The last thing you need as an NGO/NPO is not being able to receive or process the funds you labored for with multiple fundraising events and campaigns. Also, digital-first nonprofits are growing faster than traditional offline NGOs with online donors being 48% more valuable than offline donors.

While there are various platforms for collecting donations, most donors don’t trust them and will only use payment platforms they recognize like Donorbox. Let’s look at how to make your donor forms more trustworthy for your online donors with Zapier (no new forms required).

Understanding Formplus Donor Forms

Formplus helps you build user-friendly forms that users actually want to fill out. With an analytics and response dashboard, you can easily gain insights into user needs and solve their problems. You can create various form types, including surveys, registration forms, order forms, and donor forms.

Why Charities and NGOs Love Formplus Donor Forms

Here’s how Formplus Donor forms make your donation collection process smoother:

Build User and Mobile-Friendly Forms

Instead of looking for question types and options while building your form and making your form creation unnecessarily long, Formplus has a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to create engaging forms without breaking a sweat. 

Over 62% of global website traffic is from mobile phones, you would be missing out on a lot of online donations if your form is not mobile-responsive. Our forms are mobile-responsive, so your donors can fill out the form on any of their devices. 

We understand that you may need to collect more data to be compliant with relevant laws, but almost 70% of people drop off if they encounter unnecessarily long processes. So, improve donors’ experience by dividing your form questions into sections across multiple pages so they don’t get overwhelmed.

Your Form, Your Way

You can edit your form’s look and feel by changing themes, colors, and fonts, or by adding your organization’s logo. You can also use different question types such as multiple choice, rating scales, and open-ended questions to collect the data you need.

No Interruptions

Another major reason people abandon forms is poor internet connection but you don’t have to worry about that when you have offline data collection with Formplus. Donors can still fill out your donation forms without an internet connection and once their connection is back up, their responses automatically sync and you receive them.

Your Form Is Secure

Formplus prioritizes data security with SSL encryption and GDPR compliance. Your form data is securely stored, protecting donors’ sensitive information. You can also add CAPTCHA to avoid spam and ensure quality submissions.  

For closed donations, you can make your forms private so only the people you shared them with can access them. 

Personalize the Experience

71% of people expect data collection processes to be personalized and get frustrated when they are not. You would be failing many donors’ expectations if you’re using a general template that is not tailored to them. Use conditional logic to tailor donors’ experience based on their preferences- you can hide or show fields based on their previous answers so they only see questions that are relevant to them.

The prefill form feature also takes away the stress from respondents having to fill out the fields manually; it suggests answers based on previous responses.

Smooth Workflow

You can securely integrate your donor form using the Formplus Zapier integration to connect third-party applications, including payment gateways like Donorbox.

Get Insights that Matters

The responses and analytics dashboard can also help you collect detailed analytics and reports to track form submissions and gain insights into collected data. For example, you can figure out the geographic region with the highest donors and double up your campaign efforts in that region.

Introduction to Donorbox

Donorbox is a fundraising platform that allows nonprofit organizations to easily collect and manage donations. 

Key Features and Benefits for Nonprofits

Here’s what makes Donorbox a good choice:

• Recurring Donations: Donors can make recurring donations through Donorbox by choosing their preferred donation cycle, yearly, monthly, weekly, or one-off.
• Multiple Payment Options: Donorbox enables donations through various payment systems which include credit/debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay as well as local bank transfers (including ACH and SEPA) to accept donations from anyone regardless of their location. You can also collect donations with text messages.
• Donor Management: You can build stronger donor relationships through Donorbox by sending follow-up emails for donor engagement and reactivation. You can also check donation activity and create reports to track your fundraising target achievements.
• Peer-2-Peer Fundraising: Your nonprofit supporters can build fundraising pages through the Donorbox Peer-to-Peer feature to extend your fundraising efforts.
• Lower Fees: Donorbox fundraising fees are significantly lower than what other popular donation platforms charge. 
• Integration: Donorbox perfectly connects to Mailchimp, Salesforce, Zapier, and other CRM and productivity tools to deliver an efficient donation management system. 

Importance of Efficient Donation Processing for Donor Retention and Engagement

Why should you care about donation tools:

• Positive Donor Experience: People are more likely to trust you with their money when they have a positive impression of you. Donors are giving you their money willingly, the last thing they need is a roadblock, they might as well pocket their money and have a good day if the process is stressful.
• Increased Donor Satisfaction: You’re more likely to get frequent donations from return donors than new ones, so creating a smooth workflow increases donor satisfaction with your organization, making them more willing to the loyal to you and recommend your charity’s fundraising to their friends and family.
• Enhanced Communication: Using Forms with automated thank-you emails and donation confirmations reinforces donors’ trust in your process and strengthens the relationship. You need a tool that allows you to quickly follow up and acknowledge donations to keep donors engaged and appreciated.
• Data Accuracy and Management: Using a donation management tool also helps you track the success of your fundraising efforts, where you are getting the most donations which can help accurately measure your growth and strategize for better results. It also helps you stay compliant with relevant regulations and makes your auditing process easier because you can track the donations.

How to Integrate Donorbox to Your Donor Forms

Here’s a step-by-step guide to connecting your donor form to Donorbox:

Create Donor Form

• Go to the Donation Form Template and click Use Template
• Sign up with Formplus or log in if you already have an account.
• Edit the form questions to fit your donation requirements
• Customize the form design by changing its color, font, background image, etc. You can skip this process; it’s completely optional.

Connect Donorbox

• Go to settings and click integrations. Search for Donorbox
• Click on Connect and log in to your Donorbox account.
• Authorize Zapier to access your Donorbox account

Configure the API Integration

After connecting your donor form, the next step is to create zaps- actions and triggers to activate your Zapier workflow. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Trigger (Donorbox):

• App: Donorbox
• Trigger Event: New Donation
• Purpose: This triggers the Zap when a successful donation is made through the embedded Donorbox form.

2. Action:

• App: Formplus
• Action Event: Edit Submission or Update Submission
• Purpose: This action links the Donorbox payment to the original Formplus submission.
• Configuration:
  • How to connect the two:
    • Hidden Field: Add a hidden field to your Formplus form.
    • Unique ID: When the form is loaded, generate a Unique ID, and place it in the hidden field.
    • Donorbox Metadata: Donorbox can pass metadata with the payment confirmation. You’ll need to configure Donorbox to pass the unique ID as metadata.
    • Zapier mapping: In the Zapier Formplus action, use the unique ID from the Donorbox metadata to find and update the correct Formplus submission.
  • Updating Fields: You can update fields in the Formplus submission to indicate that payment was successful, add the Donorbox transaction ID, or other relevant information

Troubleshooting Common Issues

• API Key Issues: Ensure that your API keys for both Formplus and Donorbox are valid and correctly entered in Zapier.
• Field Mapping Errors: Double-check the field mapping to ensure that data is being transferred to the correct fields.
• Data Formatting Issues: If data is not appearing correctly in Donorbox, check for data formatting issues.
• Zap Errors: Zapier provides error logs that can help you identify and resolve issues.
• Test Thoroughly: Before relying on the Zap for live data, test it thoroughly with different scenarios.
• Zapier’s Support: Zapier has excellent documentation and support resources that can help you troubleshoot issues.
• Check App Permissions: Make sure that Zapier has the correct permissions to access data from both Formplus and Donorbox.
• Version Updates: If either Formplus, Donorbox, or Zapier updates their platforms, it is a good idea to check that your zaps are still functioning correctly.

Advanced Integration Features

• Filters: Zapier’s filters allow you to control which data is transferred. For example, you can filter donations based on amount, payment method, or other criteria.
• Formatters: Formatters allow you to manipulate data before it’s sent to Donorbox. You can format dates, numbers, text, and more.
• Paths: Paths allow you to create branching logic within your Zaps. For example, you can send different confirmation emails based on the donation amount.
• Delays: Delays allow you to introduce pauses in your Zaps. For example, you can delay sending a thank-you email for a few hours after a donation is received.

Best Practices for Donation Management

Here are some tips to help you create effective donation forms:

• Keep your forms simple with a touch of personalization to make donors enjoy completing your form. You should also make it mobile-friendly so donors can fill out the forms with any of their devices.
• You should also make your form design engaging but not overwhelming, and add a clear call to action such as “donate now, pay here, make a donation, etc” to ensure potential donors convert.
• Adding multiple payment options and recurring donation options helps you retain donors and ensure they are not stranded by payment limitations.

Strategies for Maintaining Donor Relationships Post-Donation

• Prompt Thank-You Acknowledgements: Send personalized thank-you emails or messages immediately after a donation to express genuine gratitude for their support.
• Regular Communication: Send newsletters or updates about your organization’s work and impact. You can include stories of how their donations are making a difference with statistics to show your progress over the years.
• Personalized Engagement: Segment your donor list and send targeted communications based on their interests and donation history. You could even gamify the process by adding badges and leadership boards. 
• Provide Impact Reports: Share regular reports on how donations are being used and the impact they are having. You should also invite donors to events, volunteer opportunities, and other engagement activities.
• Seek Feedback: Solicit feedback from donors to understand their experiences and identify areas for improvement.

Final Thoughts

Integrating your Donor form with Donorbox via Zapier streamlines your workflow. It allows you to securely collect donations with a payment platform accessible globally and widely recognized with low fees. Formplus Zapier integration and donation form template are the perfect combination you need to collect donations seamlessly.

Sign up with Formplus to connect your donation form to Donorbox.