Your donation form is the most important conversion point in your entire fundraising strategy.

Your mission is critical, and the need is great. You’re running multichannel campaigns to increase donations quickly. And whether donors are hearing about this campaign through email, direct mail, or even text, they’re all landing on the same page: your donation form.

Nonprofit donation form templates are pre-designed, reusable donation form layouts that help nonprofits launch campaigns faster, increase conversion rates, and grow recurring giving.

When donation forms are slow to load, confusing, or poorly designed, users abandon them. Studies show that 50% to 70% of potential donors visit your form but leave without donating.

When forms are intuitive, fast, and compelling, your conversions increase dramatically. Improving your donation form is something you can do today to see an immediate impact on fundraising.

One route is to use an optimized donation form template. This will ensure consistency, improve the donor experience, and increase conversion rates across multichannel fundraising campaigns.

Quick Summary: What You’ll Learn

In this guide, we will explain:

• What nonprofit donation form templates are
• The essential elements of high-converting forms
• The most effective template types (with examples)
• Best practices to increase conversions and recurring giving

What Are Nonprofit Donation Form Templates?

Donation form templates are pre-designed layouts that nonprofits use to collect donations online. They include design elements, such as a logo and colors, as well as fields that will guide donors through the giving process.

While you can create a new form for every campaign, it’s more efficient to create optimized templates that can be customized for different purposes. You’ll maintain consistency and can also tweak the template as you learn more about what makes it the most effective.

Donation forms typically include the following:

• Donation amount options
• Recurring gift choice
• Contact information fields
• Payment processing fields
• Branding and messaging
• Confirmation and thank you

Templates will allow nonprofits to launch campaigns faster, keep consistent branding, and optimize donor conversion rates over time.

Why Nonprofit Donation Form Templates Matter

Your donation form directly impacts how much money your nonprofit raises. Even small improvements can significantly improve your fundraising results.

There are several ways in which nonprofit donation form templates can help nonprofits. They:

Increase conversion rates: Simplified and optimized forms reduce friction and make it easy for a donor to complete a gift. When donors can give quickly and without confusion, abandonment rates drop.

Improve the donor experience: Giving should feel easy and rewarding. Clean, intuitive templates create a positive donor experience, increasing gifts and the likelihood of repeat donations.

Encourage recurring giving: If your template defaults to monthly giving or offers a toggle, you’ll convert more donors into recurring supporters. A strong monthly giving program is foundational to nonprofit success.

Save time: Templates let your team quickly launch campaigns instead of building the form from scratch every time.

Maintain consistent branding: Your brand matters more than you think. Templates help you reinforce your designs and messaging so they become recognizable.

Allow continuous optimization: When you are working from a template, you can test different elements (messaging, design, number of fields) and then optimize your template to be as effective as possible.

Essential Elements Every Nonprofit Donation Form Template Should Include

Regardless of your mission or campaign, the best nonprofit donation form templates share several core components. You can use this list to start to create your template or compare your current form to see how it stacks up.

Clear Headline and Purpose

When a donor lands on your form, they should instantly understand what they are supporting. A simple headline should reinforce the impact of their gift. In this example, you see that the image, the headline, and the subhead tell you all you need to know.

Suggested Donation Amounts

Providing pre-set suggestions makes giving easier and helps donors quickly choose the amount of their gift. You can use smart ask strings to offer AI-driven, personalized suggestions. This can increase your year-over-year average gift size 62%!

Recurring Gift Option

Recurring giving is one of the most powerful fundraising growth strategies. Recurring donors typically give significantly more over time and have higher retention rates than one-time donors. Optimized nonprofit donation form templates play a major role in growing sustainable monthly giving programs.

Minimal Number of Required Fields

Opening a donation form and scrolling through required fields will deter all but the most determined donors. Collect only the minimum information you need, such as name, email address, and payment information. Additional fields will only increase friction and reduce conversions. If you really want more information, such as a mailing address, you can collect it through your stewardship following the donation.

Mobile-Friendly Design

In 2024, 45% of online donations were made on a mobile device. Test your donation form template on a phone and a tablet to make sure it’s responsive and easy to manipulate on a smaller screen.

Secure Payment Processing

Donors have to be able to trust that their payment details are secure. Templates should integrate with payment processors and display trust indicators. This will build confidence and increase completion rates.

Thank-you Confirmation

After a donor completes a gift, it’s crucial that they see confirmation that their donation was processed and are thanked for their support. Effective communication reinforces the impact of the donation and strengthens your donor relationships.

Types of Nonprofit Donation Form Templates

Different campaigns can require different templates. Here are the most common and most effective types.

Standard Donation Form Template

This template is best used for annual campaigns, website donation pages, and general fundraising. You will want to include:

• Donation amounts
• Recurring gift option
• Basic donor information
• Payment fields

This is your all-around general template that will work for almost any campaign.

Campaign-Specific Donation Form Template

If you’re running a year-end campaign, an emergency appeal, or a specific type of campaign, you will want a donation form with tailored messaging, imagery, and ask amounts aligned with the campaign goal. Campaign-specific templates often improve conversion rates by reinforcing urgency and relevance.

Recurring Donation Form Template

When your campaign is intended to increase your number of recurring givers, you will want to highlight the impact of monthly gifts. This is when the recurring gift option should be the default, and the form should explain the benefits of being a sustainer. This effective donation form from Wounded Warrior Project illustrates best-in-class elements, including the optional offer of a gift for the donor.

Mobile-Optimized Donation Form Template

This template will emphasize speed and simplicity. You want a minimal number of fields, simple layouts, and large buttons and fields. A mobile-optimized template will improve conversion rates for mobile donors.

Event Donation Form Templates

If you have nonprofit events, a specialized event donation template can help. It will include the event branding, campaign messaging, and even the opportunity to volunteer. These templates connect event engagement to giving.

Tribute and Memorial Donation Form Templates

Tribute templates encourage donors to make a gift in honor or memory of someone. Forms should include fields for the honoree’s information, notification options, and dedication messaging. You want the donor to experience a meaningful giving journey.

Best Practices for High-Converting Nonprofit Donation Form Templates

Even small improvements to donation form templates can significantly increase donations. We’ve got a free donation form optimization checklist you can use to evaluate your current forms or optimize your templates.

Keep Forms Short and Simple

Every additional field you have on your form increases friction. Focus on collecting only the most essential information and get more details later. Simple forms convert more donors.

Highlight Giving Options

Use suggested gift amounts or smart ask strings and always offer the option to make it a monthly gift. Monthly giving dramatically increases donor lifetime value. Using language like “Become a monthly supporter” or “Provide ongoing impact” can be effective.

Use Impact-Based Messaging

Connect donation amounts to real outcomes so donors can visualize their impact. $20 can fill a backpack, $50 can feed a family three meals, and $100 can save an acre of the rainforest.

Maintain Visual Consistency

When you see the Red Cross logo, you immediately identify the organization. Donation form templates should match your website's branding and colors so you build your brand and offer a consistent experience.

Optimize for Speed

No one has time for a form that doesn’t load or glitches. Test your template on every device you can find to make sure it loads quickly and is easy to use.

Test and Improve All the Time

Test one thing at a time, but seeing how slight variations perform will help your form be as optimized as possible. Test suggested donation amounts (what if you increased them by $5?), your impact-driven recurring giving messages, and even your form layout.

How Nonprofit Donation Form Templates Support Long-Term Fundraising Growth

Donation forms are more than transactional tools. They are the critical conversion point where donor intent becomes revenue.

Well-designed nonprofit donation form templates help nonprofits:

• Acquire new donors
• Convert more supporters
• Increase recurring giving
• Improve donor retention
• Grow sustainable revenue
• Deepen donor relationships

Donation form templates directly influence donor perception, trust, and conversion rates. And organizations that optimize their donation experience consistently outperform those that treat donation forms as a basic administrative tool.

Frequently Asked Questions About Nonprofit Donation Form Templates

What is a nonprofit donation form template?

A nonprofit donation form template is a layout used to collect online donations. It can be reused for different campaigns. It includes donation amounts, recurring gift options, donor information fields, and payment processing fields.

Why are donation form templates important?

Donation form templates improve conversion rates, create a consistent donor experience, and help nonprofits grow recurring giving.

What makes a donation form template effective?

Effective templates are mobile-friendly, fast, secure, simple, and include clear impact messaging.

How many fields should a nonprofit donation form template have?

Nonprofit donation form templates should only require the most essential information, such as name, email address, donation amount, and payment information. Minimizing required fields reduces friction and increases conversion rates. Additional information, such as a mailing address, can be collected later through follow-up and stewardship.

Your Donation Form Template Is One of Your Most Powerful Fundraising Tools

Nonprofit donation form templates play a central role in fundraising success. They shape the donor experience, influence conversion rates, and determine how successful your fundraising efforts are.

By using optimized templates, nonprofits can increase donations, improve the donor experience, grow recurring revenue, and strengthen donor relationships.

Every fundraising campaign from every channel ultimately leads donors to your donation form. Making sure that form is simple, compelling, and effective is one of the most impactful improvements any nonprofit can make.