4 Brilliant (and Useful) Donation Form Templates
by Kate WhiteSTART YOUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN: Put your donation form templates to good use by starting a fundraiser. Exceed your fundraising goals!
Fundraising through traditional mail is still an important way to receive donations. Although many supporters give via online channels, it’s still good to have a variety of giving channels.
Plus, traditional mail is more appropriate when asking for donations from major supporters or corporations.
When you send out donation request letters, your nonprofit should also include a donation form. That way, a supporter can fill out the form and submit it back to your nonprofit.
If your organization is looking for some direction on how to create a donation form, we’ve got you covered! In this article, we’ll cover four different types of online donation forms:
- Standard donation form
- Individual sponsorship form
- Charity auction donation form
- Volunteer time donation form
The four templates should function as an example of how you can create your donation forms. Feel free to tweak these templates to meet your organization’s specific needs.
1. Standard donation form
The standard donation form is the most general form we’ll go over. Your nonprofit can use it when requesting gifts from individual donors or corporations.
The template shown below includes all the basics of what you will need for your donation form.
Take a look at this example:
[At the top of the page include your nonprofit’s name, logo and a brief statement about your cause]
Personal Information
Donor name:
Address:
Phone number:
Email:
Gift Amount:
__$10
__$15
__$25
__$50
__$100
__Other:
or
__Monthly gift: [insert your recurring gift options here]
Payment Method
Please write your check or money order to [insert the name of your organization].
Enter in the following information if you’re using a credit card to make your donation.
Credit Card Number:
Expiration Date:
CVV (card verification value):
Card holder’s name:
Signature:
Thank you for your contribution.
As you can see, this donation form is short and to the point. The template includes all the necessary information. Your donation form may look different depending on your donation amounts or the types of payments you accept.
Let’s take a look at some of the main points that should be included in your donation form:
- Your nonprofit’s brand. Include your name and a few sentences about your cause on the donation form. The branding and background information on your organization reminds donors why they should give.
- Preset gift amounts. Instead of just having an empty donation amount for donors to fill out, give them preset amounts. Suggested donation amounts help speed up the donation process and often encourage donors to give more. Donors will think that everyone is using the buttons and infer that the suggested amounts are the right amounts to give. If you include donation amounts, have both high and low gifts so that every donor can choose the amount that works for them.
- A recurring gift option. If you accept recurring gifts, be sure to include it in your donation form. While donors who opt for recurring gifts tend to give smaller donations, over time, their donations add up to much more.
Use this template as a starting point for your donation forms. Your nonprofit can get creative and make this form unique to your needs.
2. Individual sponsorship donation form
The individual sponsorship donation form is very similar to the standard donation form, but it serves a different purpose.
Your nonprofit will use this donation form for fundraising events, like walkathons or peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, where a supporter is seeking donations from their friends and family.
Here’s an example of an individual sponsorship donation form:
[At the top of the page include your nonprofit’s name, logo, a brief statement of your cause, and information on the event]
My contribution is supporting [leave blank for the donor to insert the participant’s name] in the [insert the walkathon, marathon, or other event].
Donation amount:
__$5
__$15
__$25
__$50
__$100
__Other:
Donor Information
Donor name:
Address:
Email:
Phone Number:
Payment Method
Please write your check or money order to [insert your organization’s name here]
Enter the following information if you’re donating with a credit card.
Credit card number:
Expiration date:
CVV:
Card holder’s name:
Signature:
Thank you for your contribution.
The template is very similar to the standard donation form. It still includes the preset donation amounts and the donor’s payment information.
What sets this donation form apart is the fact that you need to collect two supporters’ information.
Depending on the event, the first section might be different. Your nonprofit might require additional information on the sponsor.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you create your sponsorship donation forms:
- Make sure there is a clear distinction between the participant’s and the donor’s information. That way, the donor can easily understand what information is required to complete the form. Plus, a clear form will save you time trying to get the right information if the form is filled out incorrectly.
- Keep the preset donation amounts but take out the option for recurring giving. A recurring gift option just doesn’t make sense for this type of form. A donor is giving to support a loved one in a single event.
- Include information about the event and your organization at the top. Since these donors are giving to your nonprofit based on recommendations, make sure they know what cause and organization they’re supporting.
When your nonprofit creates a form for sponsorship events, remember that it’s important to be clear and make sure the form isn’t complicated to fill out.
3. Charity auction donation form
If your nonprofit hosts auctions, then you know that the items up for bid are usually contributed by generous donors. An auction donation form helps your nonprofit keep track of the items you receive.
Your nonprofit can send out this donation form to individual supporters or to local companies that can supply you items for your auction.
Let’s take a look at the example.
[At the top of the page include your nonprofit’s name, logo, and a brief statement of your cause or description of the auction.]
Personal Information
Donor/business name:
Address:
Phone number:
Email:
The Gift(s) In-Kind.
Please list out the item(s) you donated and provide a brief description of each item.
Please provide an approximate retail value of the items you donated:
Thank you for your contribution.
When your nonprofit creates auction donation forms, here are a few things you should keep in mind:
- Let your supporters know what the donation is for. Give your supports some context about how their donations are going to be used. If donors know what impact their donation can make, they’ll be more motivated to give.
- Include a place to list out the gift(s) in-kind. You’ll need to know what items each donor gave to prepare proper receipts and thoughtful acknowledgments.
- Even though they aren’t making a monetary donation, you still need to collect your donors personal details. Information like their phone number and email are still crucial so that you can send donors a receipt. Also, you can use their content information to follow up and ask for donations in the future.
The charity auction form is a short and simple way to keep track of the items donated to your auction, so you can properly acknowledge and follow up in the future.
4. Volunteer time donation form
Some of your donors will want to give their time as a donation. With a volunteer donation form, your nonprofit can request volunteer time as well as gather additional information on your volunteers.
You can include this form along with a standard donation form to give your donors more ways to supporter your organization.
Here’s an example of a volunteer donation form:
Volunteer Donation Form [insert your organization’s name, a short statement about your mission, and a description of the volunteer position]
Contact Information
Name:
Address:
Phone Number:
Email:
Availability
How many hours would you like to volunteer a week?
__1 hour
__2-5 hours
__6-10 hours
__11-20 hours
What days are you available to volunteer?
__Monday
__Tuesday
__Wednesday
__Thursday
__Friday
__Saturday
__Sunday
Volunteer interests and skills.
Please check all the positions that interest you.
__Taking pictures of events
__Handing out fliers
__Setting up for events
__Other
Please list any previous volunteer work, hobbies, or other skills that you have that might be useful when volunteering with us.
Even though your volunteer form doesn’t require any payment information you still need to collect information on your supporter’s availability and contact information.
With the volunteer donation form, the most important information to collect is the supporter’s availability. While this form doesn’t require any payment information, you nonprofit still needs to get a good idea of the supporter’s volunteering plans and how they can be contacted.
Consider these three things when creating your volunteer donation form:
- Don’t just ask when a donor is available. It’s also important to know how many hours you can expect them to volunteer every week.
- Include a place where donors can talk about their skills or interests. Your nonprofit can assign volunteers a task that makes use of the skills they already have.
- Include a brief statement about your mission and an overview of the position. That way, volunteers get an idea of the kind of work they might be doing.
Even though volunteers aren’t donating money, it’s still important for them to fill out a form so that you know how they plan on volunteering. Once you know how much time they want to give and what positions they’re interested in, you can place your volunteers in the right position.
Hopefully, these donation form templates help you create better donation forms. That way, your nonprofit can reach your fundraising goals. If you need a few ideas for putting these donation forms to use, learn more with these great fundraising ideas.
8 Ways Mobile Fundraising And Crowdfunding Go Hand-In-Hand
by Kate WhiteGuest post compliments of @Pay.
The boombox. What a revolution, right? All of a sudden, music became portable in a way that it never had before and shareable in a whole new dimension.
We all remember the swell of emotions that flooded our hearts when John Cusack’s character lifted that iconic boombox above his head in Say Anything.
But the impact of that gesture might not have been as grand had he lifted, say, a tiny mp3 player over his shoulders.
Regardless, technology has marched on, and yesterday’s boomboxes (grand gestures and all) have given way to sleeker, more portable devices.
These new devices allow users not only to have access to everything their hearts could ever desire but also to be able to share that content with anyone at the speed of light.
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How can mobile fundraising revolutionize crowdfunding the way mp3’s changed the way we share music?
Below we have four of the top ways that mobile fundraising has changed crowdfunding for the better:
- By helping the on-the-go donor give
- By reaching out to a younger audience
- By meeting people where they give
- By giving the option to update whenever, wherever
And here are the four ways that crowdfunding has enhanced mobile fundraising:
- By extending the social networks of nonprofits
- By creating easy-to-understand visual incentives
- By making nonprofit videos more trendy and shareable
- By offering unique benefits to contributors
Read on to discover how to give your fundraising ideas a little boost with mobile.
#1. By helping the on-the-go donor give
In the few-and-far-between quiet moments we have to ourselves, most people fill their time by browsing the internet on their phones. If you look around, you’ll see 90% of people looking at their tiny screens:
- On the train, subway, or bus
- At lunch or dinner
- During meetings
- At any given grocery store, gas station, or doctor’s office
- Really anywhere you would have previously had downtime or alone time
It’s hard to argue that there would be a better use of that on-the-go browsing than donating to charity.
Why not make your crowdfunding campaign that much more accessible for the on-the-go giver?
When you’re planning your mobile crowdfunding campaign, make sure you keep in mind the keys for asking for donations of any kind.
And definitely make sure that your mobile donation page is as responsive on a phone as it is on a laptop. This means that:
- Your buttons should be larger.
- There should be less text and more pictures.
- Your crowdfunding videos should be short and to the point.
These points are by no means the only factors to consider. Mobile-responsive and mobile-friendly websites come in all shapes and sizes.
The one thing they have in common: they all work on-the-go.
Takeaway: Crowdfunding campaigns can reach significantly more donors by being mobile-friendly.
#2. By reaching out to a younger audience
We all know that millennials are practically glued to their phones. And the generation coming up underneath them will never have known a time without smartphones.
Don’t miss out on a key demographic because your crowdfunding campaign doesn’t have a shareable component.
Instead, give younger donors mobile-ready urls to share on their various social media platforms:
-
- Twitter. Remember to keep it short but sweet. Tweets are 140 characters or less.
- Facebook. Pictures and brief videos work best. Long posts are not shared as often.
- Instagram. Make sure you provide links to your crowdfunding page in your description.
- Tumblr. You can post longer, more in-depth content. Deeply engaging, thoughtful content gets picked up readily here.
Giving mobile donors the option to share their donation experience on social media not only leads to repeat donors; it also spreads the word about your campaign to more people.
According to studies done on Facebook post interactions, photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs on links than text-based posts.
Luckily, the top mobile fundraising platforms that host crowdfunding sites automatically give the option to include a picture, video, or other visual component to your campaign’s shareable link.
Takeaway: Strategize smarter by being platform-specific. Images are worth a thousand words on most websites today.
#3. By meeting people where they give
One of the most crucial pieces of information you need to gather about your donors is giving preference.
Some people, you’ll find, will prefer to use desktop computers or laptops to donate, some will still write checks and mail them in.
Increasingly, though, people are choosing to donate on their mobile phones. The more engaging, accessible, and mobile-responsive your crowdfunding campaign is, the more likely you are to reach your goal…and quickly!
It’s been shown that if a crowdfunding campaign reaches 30% of its goal within the first week, it’s far more likely to be successful in the end.
What faster way is there to connect than through instantaneous social media sharing, texting, and mobile-friendly emailing?
Within mobile fundraising, there are so many different giving avenues.
You can strengthen your crowdfunding campaign’s reach by incorporating:
- Text-to-give
- QR code promotions
- Email donation buttons
- Mobile-responsive donation pages
- And so much more!
When you diversify your approaches with mobile giving, you end up reaching people exactly where they are.
Takeaway: Incorporate all different types of mobile fundraising to help your crowdfunding campaign reach more donors where they are.
#4. By giving the option to update whenever, wherever
When planning to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign, you don’t want to go the full John Hughes right at the outset. You need to build to that point.
The best way to engage an audience without overwhelming them is to:
- Share carefully-timed mobile-ready emails
- Push periodic updates across several platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- Remember that people want to read personable stories
- Keep in mind that everyone likes to feel like they’re a part of something greater–and even better, something somewhat exclusive. Make your donors feel like they’re a part of the coolest club in town!
Mobile fundraising technology can now help your crowdfunding campaign reach donors wherever, whenever. You can update everyone in a matter of moments.
It’s one of the touchstone features of mobile giving campaigns and a huge reason why text-to-give initially took off. Mobile giving first became well-known during the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
As part of the fundraising effort following the devastating disaster, a text-to-give campaign was born.
Those wanting to help, no matter the time of day or how far from Haiti they were, could text a specific keyword to a defined number. Then, the donor’s cell phone bill would be charged $5 or $10, and the money from those charges went to help Haiti.
That “give from wherever, whenever” mentality is part of the DNA of mobile giving.
And now, your crowdfunding donors can also update from wherever and whenever they’d like.
If it’s 3 AM, and they’re on the train home, they can whip out their phone, view your crowdfunding page and instantly give $10 to your cause.
If it’s the middle of the day on a Monday, and they’re taking a break by the watercooler, they can take a moment to read about all the good work you’re doing. And they can give $25 on the spot!
Takeaway: With mobile fundraising, you can update all of your donors everywhere at a moment’s notice, and they can give back just as quickly.
Now that you’ve explored the different ways that mobile fundraising has improved crowdfunding, it’s time to look into the ways that crowdfunding has boosted mobile fundraising efforts.
In this section, we’ll take a peek at these 4 ways:
- By extending the social networks of nonprofits
- By creating easy-to-understand visual incentives
- By making nonprofit videos more trendy and shareable
- By offering unique benefits to contributors
Let’s get started!
#5. By extending the social networks of nonprofits
Crowdfunding, also sometimes known as peer-to-peer fundraising is an incredible tool for reaching out to larger networks of people.
Acquiring new donors is a major challenge common to all nonprofits, large and small. In fact, most nonprofits spend considerably more on acquiring donors than they do on retaining existing donors.
There’s one simple way to gain new followers, increase your donor pool, and make a greater impact: launch a mobile crowdfunding campaign.
Peer-to-peer fundraising involves leveraging your existing donor base to do a lot of the heavy lifting for your organization.
How does that work? Well, it’s actually really easy. Your nonprofit hands over the necessary tools to crowdfund; they solicit their social networks, families, and friends. Presto! You’ve just reached dozens more donors without putting in any extra effort.
Thanks to social media, what used to be door-to-door appeals made by your existing donors are now “share” buttons, “like” buttons, and “retweet” buttons.
It’s never been easier to get the word out and thereby increase your own social network.
#6. By creating easy-to-understand visual incentives
Crowdfunding thermometers are perhaps the most useful (and psychologically effective) means of raising money.
Thermometers are fantastic visual representations of:
- How much money you’ve already raised
- How much money you’re aiming to raise
- How much time is left in a campaign
- How many donors have contributed
- And more!
They’re psychologically effective, as we’ve said before, because they inherently entice people to donate.
Think about it. If you see that 15 people have already donated an average of $34 to a campaign, and the thermometer is a little less than halfway full, you’ll most likely feel the pull to donate and fill up that thermometer a little bit more.
How satisfying is it to see a concrete representation of your contribution?
That’s precisely how your mobile donors will feel when you incorporate a mobile-responsive thermometer into your crowdfunding page!
#7. By making nonprofit videos more trendy and shareable
When you’re planning your mobile crowdfunding campaign, it’s important to keep in mind that donors aren’t the only people you’re trying to reach. You also want to be sure that you keep potential volunteers in mind.
One fabulous way to reach both potential volunteers and potential donors engaged is through video.
Powerful videos don’t have to be long and involved. Actually, it’s better if they’re not. Short videos that get the point across in just a couple of minutes (or even 30 seconds, if you’re really creative) are the best.
Your mobile crowdfunding campaign has a much better chance of becoming viral (and therefore quickly funded) if you include a solid, shareable video along with your crowdfunding page.
Here are some traits that successful crowdfunding videos have in common:
- They’re under 3 minutes long.
- They load well on a mobile device.
- They’re well-shot and beautifully thought-out.
- They include actionable steps for the viewer to take.
- They have a central message that’s consistent with the nonprofit’s mission.
If your nonprofit adheres to these standards, you’re guaranteed to have a greater chance at a successful mobile crowdfunding campaign.
#8. By offering unique benefits to contributors
Whether you’re hosting a raffle or throwing a themed festival, you’re probably offering some kind of prize, right?
If raffles had no physical incentives, who would participate? If carnival games didn’t offer teddy bears, you can bet that fewer teens would spend their hard-earned summer job money on ring tosses.
It’s also common practice in a crowdfunding campaign to trade unique benefits commensurate with the level of each gift.
Say, for instance, that you’re raising money for your local animal shelter. If you’re using a mobile-responsive crowdfunding page, you can:
- Offer 1 hour of puppy playing time in exchange for a $25 donation.
- Trade personalized, handmade leashes in exchange for a $50 donation.
- Give away organic, gluten-free dog treats in exchange for a $75 donation.
- Make up your own incentives! Whatever works for your nonprofit!
The better the benefits, the more likely people will be to donate. Of course, not every benefit has to cost money for your organization (and shouldn’t). Get creative with the goods and services you offer, and you’re sure to see your donations spike!
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Thanks for tuning in and sticking with us through these 8 points. We hope you learned a thing or two about crowdfunding and/or mobile fundraising!
How has mobile fundraising improved your crowdfunding efforts? Have you noticed an increase in donations when you’ve made your donation pages socially shareable?
Likewise, have you incorporated crowdfunding into your mobile fundraising efforts? How has it worked for your nonprofit? We’d love to hear from you! Comment below to respond.