Ask custom questions on donation payment forms

By default, Give Lively-powered payment forms gather just enough essential information from donors for the quick, legal and secure processing of payments. However, Give Lively does make it possible for nonprofits to add custom questions during the checkout process. These help nonprofits to collect additional information that nonprofits either require or desire in order to manage a campaign and maintain strong relationships with donors.

Your decision to add custom questions should always be reviewed as a balance between the value of additional information and the risk of lower conversion rates. Generally speaking, the more information you request on a payment form, the greater the likelihood that a donor will not follow through on giving.

The basics of custom questions

Give Lively allows for three kinds of custom questions: donor information requests, pre-checkout questions and post-checkout questions. Nonprofits are able to use (add, edit and remove) them at any time on Core Profiles or Campaign Pages that are using our new payment form. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising pages automatically inherit the questions appearing on the associated Core Profile or Campaign Page. Event Ticketing and Team Fundraising pages are not yet enabled for this custom questions feature, although the ability to collect a donor’s mailing address is possible via an Event Ticketing page.

Donor information requests

Donor information requests, which capture basic details about donors, appear before payment is made. They may be set as a required step (in order to complete checkout) or they can be optional.

Pre-checkout questions

Pre-checkout custom questions are asked during the checkout process before payment is made. They may be set as a required step (in order to complete checkout) or they can be optional.

Post-checkout questions  

Post-checkout custom questions are asked after payment is completed. They are always optional.

Number of allowed custom questions

At present, the system allows for no more than five pre-checkout questions and five post-checkout questions, but there is no restriction on question length.

Location of custom questions on payment forms

Donor information requests appear just before pre-checkout questions on an “Additional Information” page of the donation payment form, which immediately follows the “Donation Amount” page and precedes the final checkout button.

Pre-checkout questions also appear on the “Additional Information” page of the donation payment form, which immediately follows the “Donation Amount” page and precedes the final checkout button.

Optional pre-checkout questions say “Optional” below the question title; all others are required. Any donor who clicks to proceed to checkout without answering required questions sees unanswered questions highlighted in red. These questions need to be answered before the donor can continue.

Post-checkout questions say “Optional” below the question title and appear in an “Additional Information” section on the thank-you page that confirms completion of a donation. 

Location of custom questions within the Nonprofit Admin Portal

The management of custom questions is possible in two places:

• through your Custom Questions Library (see below)
• directly through a campaign.

While the Custom Questions Library makes it possible to see all saved pre- and post-checkout custom questions in one place (and edit and remove them), you are only able to add donor information requests and custom questions to a campaign directly through the campaign. This is accomplished through the "Donor Information" and “Custom Questions” menu item of the campaign.

Meanwhile, the ability to collect a donor’s mailing address via an Event Ticketing page is, for now, only possible through the “Additional Questions” tab of an event in the Event Ticketing section of the Nonprofit Admin Portal.

Custom Questions Library

Within the Nonprofit Admin Portal, your custom questions are saved in the Custom Questions Library. Log in to the Nonprofit Admin and click the “Custom Questions” link in the left-hand navigation.

The custom questions stored in the Custom Questions Library are just question templates. At any time, they can be:

• added unedited to your Core Profile and Campaign Pages that are using our new payment form; these custom questions are inherited by associated Peer-to-Peer Fundraising pages
• edited within the library
• removed from the library.

(Event Ticketing and Team Fundraising pages are not yet enabled for this custom questions feature, although the ability to collect a donor’s mailing address is possible via an Event Ticketing page.)

There is also a search tool to help you locate a particular question, if there are many in the library. 

Add a custom question to the Custom Questions Library

Custom questions are automatically added to the Custom Questions Library each time you do the following:

• create a new custom question from within the Custom Questions Library
• create a new custom question from within a fundraising campaign.

To create a new custom question from within the Custom Questions Library: Click the “Create New Question” button to go to the “New Custom Question” page and then follow these instructions. Once saved, the question is immediately available for use on your Core Profile and Campaign Pages that are using our new payment form, and inherited on associated Peer-to-Peer Fundraising pages.

Edit a custom question in the Custom Questions Library

Click on the title of any custom question or the pencil icon at the far right of that question and review the specifics. Once the edits are complete, click the “Save Changes” button.

Important note: Edits to custom questions in the Custom Questions Library do not impact the same question already in use on any campaign. 

Remove a custom question from the Custom Questions Library

Click the garbage can icon at the far right of any question.

Important note: A question in the Custom Questions Library is not directly connected with its use on any campaign or the associated responses. Removing a question from the Custom Questions Library therefore has no impact on either that question in any campaign where it is already in use or the associated responses.

Create a custom question

Whether you choose to create a question from within the Custom Questions Library or directly through a campaign, the process is the same. Also, in both cases, the new question will automatically be saved to the Custom Questions Library.

Types of questions

When you create a question, you are asked to select a “Question type.” You can choose from the following:

• Short text – for short written answers (maximum of 250 characters)
• Long text – for longer written answers (maximum of 5,000 characters)
• Checkboxes – allows donors to choose all answers that apply
• Dropdown – limits donors to one answer

Note: You can ask for a donor’s mailing address, phone number and/or organization name as a pre-set information request, managed separately through the "Donor Information” tab.

To create a custom question once you are on a “New Custom Question” page:

• Fill in the “Question text” field with your new question. While there is no restriction on question length, it is best to ask concise questions.
• Add an optional “Help text” if the question needs it.
• Choose the “Question type” (see above)
• Complete the “Answer options” if needed. To delete an “Answer option” click the garbage can icon next to that option.
• Click “Save New Question”.

Helpful hint: Go back to the “Custom Questions” page of the campaign to which it has been added and check the “Required” box for any pre-checkout questions that you wish to set as a required step before checkout is completed. If not checked, the question will be optional. All post-checkout questions are always optional.

Manage a custom question within a fundraising campaign

Keep in mind that all changes to the custom questions that appear on a fundraising page (Core Profile or Campaign Page) are automatically mirrored on the associated Peer-to-Peer Fundraising pages.

Add a custom question to a fundraising campaign

To add a custom question to a campaign, you must set up a Core Profile or Campaign Page and select the “Custom Questions” menu item.

First, decide whether you want a pre-checkout question, a post-checkout question or both. Learn more here.

Second, determine if the desired questions exist in the Custom Questions Library or must be created as a new question. New custom questions can be created directly within the Custom Questions Library or created right within the campaign.

Finally, for each question: 

• Click “+ Add Question”.
• On the "Add a Custom Question” page, you can:
  (1) add a new question by clicking the “Create New Question” button and following these instructions, or
  (2) add an existing question from the Custom Questions Library (use the search tool); click “Add” to add a desired question.
• When back on the “Custom Questions” page of the campaign, be sure to check the “Required” box for any pre-checkout questions that you wish to set as a required step before checkout is completed. If not checked, the question will be optional. All post-checkout questions are always optional.
• On the “Custom Questions” page of the campaign, you can also use the up/down arrows to the left of the added questions to set the order in which the questions will appear.

Edit a custom question within a fundraising campaign

Once you have added a custom question to a campaign, you have the option of editing it specifically for that campaign. Select the “Edit” button associated with that custom question and review the specifics of that custom question. Once the edits are complete, click the “Save Changes” button.

Important notes about editing a custom question within a campaign:

• Edits to custom questions within a campaign do not impact the same question in the Custom Questions Library or on other campaigns. 
• Edits to a custom question within a campaign should be minor; for major or substantive edits, create a new question. Prior to editing, export a Custom Question Responses report with the unedited versions of the question (and its answers) to track what earlier answers refer to. For example, previous answers to “What is your favorite color?” may make little sense if the question is changed to “What is your favorite food?"

Remove a custom question from a fundraising campaign

After you have added a custom question to a campaign, you have the option of removing it. Select the “Remove” button associated with that custom question. Click the “Save Changes” button.

Important notes about removing a custom question from a campaign:

• Removing a custom question from a campaign does not remove the same question from the Custom Questions Library. 
• Removing a custom question that has been edited for a campaign (not in the Custom Questions Library) deletes only the edited version in the campaign, since edits to questions within a campaign do not impact the same question in the Custom Questions Library.
• Removing a question also permanently removes its answers. They will not appear in the Custom Question Responses report (see below).You should keep a record of the answers before you delete the question and its associated answers. To remind you of this, you will see the following warning if you choose to remove a question: “Are you sure you want to delete the question ‘[full question title]’? It has already received [#] responses, which will be deleted as well. For your records, we recommend downloading a copy of your Custom Question Responses before deleting this question.”

Add a donor information request to a fundraising page

A donor information request gathers specific information about donors on Core Profiles, Campaign Pages and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising pages that are using our new payment form. At present, there are three options: donor’s mailing address, donor's phone number and donor's organization name. (Donor information requests are not yet possible on Team Fundraising pages and managed separately for Event Ticketing pages.)

To add a donor information request to a campaign, you must set up a Core Profile or Campaign Page and select the “Donor Information” menu item.

• Click the box associated with the donor information you wish to request, such as “Mailing Address”.
• Click the “Required” box if answers are not optional and then add optional "help text" if you desire.
• Click the “Save Donor Questions” button to save the updates you have just made. 

Note that the answers to donor information requests are recorded in the Line Items (All) report and NOT the Custom Question Responses report.

Custom Question Responses

The Custom Question Responses report is where the answers to all pre- and post-checkout custom questions (but NOT donor information requests) are recorded and stored. Navigate to it by clicking on the "Custom Question Responses" submenu item under "Data Reports" in the left-hand navigation bar.

All of the following methods can be used, in any order, to manage the data; for example, you can set the date range and then search it.

• The default date range is three months. For a different range, adjust the "From"/"To" calendar fields and click “Apply”.
• Type in the search field to filter for specific data; results will appear for exact matches or words that start with the typed request. Select a search parameter from the dropdown options to the right of the search field: Donor Name, Donor Email, Page Type, Page Slug, Page Name, Question ID, Question Title, Answer and SF Opportunity.
• Download displayed search results by clicking the “Export CSV” button. The CSV includes the following data columns:
  
  • Order ID
  • Donor Name
  • Donor Email
  • Donation Amount
  • Donation Date
  • Page Slug
  • Page Type
  • Page Name
  • Question ID
  • Question Title
  • Answer
  • SF Opportunity ID

Reminder: The answers to donor information questions are recorded in the Line Items (All) report and NOT the Custom Question Responses report.