The Optimized Donation Form Is Now Available to United States Customers
Published
The new Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT® optimized donation form is streamlined and efficient, designed for higher conversion, making it easier for you to raise more funds while delighting your donors. See the forms in action here.
Blackbaud Donation Forms now offer you the choice between two different donation form experiences for your donors: the customizable standard form and the new optimized form that provides an effortless experience for your online donors.
Powered by Blackbaud Merchant Services™, the optimized form empowers you to raise more and save more while sustaining and growing your mission. After an early adopter program (EAP), we gradually rolled out this form to an expanded early adopter group in late 2023 into 2024. We were excited to witness success, including increased donor conversion rates and average gift amounts, compared to 2022 campaigns utilizing the standard donation form. One early adopter, Washington's National Park Fund, used the Online Giving donation form for its fiscal year-end fundraising campaign and saw a 28% increase in donor conversion based on first interactions.
As of February 14, 2024, this new form is generally available to all Raiser’s Edge NXT customers in the United States, with global availability expected later this year.
The optimized donation form:
Are standard donation forms still available?
The standard donation form will continue to be available as our more customizable form option. These forms are ideal for campaigns when you want to capture additional donor information and/or individualize the giving experience.
Is there an additional cost to use optimized donation forms?
There is no additional charge to utilize the optimized donation form. It is built into your Raiser’s Edge NXT® subscription.
When will additional features be added to the optimized donation form?
This is the first version of the optimized form and is intended to offer a simplified donor experience. We will be releasing additional features throughout the year. The order in which these features are released is subject to change as we continue to gather feedback from you.
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Next-up features include:
When should I use the optimized donation form versus the standard donation form?
The answer to this is unique to every organization; but so far, we’ve observed customers using the optimized form as their primary “Donate” button form, especially where new donors typically visit. By eliminating the friction points of donation forms – such as additional personal information or questions/custom fields – this form makes it easy for new donors to navigate quickly. Additionally, we are seeing customers currently using or planning to assess the optimized donation form for targeted campaigns.
I don’t have a Blackbaud Merchant Services account setup. What do I do?
As the new optimized forms require Blackbaud Merchant Services, we've made it easy to get started. After accessing Online Giving, you can begin the Blackbaud Merchant Services signup process using the link provided on the welcome page (admin role required.) See this Knowledgebase article for more information.
How can I learn more about standard and optimized donation forms?
We have developed many tools to help you learn about standard and optimized donation forms.
Blackbaud University
Online Giving: Optimized Donation Forms | Instructor-Led eLearning
Creating an Optimized Form in Online Giving | On-Demand eLearning
Creating Branding Cards for Optimized Forms| On-Demand eLearning
Small group workshops
Optimized Form Workshop (Monday and Wednesday at 1 pm EST)
Product documentation
Online Giving Help Center
Optimized Form Tutorial
Webinars – Future Sessions
Increase Online Fundraising Using Optimized Forms - Wednesday, February 28, at 2 pm EST
Webinars – Past Recordings
Donation Forms Webinar: Optimize This, Baby! Let's Deep Dive Together into Blackbaud's Newest Form
The Anatomy of a High-Converting Nonprofit Donation Form
Creating a Frictionless Online Donation Form: Part 1 and Part 2
We are thrilled to release this new donation tool to our customers! We hope that you give it a try and share your experience with us via the Raiser's Edge NXT Community discussions and ideas bank.
Powered by Blackbaud Merchant Services™, the optimized form empowers you to raise more and save more while sustaining and growing your mission. After an early adopter program (EAP), we gradually rolled out this form to an expanded early adopter group in late 2023 into 2024. We were excited to witness success, including increased donor conversion rates and average gift amounts, compared to 2022 campaigns utilizing the standard donation form. One early adopter, Washington's National Park Fund, used the Online Giving donation form for its fiscal year-end fundraising campaign and saw a 28% increase in donor conversion based on first interactions.
As of February 14, 2024, this new form is generally available to all Raiser’s Edge NXT customers in the United States, with global availability expected later this year.
The optimized donation form:
- Utilizes industry best practices in design and modal interface to float over the top of any webpage on your website
- Takes payments directly within the form
- Draws donor’s attention to your brand and messaging with its visually dynamic branding card. Focuses on collecting the payment first, then additional information afterwards
- Reduces or eliminates processing fees
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| Optimized Form Over Website for Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore |
Are standard donation forms still available?
The standard donation form will continue to be available as our more customizable form option. These forms are ideal for campaigns when you want to capture additional donor information and/or individualize the giving experience.
Is there an additional cost to use optimized donation forms?
There is no additional charge to utilize the optimized donation form. It is built into your Raiser’s Edge NXT® subscription.
When will additional features be added to the optimized donation form?
This is the first version of the optimized form and is intended to offer a simplified donor experience. We will be releasing additional features throughout the year. The order in which these features are released is subject to change as we continue to gather feedback from you.
.
Next-up features include:
- PayPal payment method (GooglePay and ApplePay are already supported)
- Comments text entry box
- Ability to set default ask amount
- Tributes
- Fund selector
When should I use the optimized donation form versus the standard donation form?
The answer to this is unique to every organization; but so far, we’ve observed customers using the optimized form as their primary “Donate” button form, especially where new donors typically visit. By eliminating the friction points of donation forms – such as additional personal information or questions/custom fields – this form makes it easy for new donors to navigate quickly. Additionally, we are seeing customers currently using or planning to assess the optimized donation form for targeted campaigns.
 |
| Optimized Form for Seed Savers Exchange |
I don’t have a Blackbaud Merchant Services account setup. What do I do?
As the new optimized forms require Blackbaud Merchant Services, we've made it easy to get started. After accessing Online Giving, you can begin the Blackbaud Merchant Services signup process using the link provided on the welcome page (admin role required.) See this Knowledgebase article for more information.
How can I learn more about standard and optimized donation forms?
We have developed many tools to help you learn about standard and optimized donation forms.
Blackbaud University
Online Giving: Optimized Donation Forms | Instructor-Led eLearning
Creating an Optimized Form in Online Giving | On-Demand eLearning
Creating Branding Cards for Optimized Forms| On-Demand eLearning
Small group workshops
Optimized Form Workshop (Monday and Wednesday at 1 pm EST)
Product documentation
Online Giving Help Center
Optimized Form Tutorial
Webinars – Future Sessions
Increase Online Fundraising Using Optimized Forms - Wednesday, February 28, at 2 pm EST
Webinars – Past Recordings
Donation Forms Webinar: Optimize This, Baby! Let's Deep Dive Together into Blackbaud's Newest Form
The Anatomy of a High-Converting Nonprofit Donation Form
Creating a Frictionless Online Donation Form: Part 1 and Part 2
We are thrilled to release this new donation tool to our customers! We hope that you give it a try and share your experience with us via the Raiser's Edge NXT Community discussions and ideas bank.
News
Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT® Blog
02/14/2024 10:21am EST
Leave a Comment
I’m guessing this feature WON’T be available for Blackbaud’s lesser loved product - eTapestry?
We won't be releasing to eTapestry this year, but it is on our minds….we hope to have a plan for bringing these forms to eTapestry in the future.
Is it possible to give more of an indication of when these forms might be available for UK customers? ‘Expected later this year’ is pretty broad. We are building a new website, and I'm trying to ascertain whether I should just go with a different online giving platform entirely, as the standard forms are too basic and rigid. Thanks!
We'll have an update on international timelines at our April Product Update Brief. Stay tuned!