Creating online donation pages

Your organization's members and website visitors want a convenient way to donate online. iMIS makes it easy for your supporters to contribute to the causes and projects your organization champions by providing an out-of-the-box Give Now web page to collect donations.

If you want to customize your online donation page, you can copy and modify the Give Now page or build your own customized donation page.

Before you can begin creating your online donation page, you must create gift items. See Defining gift items for more information.

Modifying the Default Give Now Page

The Donor and Member quick start sites both provide an out-of-the-box donation page called Give Now. You can copy the desired quick start site to quickly create your own website with a Give Now page.

If you want to make changes to the Give Now page, copy the Give Now content record at @/iCore/Fundraising/Give Now and modify the copy. Then, point a navigation item on your website to the copied Give Now content record.

Alternative Out-of-the-Box Donation Pages

You can also change your Give Now page to use one of several pre-built content records that address different donation scenarios. Change your Give Now navigation item to point to one of the following content records:

Sustaining Membership

Donors can select to pay for their donation in a single payment or in monthly installments. Gifts will automatically be renewed each year. The donor will see premiums offered if the gift item is already part of a defined premium set.

Content record location: @/iCore/Fundraising/Donate/Give to a Cause

This content record is configured as follows:

(Donation Creator) Fixed payment terms enabled, with Monthly selected for installment payment frequency
(Donation Creator) Display premiums enabled, with Donor enters gift amount first selected
(Recurring Donation Creator) Fixed annual frequency selected for recurring gift frequency

Note: For full functionality, you must have an AutoPay license. Without an AutoPay license, this feature is limited.

With an AutoPay license:

The initial installment payment is captured when the donation is submitted (sent to the credit card gateway for immediate capture).

For installment payments made with a direct debit, the initial invoice is created automatically. You must manually generate subsequent installment invoices. From the Staff site, go to Fundraising > Automatic payments > Process payments, select the Generate invoices tab, enter a date corresponding to the same month as the initial payment in the Run Date field, and click Run.

Remaining installment payments will be automatically charged to the donor's credit card on scheduled dates according to the chosen frequency.

Without an AutoPay license, the transaction is treated as an installment pledge with an initial downpayment:

The initial installment payment is captured when the donation is submitted.

Your organization is responsible for maintaining communication with donors, reminding them to send future installment payments. Remaining payments must be processed by a staff member through the Advanced Accounting Console.

Ongoing Giving

Donors will not see any payment term options or premium offers, even if the gift item is part of a premium set. A donation made through this page will renew annually.

Content record location: @/iCore/Fundraising/Donate/Ongoing Giving

This content record is configured as follows:

(Donation Creator) Payment term options is disabled
(Donation Creator) Display premiums is disabled
(Recurring Donation Creator) Fixed annual frequency selected for recurring gift frequency

Building a Custom Donation Page

If you would prefer not to use the out-of-the-box pages, iMIS provides the ability to build a custom donation page. You have flexibility in how you design your donation page, but a few requirements must be met.

You must associate the donation with a specific gift item, which is credited with the donation.

Donors can enroll in recurring donations when they donate. The Give Now page, when configured with AutoPay, allows donors to select the frequency of their recurring donation.

Steps

From the Staff site, go to RiSE > Page Builder > Manage content and create a new content record.
Add the necessary content items to your content record (see Content items for donation pages below).
Save and publish the content record.

Content Items for Donation Pages

Donation Creator (Offering)

Allows entry of donation information. Connect this content item to the Recurring Donation Creator (see Connecting content items below).

Configuration options:

Display the gift item description — Enable to show the associated gift item's description above the Gift amount field.
Processing mode — Select Process donation immediately to process the donation right away, or Add donation to the cart to allow the donor to pay alongside other cart items at checkout. Note: Payment term options are unavailable if you do not select Process donation immediately.
Payment term options — Select Fixed payment terms to allow donors to choose between a single payment or installment payments.
- If Fixed payment terms is enabled, the Recurring Donation Creator is not supported unless Fixed annual frequency is also enabled on the Recurring Donation Creator.
- If None (single payment only) is selected, the donor can specify a gift amount but will not see any installment option. The full payment amount must be submitted at the time of donation.
Gift item — Associate the donation with a gift item. See Associating donations with specific gift items.
Commit sequence — Set to 2 if processing the donation immediately. No commit sequence is needed for cart mode.
Item added message (Cart mode) — Enter the message to display when a donation is successfully added to the cart. Only shown when Processing mode is set to Add donation to the cart.
Display premiums — Enable to allow donors to select a gift premium. (Requires Processing mode to be set to Process donation immediately.)
- Enter the Section title text to appear at the top of the premiums list.
- Select the premium Display Mode:
  - Donor enters gift amount first — Users enter their gift amount, then see eligible premiums. Premiums requiring a higher amount will not appear. You can optionally include a No premium button. By default, the Gift Amount field is empty unless a suggested amount was defined on the gift item, or you pre-populate it via a personalized gift array or predefined amount array.
  - Donor chooses premium with associated gift amount — All premiums appear with their associated gift amounts. Selecting a premium sets the gift amount. In this mode, the personalized gift array is ignored. If more than five premiums are available, they are paged in groups of five.
Personalized gift array query — To pre-populate the Gift Amount field based on prior giving history, select the $/Fundraising/DefaultSystem/Queries/ProductFundraising/GiftArray query.

Recurring Donation Creator (Offering)

Allows the donor to set their donation to repeat at a specified interval (weekly, monthly, annually, etc.).

Note: If Fixed payment terms is enabled on the Donation Creator, the Recurring Donation Creator is not supported unless Fixed annual frequency is enabled here. An AutoPay license is required for full AutoPay functionality.

Configuration options:

Commit sequence — Set to 3 if processing the donation immediately. No commit sequence is needed for cart mode. This value must be less than the commit sequence of the Payment Creator and the Submit Order Button Link.
Recurring gift frequency — Select one of the following:
- Allow user to specify frequency — Donors determine how often their gift renews. Do not use this option if Fixed payment terms is enabled on the Donation Creator. Configurable label text: 'No' option text, 'Yes' option text, and Gift frequency text.
- Fixed annual frequency — All gifts entered on this page renew annually. The Recurring Donation Creator will not be visible on the donation page when this option is selected. It is recommended that page text clearly communicates to donors that their gift will automatically renew each year until they choose to stop.

Display Name Editor (Contact) — Optional

Allows donors to specify the name to be listed in all reports and acknowledgments for their donation (for example, "Bob and Sue Smith"). Only available when the Donation Creator is configured to Process donation immediately.

Connect this content item to the Donation Creator.

Configuration options:

Commit sequence — 3
Salutation Type — Donation List As

Tribute Gift Editor (Offering) — Optional

Allows donors to make a donation in honor, memory, or recognition of someone. See Setting up tribute donations for more information. Configure this content item to allow unauthenticated users the option to provide recipient information. Only available when the Donation Creator is configured to process donations immediately.

Connect this content item to the Donation Creator.

Configuration options:

Commit sequence — 4

Contact Account Creator (Contact)

Allows unauthenticated users (individuals only; not available for organizations) to create an account when submitting a donation.

Note: Only individuals may make donations without creating an account first. Organizations must create an account before making a donation.

Configuration options:

Hide for authenticated users — Enable. Users must log in for their contribution to be recorded against an iMIS ID. Enable this option so supporters are only prompted to create an account if they are not already logged in.
Commit sequence — 1
Type of account to create — Individual only
Include option to create an account — Enable
- Require username and password — Enable

Payment Creator (Commerce)

Required to allow entry of payment information.

Connect this content item to both the Donation Creator and the Submit Order Button Link.

Configuration options:

Purpose — Donation
Display Update button — Disable
Commit sequence — 5

Submit Order Button Link (Commerce)

Required to submit the donation.

Configuration options:

Prompt unauthenticated users to sign in — Enable
URL for order confirmation — Select a content record to display after the donation is submitted. A sample thank-you content record is available at @/iCore/Fundraising/Donation Thank You Page. Copy this record if you want to use it on your website.
Purpose — Donation
Commit sequence — 6

Connecting Content Items

Connections enable content items to interact with one another, reducing maintenance for site administrators.

To connect the Donation Creator and Recurring Donation Creator:

The Donation Creator needs to know whether the donation will repeat (determined by the Recurring Donation Creator) in order to provide a giving frequency option.

Click Connect on the Recurring Donation Creator.
Click Create a new connection.
Select the Donation Creator in the Object Consumer drop-down.
Click Connect.
Click the red X to close the window.

To connect the Display Name Editor and Donation Creator:

Click Connect on the Display Name Editor.
Click Create a new connection.
Select the Donation Creator as the Object Consumer.
Click Connect.

To connect the Tribute Gift Editor and Donation Creator:

Click Connect on the Tribute Gift Editor.
Click Create a new connection.
Select the Donation Creator as the Object Consumer.
Click Connect.

To connect the Donation Creator and Payment Creator:

Click Connect on the Payment Creator.
Click Create a new connection.
Select the Donation Creator in the Object Consumer drop-down.
Click Connect.
Click the red X to close the window.

To connect the Submit Order Button Link and Payment Creator:

Click Connect on the Submit Order Button Link.
Click Create a new connection.
Select the Payment Creator content item in the To the following output drop-down. (The name shown in this drop-down corresponds to whatever you named the Payment Creator content item.)
Click Connect.
Click the red X to close the window.
Save your changes.

Note: Once you click Connect on a different content item, the connections for the previous content item are no longer visible. Only the connections for the currently selected content item are shown. To review connections for any content item, select Connect on that item.

Providing Suggested Donation Amounts

You can pre-populate the Gift Amount field in the Donation Creator with an array of gift amounts or a single set amount.

To Pre-Populate the Gift Amount Field

From the Staff site, go to Settings > Utilities > General lookup tables.
From the General table drop-down, select the GIFT_AMOUNT table, or create the GIFT_AMOUNT table.
In the Code field, enter the Item code for the gift item you want to customize. To find the item code:
- From the Staff site, go to Fundraising > Find gift items.
- Search for and open the desired gift item.
- Select the edit icon.
- Locate and record the Item code.
In the Description field, enter the gift amount values:
- Array of amounts — Enter a comma-separated list, for example: 50,100,200,500. This displays a radio list of those values. To preselect one, precede it with an asterisk: 15,*25,75.
- Single pre-populated amount — Enter a single value, for example: *25.
Note: The gift array always displays an Other option allowing donors to enter any amount, regardless of whether you use an array or a single value.
Click Save & Close.

Warning: The Expansion field must be left blank. The gift amount will not display if an Expansion value is present.

Associating Donations with Specific Gift Items

Every donation must be associated with a gift item. The associated gift item is credited with the donation.

You can tie your donation page to a single gift item, or use the gift item specified in the ItemId URL parameter of a link to the page. The second option allows you to maintain a single donation page and use it for multiple different gift items by varying the ItemId parameter in each link.

The gift item description can also be shown above the Gift amount field on the donation page if you configure the Donation Creator accordingly.

Steps

Go to Fundraising > Add gift item to define the gift item. See Defining gift items for more information.

Note: From the Accounting tab, a Financial entity (Fund) must be defined.
Once the gift item is created, open the content record that contains the Donation Creator content item.
Select Configure on the Donation Creator.
Select the type of gift item to display from the Gift item section:

Option 1: Set the Gift Item by an ItemId URL Parameter

This option dynamically populates the Donation Creator with a gift item based on an ItemId parameter in the URL. It allows you to use a single donation page for multiple gift items.

For example, you might want to list all of your current fundraising campaigns on your home page, each linking to a donation page for that cause. Instead of creating a separate donation page for each campaign, you can configure one content record with the Donation Creator set to this option, then add the appropriate ItemId parameter to each link.

From your donation page, configure the Donation Creator to Set the gift item by an ItemId URL parameter.
Click OK, then click Save & Publish.
Open the home page content record.
Select Add content and choose a content item for your links (such as Content Html, Content Link, or Big Button Panel). For this example, use Content Html.
After the content is created, insert links using the Content Link Manager:
- Content or URL — Select the donation page.
- Additional URL parameters — Enter the item code in this format: ItemId=CODE.
Repeat for each remaining item.

If the page you want to link to is not a content record in RiSE, enter the full URL in the Content or URL field, for example: http://mywebsite.com/donationpage.aspx?ItemId=COATS.

Option 2: Select a Specific Gift Item

From the drop-down, select a single gift item that all donations on this page will be credited to. Use this option if you have separate donation pages for separate gift items.