DONATE Campaigns
Run a fundraising campaign online
A donation page for your cause. Take gifts online and by text, with Gift Aid and monthly giving, then share it and track every donation.
Getting started
Campaigns live in your DONATE portal. A campaign is one appeal, such as a Christmas Appeal, with its own donation page, its own text code and its own totals. You can run as many campaigns as you like.
Your campaigns in one place
The Campaigns page lists every campaign with its status, code, donations, match funding and total raised.
Creating a campaign
A new campaign needs only a name. Everything else is set up on the next screen. New campaigns start not live, in Preview, so nobody can give until you publish.
Start with a name
Click New campaign, type a name of up to 64 characters and click Create campaign.
Settings save as you go
The Settings tab has a jump menu down the side, and every change saves itself a moment after you make it.
Your story and thank-yous
The Content section is what supporters read. Give the campaign a short summary, tell the story in the description, and write the thank-you donors see and receive.
Write your thank-you messages
Open Thank-you messages to set the words shown on screen after a donation and the thank-you sent by email.
Add up to three images
Add up to three landscape images to your donation page. The first one is the main image.
What you must fill in before going live
- A campaign name and a campaign summary of up to 200 characters.
- A web donation response, shown on screen after a donation, and an email thank-you message. DONATE fills both with standard wording if you leave them empty, so change them to your own.
How people can give
Every campaign takes donations on its web page and by text. Choose what you ask every donor, then set the amounts they are offered.
Gift Aid, monthly and text codes
Ask donors for Gift Aid and allow monthly donations, by text and on the web, and see the text codes for each amount.
Higher text amounts
Text amounts of £20, £30 and £40 are premium codes, unlocked for the campaign with a one-off £50 payment.
Amounts, target and totals
Set the amounts on your donation page, mark one as pre-selected, and add a fundraising target and any offline donations.
Request a custom code
Every campaign gets a code. Ask for your own of up to eight letters and numbers, and DONATE reviews it.
Match funding and more ways to raise
Below the web settings are the extras a campaign can gain: match funding from a sponsor, challenges run by your supporters, tap plaques, and the DONATE Collect app if your organisation uses it.
Add a match funding sponsor
Add a sponsor and their pledge. The pool, the amount allocated and what is still available show at the top.
Let supporters fundraise too
Challenges give supporters their own fundraising page under the campaign, and everything they raise counts towards its total.
Good to know
- Match funding matches donations pound for pound, oldest first, until the pledge is used up. Sponsors are used in the order you add them.
- DONATE does not collect or pay out match funding. Your sponsor pays it to you directly. It shows on your page and in your totals.
- Once a campaign has challenges, its donation page lists them and donors give through a challenge.
- Tap plaques and the DONATE Collect app raise into the campaign you point them at, so their donations count towards its total. Donations taken on the Collect app cost 2.95 per cent plus 22p for charities, and 5 per cent plus 22p for organisations that are not charities.
Try it in Preview
A campaign that has never been published is in Preview. Its page works on a preview link, so you can give a test donation from start to finish before anyone can pay.
Your preview link
Until you go live, the campaign code card shows a preview link and the QR code warns you not to print it yet.
Your page in Preview
The preview link opens your real donation page, with your images, story, target and amounts.
Give a test donation
In Preview the payment step takes no money. The screen calls it Rehearsal mode. Tap Continue as if paid to see the rest of the journey.
What Preview does and does not do
- No payment is taken and no donation is recorded. The payment step says the page is not published yet, and the screen calls it Rehearsal mode.
- No thank-you email is sent in Preview.
- Before you first go live, texts to your code are free tests. The reply comes back, but nobody is charged.
- The short address easydonate.org followed by your code only works once you go live. Until then, use the preview link.
- Preview ends for good the first time the campaign goes live.
Going live and sharing
When the page is ready, switch Live on. Your organisation must be approved by DONATE first, and the campaign needs a name, a summary and both thank-you messages.
Switch Live on
Switching Live on asks you to confirm the text code format, the legal statement and a DONATE logo on your promotion.
Share your link and QR
Copy your campaign link or download its QR code for emails, posters and social media.
What your posters must show
Promotion requirements gives you the DONATE logos, the legal statement and the purpose line to copy onto your materials.
What donors see
Donors give on their phone or computer by Apple Pay, Google Pay, card or PayPal, or by text. The page works on any phone, with no app to install.
Your donation page
Donors see your images, story and target, with a progress bar that counts donations, Gift Aid, offline donations and match funding.
Choose an amount
Donors pick an amount or Other, enter their email and name, and accept the terms. Match funding shows what their gift is worth.
The monthly ask
If monthly donations are switched on, donors are asked whether to make their gift monthly, and can cancel any time.
Gift Aid in one tap
UK taxpayers can add Gift Aid, which adds 25 per cent to their donation at no cost to them.
Your thank-you on screen
After paying, donors see their donation and your web donation response, and your email thank-you is sent to them. No thank-you email is sent in Preview.
Messages from donors
Donors can leave a message after giving. With Display donor comments on, messages show on your page with the amount given.
While your campaign runs
A live campaign opens on its Donations tab. It shows every donation to the campaign, and the Donations page shows donations across all your campaigns.
Every donation, as it arrives
The Donations tab charts web and text donations by month and lists each one with its Gift Aid, match funding and channel.
Download your donations report
The Donations page filters by campaign, donor and date, shows each donation's fee and net amount, and downloads a report. The report holds only the donations already loaded in the list, so scroll to the end of the list first.
Changing and stopping a campaign
- You can edit a live campaign at any time. Changes save by themselves.
- Switching Live off closes the campaign. Its web page stops taking donations. Texts to its code are still charged, so take down any posters. Any tap plaques pointing at it pause until it is live again.
- Three totals: your donation page's total counts donations, Gift Aid, match funding and offline donations. The Campaigns list and the Donations tab Total count donations, Gift Aid and match funding. The campaign header shows donations only.
- Delete this campaign, at the bottom of Settings, archives it and removes it from your public pages. A campaign with donations cannot be deleted.
Payouts and Gift Aid
DONATE collects your donations and claims the Gift Aid, then pays you with your other income through your usual payouts.
When you get paid
The Payouts page shows each period still to be paid with its due date. Once a payout is made, its charges, usage fee and net payout fill in, with a statement to download.
How payouts work
- Donations are paid out in periods. A period is due about three months after it ends.
- A period is paid once its total reaches £100.
- Each payout shows the amount raised, the charges, and the net payout, with a statement to view or download.
- Two charges come off each payout, a weekly usage fee and a transfer charge. See Fees for the amounts.
Fees
There is no set-up fee. DONATE takes a fee from each donation, and shows the fee and the net amount on every donation in your portal. Each payout also carries a usage fee and a transfer charge.
An optional tip for DONATE
Donors can add a tip for DONATE or choose No thanks. When the tip covers the fee, no fee is taken from the donation. Only a few pence of VAT and your payout charges still apply.
Charges on each payout
- Charges on each payout: a usage fee of £3 for each week (Monday to Sunday) in which your organisation receives £10 or more, and a transfer charge of 0.5 per cent of the payout (at least £3) plus £7.50. Organisations without charity rates pay 1.5 per cent plus £7.50.
Fees for charities
- Without Gift Aid: 4.5 per cent of the donation plus 22p.
- With Gift Aid: 40 per cent of the Gift Aid plus 22p, and no percentage is taken from the donation itself.
- A small VAT amount on the fee is also deducted. Every donation in your portal shows its effective fee and the net amount to you.
- Organisations that are not charities pay 5 per cent plus 22p. Gift Aid is only claimed for charities.
- Donations taken on the DONATE Collect app cost 2.95 per cent plus 22p for charities.
Tips, text giving and extras
- Donors are offered an optional tip for DONATE. When the tip covers the fee, no fee is taken from the donation. Only a few pence of VAT and your payout charges still apply.
- Text donors pay their donation plus their standard network rate.
- Premium text codes for £20, £30 and £40 are a one-off £50 per campaign. A lease cost may apply to a custom code.
Settings reference
Settings, Campaign code
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign code | Your text code and the end of your short address, easydonate.org/CODE. The short address works once the campaign has gone live. | Given automatically |
| Request a custom code | Up to eight letters and numbers. Checked for availability, then reviewed by DONATE. A lease cost may apply. |
Settings, Content
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign name | Shown on your page and in the portal. Up to 64 characters. | Required |
| Your reference code | Your own reference, for your records. | Empty |
| Campaign summary | A short line about the campaign. Up to 200 characters. Needed to go live. | Required |
| Campaign description | Your story, with headings, lists and links. | Empty |
| Web donation response | Shown on screen after a donation. Up to 750 characters. Needed to go live. | DONATE's standard wording |
| Email thank-you message | Sent to donors by email. Needed to go live. | DONATE's standard wording |
Settings, What you ask every donor
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Ask donors for Gift Aid | Donors are asked to add Gift Aid, by text and on the web. | On |
| Allow monthly donations | Donors are asked whether to give monthly. Off removes the question. | On |
Settings, Text giving
| Setting | What it does | Default | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1 | £3 | £5 and £10 codes | Text your code to 70201 (£1), 70331 (£3), 70970 (£5) or 70191 (£10). | On for every campaign |
| Premium codes | £20, £30 and £40 text codes, unlocked with a one-off £50 payment. | Locked |
Settings, Web giving
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Preset donation amounts | One-tap buttons on your page, shown smallest first. Other is always included. | £5, £10, £15, £25, £50 |
| Pre-selected | The amount selected when the form opens. | £10 once your first change saves. Until then your page pre-selects £15. |
| Fundraising target (£) | Shows a progress bar towards the target on your page. | None |
| Offline donations to add to stats (£) | Adds money raised offline, such as collection tins, to your page's total. DONATE pays nothing out for it and charges no fee. | 0 |
| Display donor comments | Shows donors' messages, with the amount given, on your page. | On |
| Display as fully funded | Hides the donation form on your page. Text donations still work. | Off |
| Stop taking donations at target | Saved with the campaign. The donation page does not act on it yet. | Off |
| Display donation stats on public page | Saved with the campaign. The donation page does not act on it yet. | On |
Settings, Match funding (per sponsor)
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor name | Who pledged the pot. | Required |
| Pledged amount (£) | The most that will be matched. Donations are matched pound for pound, oldest first. Your sponsor pays you directly: DONATE does not collect or pay it. | Required |
| Comment | A note for your own records. | Empty |
Settings, Campaign images
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Images | Up to three landscape 3:2 images, at least 750 by 500 pixels, JPG, PNG or GIF, 10MB each. The first is the main image. | None |
Questions
- How is a campaign different from a Team challenge?
- A campaign is one donation page for your cause, where anyone can give. A Team challenge sits under a campaign: supporters fundraise as a team, each with their own dedicated donation page, and what they raise counts towards the campaign.
- How do I set up an online fundraising campaign for my charity?
- In the DONATE portal, click Campaigns, then New campaign, and give it a name. Add a summary, your story, images and thank-you messages, try it on the preview link, then switch Live on.
- How much does DONATE charge on a campaign donation?
- For a charity, 4.5 per cent plus 22p on a donation without Gift Aid. With Gift Aid, it is 40 per cent of the Gift Aid plus 22p, with no percentage taken from the donation itself. A small VAT amount on the fee is also deducted. Organisations that are not charities pay 5 per cent plus 22p. There is no set-up fee. Charges on each payout: a usage fee of £3 for each week (Monday to Sunday) in which your organisation receives £10 or more, and a transfer charge of 0.5 per cent of the payout (at least £3) plus £7.50. Organisations without charity rates pay 1.5 per cent plus £7.50.
- Can I test my donation page before it goes live?
- Yes. A campaign that has never been published works on a preview link. You can go through a whole donation, but no payment is taken and nothing is recorded. Texts to your code are free tests until you first go live.
- Why does easydonate.org and my code say the campaign cannot be found?
- The short address only works once the campaign has gone live. Until then, use the preview link shown on the campaign code card.
- Who claims the Gift Aid on donations?
- DONATE claims it and pays it to you with your payout. Do not claim Gift Aid on these payments yourself as well.
- Can people donate to my campaign by text message?
- Yes. Every campaign has a text code. Supporters text it to 70201 for £1, 70331 for £3, 70970 for £5 or 70191 for £10. They are charged the donation plus their standard network rate.
- How do I take text donations of £20 or more?
- Unlock the premium codes on the campaign's Text giving section with a one-off £50 payment. Supporters can then text £20, £30 or £40.
- Can donors give monthly?
- Yes. Switch on Allow monthly donations and every donor is asked whether to make their gift monthly. They can cancel any time.
- How do I get a memorable code for my campaign?
- On the campaign code card, click Request a custom code, type up to eight letters and numbers, click Check, then Request this code. DONATE reviews it, and a lease cost may apply.
- How does match funding work?
- Add a sponsor and their pledge under Match funding. Donations are matched pound for pound, oldest first, until the pledge is used up, and donors see what their gift is worth before they pay. DONATE does not collect or pay out match funding. Your sponsor pays it to you directly.
- How do I add cash from a collection to my campaign total?
- Type the amount in Offline donations to add to stats, under Web giving. It is added to the total on your donation page.
- What must I put on posters and flyers for my campaign?
- A DONATE logo and the legal statement, both in Promotion requirements on the campaign. If the campaign is for something specific, add the purpose line too. If you show text codes, use the format given when you go live.
- When will I receive the money raised?
- Donations are paid out in periods, each due about three months after it ends, once the period's total reaches £100. A usage fee and a transfer charge come off each payout (see Fees). The Payouts page shows what is due and when.
- How do I download a list of donations?
- Click Donations in the portal menu, choose the campaign and dates, click Go, scroll to the end of the list, then click Report. The report holds only the donations already loaded in the list, 50 at a time. It includes Gift Aid, the fee and the net amount for each donation.
- Can I stop a campaign or delete it?
- Switch Live off to close it. Its web page stops taking donations. Texts to its code are still charged, so take down any posters. Delete this campaign archives it and removes it from your public pages, but a campaign that has taken donations cannot be deleted.
- Can supporters fundraise for my campaign themselves?
- Yes. Add challenges to the campaign, or let supporters suggest their own for you to approve. Each challenger gets a page, and everything they raise counts towards the campaign total.
- Does "Stop taking donations at target" close my page when I reach the target?
- Not yet. The setting is saved, but the donation page keeps taking donations. Display as fully funded hides the donation form on your page. Text donations still work.