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How to Create an Enhanced Donation Form

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How to Create an Enhanced Donation Form: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/1045742

Enhanced Donation Forms empower you with more flexibility when creating and using your Donation Forms. They allow you to charge donations based on types and numbers of items or tickets purchased.

Because of these features, Enhanced Donation Forms are especially great if you're holding a gala or fundraising event and want your patrons to be able to buy tickets or make reservations online. For example, with a custom quantity field, you can set Gala Tickets at $50 each, so selecting 2 will automatically generate a total of $100.

In this article, we'll walk through the whole process of creating an Enhanced Donation Form. We'll follow an example to create a form for a gala:

  1. Create a custom Record Type
  2. Build Enhanced fields that you need
  3. Create and adjust your Enhanced Donation Form
  4. Test your work
  5. Adjust your Gala page layout
  6. Plus, Frequently Asked Questions

All in all, this should take about 1-4 hours, depending on how many fields you need to create. Ready? Let's go!

Heads up - this can get a bit tricky!

These instructions are intended for Certified PatMan Administrators. Grab your organization's Certified Admin, or, if you're interested in becoming one, check out our Introduction to the PatronManager Admin Certification Program.

1. Create a custom Record Type

Create a Donation Record Type specifically for what you need, if you haven't already. This makes it easy to report on these donations, and to keep fields related to your events from cluttering up regular Donation page layouts.

Create a custom Record Type here

In this example, we'll create a Record Type for a Gala.

First, let's check to see if we've already built the Gala Record Type.

2. Check to see if a Gala Record Type already exists, and click "Cancel"

3. What did you see?

  • If a Gala Record Type already exists, skip to the next step!
  • If you didn't see a Gala Record Type in the list, continue on below

4. Click on the gear and go to Setup

5. Go to the Object Manager - search for and click on the Donation object

6. Go to the Page Layouts tab and click "New"

7. Name your page layout and click "Save"

  1. Existing Page Layout: Choose "Donation Layout"
  2. Page Layout Name: Gala Layout
  3. Click "Save"

8. Now, go to the Record Types tab

Don't worry about configuring this layout now - we'll do that later after we've created some new fields

9. Click "New"

10. Fill out the fields and click "Next"

  1. Existing Record Type: Select "Donation"
  2. Record Type Label: Gala (Record Type Name auto-populates based on Label)
  3. Sales Process: Choose "Donations"
  4. Description: Provide a description of what the record type will be used for to keep your colleagues (and Future You) in the loop
  5. Active: Check this box
  6. Enable for Profile: Check all profiles
  7. Click "Next"

11. Assign the Gala Layout to the Gala Record Type, and click "Save"

Great job! Now let's move on and create some fields.

2. Create any Enhanced fields that you need

Now it's time to create our Enhanced Donation Form Fields, like Radio Picklists, Quantity fields, Currency fields, or a Fee Offset checkbox!

You may not need all of these fields, so feel free to jump to the ones that you need.

What's the difference between these different Enhanced Donation Form Fields? Here's a little breakdown for you:

  • Radio Picklists allow donors to select one option from many
  • Quantity Fields allow donors to select a number of something, like gala tickets, that they would like to pay for via a dropdown list
  • Currency Fields allow donors to manually enter an amount
  • Fee Offset Checkboxes allow donors to check a box to cover a 3% credit card processing fee, or to leave it unchecked and not cover the fee
How to create Radio Picklist Enhanced fields

First, we'll build a text field on the Donation object in Setup, then we'll build a corresponding Radio Picklist field on the Enhanced Donation Form section in the Donation Forms tab.

In this example, we'll create Donor Level radio picklist field. With this field, anyone purchasing tickets to your fundraising event can also select a Donor Level, which is attached to a contribution level on top of the ticket price.

Why do I have to build these fields in two different places? That's a reasonable question; happy to answer!

Enhanced Donation Form fields are special; they make calculations regular custom fields can't. In order to capture and track the important information Enhanced Donation fields collect, it's necessary to create a corresponding field in setup.

Let's begin!

First, let's check to see if this Radio Picklist field already exists.

2.1. Click on the App Launcher - search for and click on Donation Forms
What do you see in the "Existing Enhanced Form Fields" section?
  • If the Radio Picklist field you want to build already exists, skip this and move on to the next step.
  • If you don't see it, continue here to build it!
2.2. Ready to build the field? OK, head to Setup
2.3. Go to the Object Manager tab - search and select the Donation object
2.4. Go to the Fields & Relationships tab on the left, and click "New"
2.5. Choose Text as your field type, and click "Next"
2.6. Fill out the field information:
  1. Field Label: Donor Level
  2. Length: 150 will do
  3. Field Name: Auto-populates based on the Field Label
  4. Description & Help Text: Briefly describe what the field will be used for. Your colleagues and Future You will sing your praises
  5. Click "Next"
2.7. Leave this page as-is and click "Next"
2.8. Uncheck everything except the Gala Layout, and click "Save"

OK, we're half done! Let's go create the corresponding Radio Picklist field in the Donation Forms tab.

2.9. Click on the App Launcher - search for and select Donation Forms
2.10. In the Existing Enhanced Form Fields section, click "New"
2.11. Name the field, select "Radio Picklist" as the Type, and click Save

In this example, we'll call the field "Donation Level".

2.13. Click "New" on the Enhanced Form Field Options section
2.14. Fill in your first Radio Picklist option
  1. Label: Name the level, and include the amount since patrons will see this on the form
    • e.g.: "Copper: $100"
  2. Amount: Define the dollar amount of this level
  3. Tax-Deductible Amount: include a Tax-Deductible amount for each picklist option.
  4. Click "Save"
2.15. Repeat steps 13-14 to create your remaining options, and click "Save"
2.16. You're done with your Radio Picklist field! Repeat these steps as necessary

Repeat this section to build additional Radio Picklists. Here are some examples of possible additional Radio Picklists.

  • Member Level - if you want to offer membership tiers along with Gala tickets
  • Sponsorship Level - if you'd like to solicit sponsorships for the fundraiser on your Enhanced Donation Form
How to create Quantity fields

Let's build a Number field on the Donation object in Setup, then we'll build a corresponding Quantity field on the Enhanced Donation form section in the Donation Forms tab.

These quantity fields are great to allow you to sell add-ons where your donor can choose how many they'd like. You'll assign each item a price and the system will add the cost to the total amount.

In this example, we'll create a field called Ticket Quantity; it will capture the number of gala tickets a patrons wants to buy and automatically apply the per-ticket price to the total.

Let's go

Let's check to see if this "Ticket Quantity" field already exists.

2.1. On the Donation Forms tab, what do you see in the "Existing Enhanced Form Fields" section?
  • If a Quantity field already exists, skip this and move on to the next step.
  • If you don't see a Quantity field, continue here to build it!
2.2. Ready to build the field? Great, head to Setup
2.3. Choose Number as your field type, and click "Next"
2.4. Fill out the field information:
  1. Field Label: Give your field a name
  2. Length & Decimal Places: Keep the default numbers as-is
  3. Field Name: Auto-populates based on the Field Label
  4. Description & Help Text: Briefly describe what the field will be used for. Your colleagues and Future You will be so happy you did!
  5. Click "Next"
2.5. Leave this page as-is and click "Next"
2.6. Uncheck all page layouts except Gala Layout, and click "Save"

Halfway there! Now, let's head to the Donation Forms tab.

2.8. In the Existing Enhanced Form Fields section, click "New"
2.9. Fill in the information for your Quantity field
  1. Name: Name your field something like "Quantity"
  2. Type: Select "Quantity Field"
  3. Unit Amount: Enter the value of one item (e.g., for tickets that cost $150, enter 150.00)
  4. Unit Tax-Deductible Amount: Enter the tax deductible amount for each item
  5. Minimum & Maximum Quantity: How many tickets you want patrons to be able to select, from 1 to as many as you like
    • We recommend 10 to keep the list short, but you may want to enter up to 100 for raffle tickets
  6. Click "Save"

You cannot set a maximum quantity greater than 999, or your donation form will break. Remember: patrons will be selecting the number of things from a dropdown list.

2.10. You're done with your quantity field! Repeat these steps as necessary

Head back up to the top of this section to walk through building more quantity fields.

You might be interested, for example, in a quantity field for raffle tickets.  That way, donors can purchase raffle tickets ahead of time.

How to create Currency fields

Let's build a Currency field on the Donation object in Setup, then we'll build a corresponding Currency field on the Enhanced Donation form section in the Donation Forms tab.

In this example, we'll create an Additional Donation field so patrons can donate a little extra on top of their Gala tickets if they wish.

Build the fields here

First, let's check to see if this "Additional Donation" field already exists.

2.1. What do you see in the "Existing Enhanced Form Fields" section?
  • If the Currency field you need already exists, skip this and move on to the next step.
  • If you don't see the Currency field, continue here to build it!
2.2. Ready to build? Head to Setup
2.3. Go to the Object Manager tab - search and select the Donation object
2.4. Go to the Fields & Relationships tab on the left, and click "New"
2.5. Choose Currency as your field type, and click "Next"
2.6. Fill out the field information:
  1. Field Label: Give your field a name
  2. Length: 8
  3. Decimal Places: 2
  4. Field Name: Auto-populates based on the Field Label
  5. Description & Help Text: Briefly describe what the field will be used for. Your colleagues and Future You will sing your praises
  6. Click "Next"
2.7. Leave this page as-is and click "Next"
2.8. Uncheck all page layouts except Gala Layout, and click "Save"

Time to create our corresponding field in the Donation Forms tab!

2.10. In the Existing Enhanced Form Fields section, click "New"
2.11. Fill in the details:
  1. Name: The name of your field
  2. Type: Select "Currency Field"
  3. Click "Save"
How to create the 3% Fee Offset Fields

First, we'll build a Currency field called "Fee Offset Amount" on the Donation object in Setup, then we'll build a corresponding Fee Offset Checkbox field on the Enhanced Donation Form section in the Donation Forms tab.

The Fee Offset Checkbox adds 3% to the total donation amount to offset credit card processing fees.

If your organization doesn't want to ask your patrons to offset the credit card processing fee, no need to build this set of fields; skip down to the next section.

Note: Processing fees vary based on credit card type and sometimes other factors, but 3% usually totally covers the cost of CC fees and helps make up for folks who don’t check the Fee Offset box.

Last set of fields!

Let's check to see if this "Fee Offset Amount" field already exists.

2.1. What do you see in the "Existing Enhanced Form Fields" section?
  • If the "Fee Offset Amount" field already exists, skip this and move on to the next step.
  • If you don't see the "Fee Offset Amount" field, continue here to build it!
2.2. Ready to build? Head to Setup
2.3. Go to the Object Manager tab - search and select the Donation object
2.4. Go to the Fields & Relationships tab on the left, and click "New"
2.5. Choose Currency as your field type, and click "Next"
2.6. Fill out the field information:
  1. Field Label: Give your field a name
  2. Length & Decimal Places: Leave these numbers as they are
  3. Field Name: Auto-populates based on the Field Label
  4. Description & Help Text: Briefly describe what the field will be used for. Your colleagues and Future You will sing your praises
  5. Click "Next"
2.7. Leave this page as-is and click "Next"
2.8. Uncheck all page layouts except Gala Layout, and click "Save & New"
2.10. In the Existing Enhanced Form Fields section, click "New"
2.11. Fill in the details:
  1. Name: Call this field "Fee Offset"
  2. Type: Select "Fee Offset Checkbox"
  3. Click "Save"

3. Create and adjust a new Donation Form

Now, let's create a new Donation Form to feature our Enhanced Donation Form Fields. We'll create an entirely new Donation Form, and we'll add new and adjust existing fields.

Everything we do here will be familiar to you if you've created a normal donation form before!

6.1 First, create the Donation Form

3.1. From the Donation Forms tab, click New

3.2. Fill out the top section like this:

  1. Donation Form Name: name it after the purpose or event you're using it for
  2. Accept single or recurring donations?: single only
  3. Active: checked
  4. Donation Record Type: the custom Record Type you built
  5. Single Donation Template: we recommend creating a custom donation confirmation template for your gala donation form
  6. Logo URL: when they click the logo on your form, where should they be redirected?

3.3. We recommend setting a custom confirmation page for your form

After all, this isn't an everyday, normal donation.

Unless you need some special info, you can probably just copy and paste the footer information from one of your regular donation forms.

3.5. ...and your theme

Make your form look totally different than your normal donation form, or keep it consistent with your PTS and regular donation forms - it's up to you!

3.6. Save it up

3.7. Finally, scroll down to the theme section again and add your logo to the header

6.2 Remove some existing fields and add your Enhanced Form Fields (plus an "Amount Total" field!)

3.1. On the donation form, scroll down to the form builder section; find the Donation Levels block and click "Del" next to each level

3.2. When you're done you'll get this warning - no worries, we'll fix it later

3.3. Scroll down to the form builder section and click "New Field"

3.4. We're adding the Donation Level field we created wayyy back at the beginning of this article

  1. Field Name: Donor Level
  2. Field Type: Donation Level
  3. Sort Order: we recommend top of the form, something like 6
  4. Label: Donor Level
  5. Required: unchecked
  6. Save!

3.5. New Field again

3.6. Now let's add the Ticket Quantity field we created

  1. Field Name: Ticket Quantity
  2. Field Type: Ticket Quantity
  3. Sort Order: one more than what you set for Donor Level (in this case, 7)
  4. Label: How many tickets would you like to purchase?
  5. Required: checked
  6. Save!

3.7. New Field for the third time

3.8. This time let's add the Additional Donation field we created

  1. Field Name: Additional Donation
  2. Field Type: Additional Donation
  3. Sort Order: 9
  4. Label: Would you like to add an additional donation?
  5. Required: unchecked
  6. Save!

3.9. Let's add a fourth New Field

3.10. Time to add the Fee Offset field

  1. Field Name: Fee Offset Field
  2. Field Type: Fee Offset
  3. Sort Order: 10
  4. Label: Would you like to cover the processing fee for this transaction? (adds 3%)
  5. Required: unchecked
  6. Save!

3.11. OK, last New Field

3.12. We're adding a "Total" field - fill out the page like this:

  1. Field Name: Amount
  2. Field Type: default
  3. Sort Order: 12
  4. Label: Total
  5. Required: checked
  6. Save!

3.13. Alright, we're done adding/removing fields!

6.3 Finally, make some adjustments to the form

If you're unsure of how to do any of the below, you can get some pointers from the How to Create/Edit Donation Forms article!

3.1. Change the text on the large header from "Donate" to something more specific and bring it to the top of the page

Edit this standard Large Header block that reads "Donate"...

...to something like this:

  1. Field Name: Large Header
  2. Sort Order: 1
  3. Content: the name of your event
  4. Save

3.2. Change the small text to something more specific and put it right under the header you just updated

Edit this standard Short Text block that reads "Please complete the form"...

...to something like this:

  1. Field Name: Short Text
  2. Sort Order: 2
  3. Content: the message you'd like to appear at the top of your form
  4. Save

3.3. Consider if you need the Dedication section and delete it if you don't

3.4. Add a constant/default value so donations through this form go to the corresponding gala Campaign

First, grab the ID from your Campaign (it's in the URL):

Then head to your form, find Hidden Fields at the very bottom of the page, and click "New Field":

Fill out the page like this:

  1. Field Name: Campaign ID
  2. Default Value: paste in the ID from your Campaign
  3. Save

3.5. Add another hidden field - Tax-Deductible Amount - so the form can do some math

Click Add Field in the hidden fields section

Now fill the form out like so:

  1. Field: Tax-Deductible Amount
  2. Default value: leave blank
  3. Required: unchecked
  4. Savey save

3.6. That's it! You've built your form!

Keep reading to test out your form - you want to make sure it works.

4. Test your form!

Once you've added all of your Enhanced Form Fields, click the Public Form URL and see how it looks.

Beautiful! Make selections and watch the Total field increase!

5. Adjust the Gala page layout

And now, a little housekeeping.  

All the fields you created in Setup are on the Gala page layout, and you'll need to organize them.

6. You're done!

Frequently Asked Questions - with answers!

When I make a new Enhanced Donation Form, should I clone it or make a new one?

We recommend you create a new Donation form instead of cloning an existing Donation Form.

Should I recreate new Enhanced Donation fields with each Enhanced Donation Form?

No need to reinvent the wheel! You can reuse the Enhanced Donation fields you've already created on future Enhanced Donation Forms.

Can I use the same field twice on the same Form?

No, that leads to inaccurate information and data loss.

Let's say you want to create a two radio picklist fields, one for your membership levels and one for an add-on benefit. You'll want to create two radio picklist Enhanced Donation Form Fields, and two fields on the Donation object.

What happened to the Donation levels on my Enhanced Donation Form?

When you use Enhanced Donation fields, you won't need the Donation Levels you see on normal Donation Forms (read: non-Enhanced Donation Forms). Instead, you can create levels with an Enhanced Donation radio picklist field.

Previous Article How to Add the 3% Offset Fee to Your Donation Forms
Next Article How to Link to a PDF from a Donation Form

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