Configuring specific donation pages

Training course

Organizations can create donation pages for specific purposes, for example, a donation page that allows a donor to donate $12,000 in four quarterly installments. This article explains how you can configure the Donation Creator and Recurring Donation Creator to accept the following types of donations:

  • One-time gift
  • One-time installment
  • Recurring installment
  • Recurring monthly pledge
  • Recurring quarterly pledge
  • Recurring yearly pledge

Note: To have access to the Recurring Donation Creator content item, you must be licensed for AutoPay. Contact your AiSP or ASI for more information.

In This Article 

One-time gift

A donor comes to your website and wants to donate a one-time gift of $1,000. You can configure the Donation Creator content item with the following options:

  • Processing mode – Process donation immediately
  • Payment term options – None (single payment only)

One-time installment

A donor comes to your website and wants to donate $12,000 but wants to spread out the payments until the donation is completely paid. You can configure the Donation Creator with the following options:

  • Processing mode – Process donation immediately
  • Payment terms option – Fixed payment terms
    • Monthly – $1,000 would be paid at the time of the donation's submission, and the remaining balance will be split into 11 monthly installments.
    • Quarterly – $3,000 would be paid at the time of the donation's submission, and the remaining balance will be split into three quarterly installments.

With an AutoPay license:

  • The initial installment payment is captured when the donation is initially submitted (payment is sent to the credit card gateway for immediate capture).
    • For installment payments made with an ACH/direct debit, the initial invoice is created automatically. You must manually generate the subsequent installment invoices. Go to Fundraising > Automatic payments > Process payments, and select the Generate invoices tab. Enter a date corresponding to the same month as the initial payment in the Run Date field. Click Run to generate the remaining installment invoices. For more information, refer to Generating invoices.
  • The 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 initially submitted (payment is sent to the credit card gateway for immediate capture.
  • Your organization is then responsible for maintaining communication with your donors, reminding them to send their future installment payments. These remaining installment payments must then be processed by a staff member in your organization.

Recurring installment

A donor comes to your website and wants to donate $12,000 every year. You can configure the Recurring Donation Creator and Donation Creator with the following options:

  • Recurring Donation Creator:
    • Recurring gift frequency – Fixed annual frequency
  • Donation Creator:
    • Processing mode – Process donation immediately
    • Payment terms option – Fixed payment terms
      • Single - $12,000 as one payment
      • Monthly - $1,000 a month for 12 months
      • Quarterly - $3,000 a quarter for four quarters

        • The payment renews each year (with the same payment term) until the donor cancels.

        With an AutoPay license:

        • The initial installment payment is captured when the donation is initially submitted (payment is sent to the credit card gateway for immediate capture).
          • For installment payments made with an ACH/direct debit, the initial invoice is created automatically. You must manually generate the subsequent installment invoices. Go to Fundraising > Automatic payments > Process payments, and select the Generate invoices tab. Enter a date corresponding to the same month as the initial payment in the Run Date field. Click Run to generate the remaining installment invoices. For more information, refer to Generating invoices.
        • The 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 initially submitted (payment is sent to the credit card gateway for immediate capture.
        • Your organization is then responsible for maintaining communication with your donors, reminding them to send their future installment payments. These remaining installment payments must then be processed by a staff member in your organization.

Pros:

  • Invoices with the first payment are generated for the year and every year after that, so you only run the generate-invoices step once a year
  • The premium is based off the gift amount
  • Anticipated income is available
  • You have the option to show the donor all their upcoming installments

Cons:

  • If a member cancels, you might have up to 11 pledges to manually write off

Recurring monthly pledge

A donor comes to your website and wants to make a pledge donation for $1,000 every month. You can configure the Recurring Donation Creator and Donation Creator with the following options:

  • Recurring Donation Creator:
    • Recurring gift frequency – Allow user to specify frequency

      • The selected frequency will tell you how often you must generate invoices (in this case, monthly) until the donor cancels.

  • Donation Creator:
    • Payment term options – None (single payment only)

Recurring quarterly pledge

A donor comes to your website and wants to make a pledge donation for $3,000 every quarter. You can configure the Recurring Donation Creator and Donation Creator with the following options:

  • Recurring Donation Creator:
    • Recurring gift frequency – Allow user to specify frequency

      • The selected frequency will tell you how often you must generate invoices (in this case, quarterly) until the donor cancels.

  • Donation Creator:
    • Payment term options – None (single payment only)

Recurring annual pledge

A donor comes to your website and wants to make a pledge donation for $12,000 every year. You can configure the Recurring Donation Creator and Donation Creator with the following options:

  • Recurring Donation Creator:
    • Recurring gift frequency – Allow user to specify frequency

      • The selected frequency will tell you how often you must generate invoices (in this case, yearly) until the donor cancels.

  • Donation Creator:
    • Payment term options – None (single payment only)

Pros:

  • If a member cancels, at most, you have a single pledge to manually write off

Cons:

  • You must generate the invoices monthly
  • Anticipated income is not immediately reportable
  • The premium is based off the gift amount (the monthly, quarterly, or yearly amount)
  • Premium codes will be doubled – single gift code vs recurring gift code