Optimized Form vs Standard Donation Form

Alex Wong
Alex Wong Community All-Star
Ninth Anniversary Kudos 5 Facilitator 3 Raiser's Edge NXT Fall 2025 Product Update Briefing Badge
in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussions

Hi all,

We are exploring using RE NXT Donation Forms and want some real world experience on which one was used by your org and why. If someone has a comparison that can be shared, that will be great.

Thanks in advanced

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Answers

  • Elizabeth Johnson
    Elizabeth Johnson Community All-Star
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 5 First Reply All-Star Challenge: End of Year Fundraising Toolkit

    Hi Alex,

    We used the standard donation form when we need more options for suggested amounts. I've stripped back a lot of what we used to ask for in our standard forms to mirror what the optimized forms do - give people fewer options to not complete the form.

    I love the appearance of the optimized forms and am working on my team to not need so many suggested amounts so we can use it more.

    As a donor - the optimized form is my preference. It pulls at my heartstrings.

    I really do use both though - it doesn't have to be an either or situation.

  • Lacey Kruger
    Lacey Kruger Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 2 Name Dropper Participant

    Hi Alex. As you've probably heard, Optimized Forms have higher conversion rates than Standard Forms. We recommend using them for your high-volume donation forms, specifically the main DONATE button on your website and any major campaigns. Standard forms allow for greater customization and are perfect for Tribute forms (however, you can use Optimized for Tributes too now), Pledge forms and any forms where it may be helpful to show some impact content alongside the form. No real-world application from me, but just some general guidance that has been helpful for other customers. Thanks for your post!

  • Ben Regier
    Ben Regier
    Sixth Anniversary Kudos 5 Name Dropper Participant

    I really like how Optimized forms look and work, but when you embed them on your website it may have PCI implications for your org, depending on your current PCI compliance level. (If you are PCI A, using embedded donation forms could move you to PCI A-EP)

    Most notably, if you embed an Optimized form on your site, you may need to have a process that documents all scripts running on your site and monitors them for changes. There may be other requirements as well depending on your situation.

    Disclaimer: I'm not an expert in PCI by any means so please confirm this for yourself, but this is the conclusion I've come to based on what I've found in the Blackbaud Compliance Center, which says that in order to use embedded forms you will need to be compliant with 6.4.3, 11.6.1 and 12.10.5.

  • Austen Brown
    Austen Brown Community All-Star
    Ninth Anniversary Kudos 5 PowerUp Challenge: Product Update Briefing Feedback Task 3 bbcon 2025 Attendee Badge

    I recommend using Standard Forms for instances where you're likely to get new donors, and Optimized where you already know the donors giving. That way you can collect all contact info needed for the folks you don't know, and make donations easier for the folks you do.

    Example -

    • Standard Form - Your general donation form on your website.
    • Optimized Form - Use for a specific event to collect night-of donations

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