ehepaar" %} Dear Family {{last_name}}, {% else %} Dear {{first_name}} {{last_name}}, {% endif %} thank you very much for your {% if is_gift_donation %}gift {% endif %}donation of {{amount_de}} €.{% if is_gift_donation %} You will shortly receive an additional email including a certificate.{% endif %} Together we are strong. Best regards, Max Mustermann 

The texts between {{% if is_gift_donation %}} and {{% endif %}} are only inserted if it is a gift donation.

Note: This email template is for example purposes only! Please adjust the text blocks etc. to your liking and then test the template.

Configure Form

1. Click on Forms in your FundraisingBox and either create a new form or select an existing form where gift donations should be configured.
2. At the top tabs, there is now the option Gift Donation. Click on it to call up the corresponding configuration.
3. The tool tips provide helpful information about each field and its specifications.
4. Check the box for Show Gift Donation Option and ideally save once directly to activate the function for the form.
5. Under Images on the Certificate, you can upload up to three images. These images are then available as options for the certificate and are used as the header image in the certificate.
6. Under Logo on the Certificate, upload the logo of your organization, which appears at the bottom of the certificate.
7. Select in the Email section the previously created Email Template and the Sender Address to automatically send the certificate email after generating the certificate.
8. At the bottom, you will find the sections for Wordings in the Certificate and Wordings in the Form. There you can individually adjust the texts and decide whether the amount should be displayed on the certificate.
9. Click on PDF Preview at the top right  to get a preview of the certificate. This way, you can make possible adjustments to the text or selected images.
10. Then click on save.
11. Then click on Preview to check the new function in your form.

Note: An image selection in the form will only be displayed when more than one image file has been uploaded.

Tip: It is best to test the function including all images with test transactions to check all results and make possible adjustments.

Note: Since the certificate is sent via email to the donor, the donor's email address should be requested as a mandatory field in the donation form.

Pre-select Gift Donation in Form

By default, the option of a gift donation is not pre-selected in the form, to allow for quicker normal donations. If you prefer to pre-fill this option for certain campaigns, such as Christmas, the so-called GET parameters can be used.

1. If you want to place a button on the page or link to the form in a mailing, you can add ?is_gift_donation=1 to the URL to pre-select the gift donation option. Example:international-action.org/de/spenden/?is_gift_donation=1
2. If you want to pre-fill the option by default, you can add the parameters to the embedding code.

Variables for the Content of the Certificate

You can personalize the gift certificate to enhance emotional engagement and increase donor loyalty. The following variables (including if/else statements) can be used in the gift donation settings under the Wordings in the Certificate section for the Text area and displayed on the certificate:

Project

• {{project_name}} Name of the project in your FundraisingBox for which a donation was made
• {{project_description}} Description of the project for which a donation was made (More information on project configuration can be found here)

Item

• {{item_id}} ID of the item donated to, the IDs of your items can be found in the item dropdown of the Button Generator

Custom Fields

• {{donation_custom_field_*ID*}} Value of the custom field. Replace *ID* with the ID of the desired field, e.g., {{donation_custom_field_1234}}. The IDs can be found in your FundraisingBox under Configuration > Custom Fields.

Recurring Donation Info

• {{interval}} Monthly rhythm of the recurring donation, values: 0 / 1 / 3 / 6 / 12
• {{interval_de}} Translation of the monthly rhythm into a German word; values: einmalig / monatlich / vierteljährlich / halbjährlich / jährlich
• {{interval_en}} Translation of the monthly rhythm into an English word; values: one-time / monthly / quarterly / binnually / annually
• {{is_recurring}} returns 0 for one-time transactions, otherwise 1. Example of use: You support polar bears in need with a {% if is_recurring == 0 %}single donation{% else %}recurring donation{% endif %}.

Donation Date

• {{donation_date_day}} Values: 1-31, e.g., Transaction on 23.10. => Day the transaction was made = 23
• {{donation_date_month}} Values: 1-12, e.g., Transaction on 23.10. => Month the transaction was made = 10
• {{donation_date_year}} Year the transaction was made, example: 2020
• {{donation_date}} Date the transaction was made, in the format YYYY-MM-DD
• {{donation_date_de}} Date the transaction was made, in the format DD.MM.YYYY
• {{donation_date_en}} Date the transaction was made. Example: 10 October 2020

Amount

• {{amount}} Amount WITHOUT currency symbol in standard format, example: 1234.5
• {{amount_de}} Amount WITHOUT currency symbol with a comma and two decimal places, example: 1234,50
• {{amount_en}} Amount WITHOUT currency symbol with a dot and two decimal places, example: 1234.50

Public Message

• {{public_message}} public message/comment

Example Certificate

• To enable faster configuration and generation of the certificate, the design of the certificate is predefined.
• With the preview function, you can quickly check how all your uploaded images, the logo, and the texts look.

Overview and Evaluations

• When a gift donation is made, the information about the gift donation is stored in the transaction details.
• With a Smart Search, you can evaluate more precisely how many (first) transactions were made via the gift donation function or how many contacts have used this function, using the search criteria "is a gift donation" (for transactions) or "has transaction with is a gift donation" (for contacts).
• A download link for the certificate is also available in the transaction details as soon as it has been successfully processed. Thus, for example, the certificate can be retrieved and sent again via email if there were problems with the delivery of the certificate.

  If the donor has made a recurring order with the gift donation, then the information about the gift donation is only stored for the first transaction of the recurring order.

• In the case of a recurring order, the rhythm is also indicated on the gift certificate. Therefore, only one certificate is created and sent via email.