How Do I Use Custom Fields?

The Custom Fields and Collections feature in Raise Donors allows your organization to collect and manage donor & donation data with greater flexibility for storing data that's unique to your organization. Below are the key insights into how this feature works:

• Create Custom Fields
• Adding Custom Fields to Forms
• Making Custom Fields Conditional
• Syncing Custom Fields with Virtuous CRM
• Custom Collections
• FAQ

Create Custom Fields

Create Custom Fields directly within RaiseDonors by going to Settings and then Custom Fields. At the top of the page toggle on the “Create custom fields in RaiseDonors” setting. Then click “+ New Custom Field” in the top right corner to create a new field. Name your custom field and select what type of field it is, Gift or Donor based. 

Choose a data type which includes the following options: text, paragraph, list, multi-select, boolean, date, number, and link. Each field type offers display customizations such as drop downs, buttons, and radio selections.

Adding Custom Fields to Forms

Custom fields can be added to donation forms using the drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to customize forms based on specific needs. This includes setting default values, making fields required, and controlling which fields are visible on the form.

Create a Form or Page, or edit a currently published one, and then select the section that you want to add a Custom Field (or Custom Collection, see below) to. On the right, select the Custom Field or Collection component to add to your Form. Then navigate the various settings for the experience of that particular field.

Making Custom Fields Conditional

When adding a Custom Field to your form, you have the option to “Make field conditional”. This allows you to control when the Custom Field displays on your form. Let’s say, for example, you want only gifts over $100 to display a custom field asking donors for feedback; you can create this condition for the minimum gift amount!

To add a condition, turn on the toggle in the Custom Field Component. Then select the green + Add Condition button.

A dropdown list of Conditional Sources will display including: Project Selection, Custom Field Response, (Recurring Gift) Frequency, and (Gift) Amount.

The Operators and Condition Values available for you to use will depend on the Conditional Source. For example, if you choose Custom Field Response as your Source, you will be prompted to select the Custom Field, and then the corresponding response value.

Once entered, save your condition by selecting the X icon. You can choose to add additional conditions that must be met for the same Custom Field (e.g. Amount is Greater Than or Equal to 100 and Frequency is One-Time) or delete your conditions by selecting the trash icon.

Syncing Custom Fields with Virtuous CRM (including Custom Collections!)

Custom Fields in RaiseDonors can sync bidirectionally with Virtuous CRM, ensuring data consistency. Fields created in RaiseDonors will appear in Virtuous, and vice versa, allowing changes made in one platform to reflect accurately in the other. You can also choose not to sync specific fields if you wish to keep them within RaiseDonors only. 

When creating or editing a Custom Field, toggle on the “Sync custom field data to Virtuous CRM” switch if you wish to sync this field back into Virtuous CRM. If toggled off, this field and its data will only appear in RaiseDonors and will not sync to Virtuous CRM. Additionally, if you haven’t turned on the integration with Virtuous CRM yet, do that before attempting to sync Custom Fields with Virtuous.

Custom Collections

Beyond individual fields, you can also sync Custom Collections from Virtuous CRM to be used in RaiseDonors Forms and Pages. Custom Collections group related fields together for capturing more complex data sets. These collections of fields can support one response for each set of fields, offering flexibility in data input and management. Custom Collections can be toggled to show specific fields and accept multiple entries on forms, enhancing the level of engagement with donors.

In order to use these Custom Collections from your Virtuous CRM platform inside a RaiseDonors Form, a few things need to be done first:

1. Your Virtuous CRM and RaiseDonors platforms must be integrated.
2. Custom Collections need to be created inside Virtuous CRM, which will then sync over to RaiseDonors through the integration.
3. Once those two steps have been completed, add the Custom Collection component to a RaiseDonors Form or Page to be answered by donors when they make a donation.

FAQ

• Reporting and Query builders in Virtuous CRM will include Custom Field and Collection data from RaiseDonors.
• When the Virtuous CRM integration is enabled, Custom Field and Collection data will be sent to the Virtuous Gift and Contact Import Tool.
• Yes, it is possible to set the default value for a hidden Custom Field in the page builder.
• URL parameters can set a value for a Custom Field if it is not hidden.