Donation Forms 201 Training Webinar

Walk through examples of building donation forms start to finish. Explore different options including campaigns, layouts and sections, and linked amounts. This is the second session in a two-part series — the 101 covers what online forms are and how to connect a credit card processor, while this session customizes the two donation templates that come with the program and covers best practices for each.

In this webinar we cover:

• The difference between the Compact Donate Now template and the standard Donate Now template
• Setting the number of amount buttons and their values before building a Compact Donate Now form
• Changing section layout so fields run horizontally instead of one per line
• Limiting dropdown choices, renaming field labels, and reordering fields in the Form Builder
• Creating a predefined donation amount dropdown as a user-defined field and linking it to a payment value
• Adding the processing fee field and adjusting the default percentage
• Including hidden fields — date, payment method, appeal, accounting code — so submissions download complete
• Finding the header, privacy policy, form colors, and confirmation email in the Settings tab

Review the earlier training Donation Forms 101 Training Webinar

Quick Recap

The trainer walked through customizing two donation form templates included with DonorSnap’s Responsive Forms. She began with the Compact Donate Now template, explaining its colorful amount buttons and its limitations, then demonstrated setting the number of buttons and their dollar values before the form is built. She moved to the standard Donate Now template and rebuilt it piece by piece — flipping sections, making fields display horizontally, trimming dropdown options, adding a campaign designation, and renaming the comments field for tribute gifts. She then created a predefined donation amount dropdown from scratch as a user-defined field and linked each choice to a payment value. The session closed with the hidden fields that need to be populated for clean data, and the items that live in the Settings tab rather than the Form Builder.

Summary

Two Donation Form Templates in Responsive Forms
The trainer explained that DonorSnap ships with two predefined donation templates, both found under Online Forms > Responsive Forms, Add New Form. The template dropdown at the top of that page lists every form the organization has already built alongside the predefined templates that come with the program. Her recommendation was to always start from a template rather than an empty form. The two donation options are the Compact Donate Now form, which displays colorful preset amount buttons across the top and squeezes the contact fields together, and the standard Donate Now form, which is left-justified and fully customizable. Payment fields are supplied by Stripe rather than DonorSnap, and Stripe accepts credit card, ACH bank transfer, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.

What “Donation” Means on a DonorSnap Form
The trainer clarified terminology that trips up new users. In DonorSnap, “donation” simply means money coming in — it does not have to be a traditional charitable gift. Everything demonstrated in the session applies equally to membership forms, event registration forms, ticket sales, and sponsorship forms. A membership organization building a dues form or a theater selling play tickets would still choose the Donate Now template, then rename the form to match its purpose. The template name is only the starting point, not a constraint on what the form collects. This framing matters because it means organizations do not need a separate approach for each payment type; the same field-building and amount-linking techniques carry across all of them.

Working With the Compact Donate Now Template
The trainer showed the Compact Donate Now form and was direct about its trade-offs. The template name itself carries a warning that changes to the form might break it. Two things can be changed: the dollar amounts on the buttons and the button colors. The processing fee field is not compatible with this template, so donors cannot be given the option to cover credit card fees. Her guidance was straightforward — if the form works as designed, use it as designed, because it is attractive and quick to deploy. Organizations that need designation choices, tribute fields, or fee coverage should start with the standard template instead.

Setting the Amount Buttons Before You Build
Because a Compact Donate Now form locks in its amounts at the moment it is created, both setup steps have to happen first. The trainer demonstrated the order. First, go to Maintenance, Site Setup, Field and Screen Customization, then to page 2 of the Site Lookups, and find the Donation Button option. This controls how many amount boxes exist — the template ships with five, and options can be deleted or added there. Second, go to Online Forms, Payment Amount Drop-Down Link, locate the Donation Button entry, expand it, and edit each row to set the actual dollar values. Only after both steps are complete should the form be built. Changing these settings afterward affects the next form created, not the existing one, which does allow different forms to carry different amount sets.

Getting the Form Onto a Website
Once a form is created and appears in the Responsive Forms list, the Form Link button on the right side of the row provides both the HTML embed code and a direct link. The embed code is what gets sent to a web designer to place on the organization’s website. The direct link opens the live form at a forms.donorsnap.com address, which is how the trainer previewed her work throughout the session. Her recommended working method was to keep two browser tabs open — one with the form builder in DonorSnap and one with the live form — and refresh the live tab after each change.

Adjusting Sections, Layout, and Field Order
The standard template arrives with a heading and two sections, one for contact information and one for donation information. All of these are editable. The trainer deleted headings she did not want and noted that the two sections can be reversed entirely — she showed a sponsorship form where the payment section sits first and contact information follows. To change how fields stack, she used the gear icon at the far right of a section and set the Form Field Layout to multiple fields per line, which puts first name, last name, and email across one row instead of down the page. Individual fields are reordered by grabbing the small lines icon next to the gear and dragging.

Limiting Choices and Adding a Designation Field
The trainer trimmed the Donation Type dropdown from the full list of database options down to just Donation and Memorial, using the gear icon on the field, and made the field required. She then converted several fields to radio buttons for a cleaner look. To support tribute gifts, she dragged the comments field directly beneath Donation Type and relabeled it “Tribute Name” — noting that organizations with a dedicated tribute field in their database should scroll past the contact fields in the left-hand list to the alphabetized donation fields and use that instead. She also unhid the Campaign field, moved it up, limited its choices to the campaigns currently accepting gifts, and relabeled it “Choose Your Designation.”

Creating a Predefined Donation Amount Dropdown
This was the session’s central technique and, as the trainer noted. The standard template’s amount field only accepts typed numbers, which means a donor could enter two dollars. To offer preset choices instead, a new field has to be created. Go to Maintenance, Site Setup, Field and Screen Customization, then the User Defined Setup tab, confirm the Donation table is selected, and click Add New User Defined Field. The field must be a single-select dropdown and cannot be named “Donation Amount,” because that name already exists in the program — the recommended name is “Predefined Donation Amount.” Next, use the Lookups sub-tab on that same page to add the choices themselves, adding an “Other” option if donors should be able to enter a custom figure.

Linking the Dropdown Choices to Real Values
Creating the choices is only half the work; each choice has to be assigned a dollar value or the form will not charge anything. The trainer returned to Online Forms, Payment Amount Drop-Down Link, switched the field type at the top to User-Defined Field, selected Predefined Donation Amount, and edited each row — which all start at zero — entering the numeric value with no dollar sign or decimal needed. Back in the Form Builder, she dragged the new field into the form, relabeled it “Choose Your Amount,” made it required, and checked the Link to Amount box. That checkbox is essential; without it the selection carries no payment value. She warned that checking it causes the amounts to display twice in the choice list, which is expected and unavoidable. Switching to radio buttons produced a cleaner result than the dropdown.

Hidden Fields That Make Submissions Usable
The trainer stressed that a form has to be built for two audiences — the donor filling it out, and the database receiving it. She recommended reviewing every remaining field in the left-hand list and asking whether the donation needs it. The date matters, as does payment method, so that credit card gifts can be separated from checks in later reports. Organizations integrating with QuickBooks need the accounting code. She added the Processing Fee field and immediately used the gear icon to lower its default from 3% to the rate actually paid to Stripe, advising that the gear should be checked every single time a field is dragged in. She also set an appeal called Website, and explained that the Bill Me field lets a donor switch to paying by check at the last moment.

Settings: Header, Colors, Privacy Policy, and Confirmation Email
The heading at the very top of the standard template is one element not found in the Form Builder — it lives in the Settings tab, in the header section of the first page, and can be edited or deleted there. The trainer treated that as a useful prompt to handle the rest of the Settings work at the same time: uploading an image, changing form and section colors independently, and reviewing the privacy policy. Every form carries a privacy policy at the bottom beneath the Donate Now button, populated with standard language that organizations with their own policy should replace. Settings is also where the confirmation email is configured and where the submit button’s color and text are set — including the button colors for the Compact Donate Now template. She reminded viewers to click Save at the bottom of the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I give donors preset donation amounts instead of a blank amount box? Create a new user-defined field on the Donation table under Maintenance, Site Setup, Field and Screen Customization, User Defined Setup. Make it a single-select dropdown, add your amount choices on the Lookups mini-tab, then assign a dollar value to each choice under Online Forms, Payment Amount Drop-Down Link. Finally, drag the field into your form and check the Link to Amount box under the List Options field.

Why isn’t my dropdown amount charging the donor anything? The Link to Amount checkbox is most likely unchecked in the field’s gear settings in the List Options field. Without it, the dropdown choice is just text and carries no payment value. Confirm the values are also entered under Online Forms, Payment Amount Drop-Down Link — every row starts at zero and has to be edited individually before the form will charge correctly.

Why do my donation amounts appear twice in the dropdown, like “$50 ($50.00)”? That duplication is expected and cannot be turned off. It happens because the choice label and its linked payment value are both displayed once the field is linked to an amount.

Can I add the processing fee to the Compact Donate Now form? No. The Compact Donate Now template is not compatible with the processing fee field, so donors cannot be given the option to cover credit card fees on that form. Only the dollar amounts and button colors can be changed. If fee coverage matters to your organization, build the form from the standard Donate Now template instead.

Can I change the dollar amounts on a Compact Donate Now form after I build it? No. Those amounts are locked in when the form is created. Set the number of buttons under Maintenance, Site Setup, Field and Screen Customization on page 2 of the Site Lookups, then set the values under Online Forms, Payment Amount Drop-Down Link — both before building. Changes made afterward apply only to the next form you create.

Do I need a different template for membership dues or event tickets? No. In DonorSnap, “donation” simply means an incoming payment, so the Donate Now template works for membership forms, ticket sales, sponsorships, and event registrations. Choose the Donate Now template, then rename the form to match its purpose. The same field-building and amount-linking steps apply regardless of what the form is collecting.

How do I make form fields display side by side instead of one per line? Click the gear icon at the far right of the section, then change the Form Field Layout from one field per line to multiple fields per line. Fields such as first name, last name, and email will then run horizontally. Note that fields still wrap to the next line on narrower screens, which is browser width rather than a setting.

Where is the header at the top of my donation form? It’s in the Settings tab, not the Form Builder. Click Settings, scroll down on the first page to the header section, and edit or delete the text there.

Can donors choose to pay by check instead of by credit card? Yes. Drag the Bill Me field into your form from the left-hand field list. It gives a donor who has already filled out the form the option to mail a check rather than enter card details at the payment step. Consider whether you want that option before adding it, since it means the payment is not collected at submission.

Can I edit the privacy policy on my donation form? Yes. Every Responsive Form includes a privacy policy at the bottom, beneath the Donate Now button, prefilled with DonorSnap’s standard language. It can be replaced in the Settings tab if your organization has its own policy covering how donor information and email addresses are handled. Click Save at the bottom of the Settings page after editing.

What hidden fields should I include on a donation form? At minimum, the date and payment method, so credit card gifts can be separated from checks in later reports. Add the campaign and donation type, an appeal such as “Website” to record how the gift arrived, and the accounting code and class fields if you integrate with QuickBooks. Any field you use in manual donation entry should be included on your form so that your tracking data is complete.

How do I put the finished form on my website? Click the Form Link button to the right of the form in your Responsive Forms list. That screen contains the HTML embed code to send to your web designer, along with a direct link to the live form. The direct link is also useful for previewing changes in a second browser tab while you build.

Related Pages:

Donation Forms 101 Training Webinar
Form Totals in Responsive Forms Training Webinar
Stripe Payment Processing Integration
Recurring Donation Forms Training Webinar
Event Registration Forms Training Webinar
Getting Started 107: Forms