Individual contributors make up the vast majority of financial donors in the nonprofit sector.  

Volunteer Fundraising allows you to solicit your volunteers for donations right in your VolunteerHub site without ever sending the volunteer to a separate website for payment. Post direct links to various fundraising efforts, include custom ask messages for each of your campaigns and even prompt volunteers to donate automatically when they sign up for specific events in your site.

If you're interested in adding this feature to your site, please review the system requirements below to ensure your organization meets the requirements. If so, please reach out to [email protected] for pricing and next steps. 

This article covers the following topics:

  1. Feature Requirements
  2. Setting Up Donation Pages
  3. The Volunteer's Experience 

Feature Requirements

In order to qualify for this feature, your organization must have all of the following:

  1. The Configurable Forms feature: This allows us to prompt for card information and is included with all current Enterprise plans.
  2. A PayFlow Link account: This allows us to embed the electronic payment options directly into your site and serves as a "middleman" between your VolunteerHub site and your billing processor. If using PayPal as your billing processor, your existing Payments Pro account will come with the PayFlow Gateway for free. If you do not use PayPal as your processor, you'll need to set up the PayFlow Link account using the instructions provided by our support team after purchasing the Volunteer Fundraising feature.
  3. A supported external billing processor: This allows your organization to receive donations and is generally required for any donation platform. If you do not yet have a supported processor, you must attain one prior to the Volunteer Fundraising feature being enabled in your site. 


The following processor services are supported:


  • American Express
  • Cielo Payments
  • Elavon
  • FDMS Nashville/North/South
  • Global Payments Central/East
  • Heartland (may offer a non-profit discount)
  • Litle & Co
  • Moneris
  • Paymentech Salem/Tampa
  • Planet Payment
  • SecureNet
  • TSYS
  • Telecheck 2
  • World Pay (formerly known as Vantiv) 
    • Subscription must include ecommerce, not just 'brick and mortar'.
  • PayPal 
    • If you would like to use PayPal as your billing processor, you will need to set up a "Payments Pro" account with them, which comes with the PayFlow Gateway for free, by calling 1-855-456-1330 . A Payments Pro account is not the same as a personal, business or PayFlow Pro account; Payments Pro is a billing processing service that includes the gateway required for this feature to function.


If you're not sure if your organization meets the above criteria or you have questions about setting up your PayFlow Link account, please send us a message and we'll provide next steps.

Setting Up Donation Pages

Follow the steps below to start building donation pages to solicit your volunteers for donations within your VolunteerHub site.

STEP 1: Create a Donation Page. 

You can create an unlimited number of custom donation pages in your site, each with a different ask message, thank you message and donation amounts. You can link directly to a donation page or have it automatically appear to volunteers immediately after signing up for specific events.

Once the Volunteer Fundraising feature is active in your site, just navigate to Donations Pages from the main menu and click Add New Donation Page to create a new donation page (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Create an unlimited number of donation pages to solicit donations from volunteers.

When you build your donation page, you'll need to give it a Name, which is visible only to administrators (Figure 2). Then, provide an Ask Message, which is custom text that the volunteer will see when selecting a donation amount. Next, enter a Thank-You Message, which is visible to the volunteer immediately after submitting a donation and also appears in an automatic thank-you email. Finally, decide on 3 or 4 donation options, which can include 3 custom donation amounts (e.g., $5, $10, $25) as well as an optional custom amount field.

When finished, click on the Save button.

Figure 2. Build a donation page specific to an event, or build a generic one!

STEP 2: Link to the Page. 

Once you've created your donation page, you can automatically prompt volunteers to donate when they sign up for that event (or an instance of the event if it's a recurrence) by navigating to the event, clicking the Edit link and enabling/selecting the donation page at the bottom of the screen (Figure 3). This is highly recommended, as it usually yields more success than a direct link would. You may also link directly to the page outside of your events by creating a button or link in your website or in your site's landing page messages.

Figure 3. Add a donation page to an event to automatically prompt volunteers once they've registered for the event.

Remember, you can build as many donation pages as you like, and you can have as many of them enabled in events as well as direct-linked as you need!

STEP 3: Watch Donations Roll In. 

Once you've done the above, volunteers will be able to interact with your donation page. Any donations you receive can be viewed on a volunteer's profile (navigate to the user's profile and click on Donations), within three new donation-specific reports on the Reports page or, if you already have our integration with The Raiser's Edge or eTapestry, in your donor database against the Fund name of your choosing. 

The Volunteer's Experience

The best part about the Volunteer Fundraising feature is that your volunteers never leave your VolunteerHub site for an instant while making a donation to your organization. In addition, the donation request can be made as part of the event registration process (but never required).

Immediately after signing up for an event (or after clicking on a direct link to the donation page), the volunteer is brought to a Donation Amount page displaying your custom Ask Message (Figure 4).


Figure 4. The volunteer is asked for a donation after signing up for an event or clicking on the link to your donation page.

After selecting a donation amount, the volunteer is prompted for a billing name and address. Next, the volunteer is prompted for credit card information, which is integrated directly into the page within your site (Figure 5).


Figure 5. Volunteers can make PayPal or credit card payments without leaving your VolunteerHub site.

Finally, the volunteer sees a page with your custom Thank-You Message. And that's it! Every time a volunteer donates to your organization via Volunteer Fundraising, they will receive a thank you email containing your custom Thank-You Message from your donation page as well as a PDF receipt they can use for tax purposes.


Donations can not currently be made from an Apple device.  Volunteers should be instructed to use Windows or Android-based devices.