Transparent Embeds

Update July 2018: This post is outdated. To change the style of your forms, use the embed wizard instead.

GivingTools online giving enables you to embed forms into your website, making them look like a part of your site. To do it, you use a code snippet found in your dashboard under the Giving Form you wish to embed. That code is great for most sites, providing a scalable and attractive presentation that looks great.

However, if the background of your site is not white, the white form looks a little less native. With a little editing of the embed code, though, you can make your embedded appeal do this:

How? Simply add one of these bits of code to the end of the embed code:

  • For a opaque background (white), grey-ish text: ?style=normal (this is the default mode so `normal` isn’t required)
  • For a transparent background, white text (as demonstrated above): ?style=bg-transparent–fg-white
  • For a transparent background, black text: ?style=bg-transparent–fg-black

You would want to add “?style=bg-transparent–fg-white” to the end of the embed code GivingTools provides. For example:

<iframe id="gtEmbedFrame_1" src="https://givingtools.com/give/embed/1?style=bg-transparent--fg-white" style="border:0; width:100%;"></iframe>
<script src="https://givingtools.com/assets/js/iframeResizer.min.js" integrity="sha256-kjBnXrBNDceEMg278ZjsCUEJ8VrWP2Tp158N9u7Yhdk=" crossorigin="anonymous" onload="iFrameResize({}, '#gtEmbedFrame_1');"></script>

And transparent background or not, don’t forget to snag a security certificate for the page you embed on. Get one free here.

Capital Campaign?

If you are planning a capital campaign, try out our “Campaign Pledge” appeal type. You’ll find it in your dashboard under Appeals. This appeal type enables donors to make a total pledge and then set up regular payments to fulfill it.

Interested in a robust capital campaign website? We also offer those…and we can drop your campaign pledge appeal right into a campaign website.

To learn more about why a capital campaign website may be a wise idea, visit this article.

Compatible Browsers

To ensure a secure environment, our service has built-in tools to warn users if their browser is out-of-date and provides a simple link to update it. This table shows what browsers are supported and which are not. For the most part, if your browser is younger than about five years old, you’re fine.

Landing Page Added

We’ve added a new landing page to the GivingTools online giving dashboard. Of course, you know that already as that’s probably how you found this blog entry!

For now, the landing page shows our blog plus a series of product tips (accompanied by some animations created by our talented staff). We were finding that customers (new and long-time) could sometimes use a little help discovering some of the great features that make GivingTools such an amazing platform. Our product tips help prompt folks to consider the possibilities present in our new 2.0 platform.

Over time, we may be adding additional content to the landing page, but for now, sit back and enjoy the chihuhuas…

2.0 Adjustments

We’ve been responding to customer feedback on our 2.0 platform (that’s the platform you are on right now). You may have noticed some of these changes already. They are subtle things, like:

  • Showing “Amount” in giving fields instead of “$1” as the default
  • Showing checkout options conditionally to simplify the process
  • Adding a “lost password” button within the checkout itself
  • Enabling an “Other” amount for event appeals
  • Enhanced ability to edit donor information in Accounts

There are also changes you should never notice, like an enhanced error tracking system that alerts us the instant any donor experiences an error and enables us to contact them with information and to secure the gift.

GivingTools has evolved based on the input of our customers. This platform is designed to maximize the good you can do in the world, and by helping us do our job better, you are helping hundreds of nonprofits by improving the system they use. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you think of a feature that would benefit your donors.

Spread the Word

Our per-customer profit is very low, and this, we think, is a good idea. Why? Because while we have less money to spend on advertising, happy customers tell others about us, and the word spreads. We hope that if you like our service that you will tell a friend. Consider telling fellow nonprofits or leadership at a regional or even national level. And if you are not entirely delighted with GivingTools, we want you to be. Let us know how we can do our job better.

We want every customer to be a GivingTools evangelist (because our chihuahua can’t do it all, you know?).

Processors

GivingTools is designed to accommodate a variety of processors. Our 1.0 customers are all BluePay customers. With our 2.0 platform, we opened the doors to Base Commerce, Stripe, and PayPay business standard customers as well. With all accounts, you get 0% ACH processing as well as competitive card rates from BluePay. You can also plug in an account from a supported processor if you wish. And PayPal remains an option, even if you have ACH and cards processing set up by other services. So, you can cherry-pick the services that are right for you. The extra cost to link in a non-BluePay account? Zero.

We do this stuff to maximize your online giving success. Is it a good choice for your nonprofit? Well, most of our customers stick with BluePay to keep everything under one roof, and because the rates are very good. But feel free to consider these added features, and let us know if you want to ponder what might be right for you.

2.0 Migration is Easy

A major new version of GivingTools was released December 2017. GivingTools 2.0 offers enhanced functionality…and you can migrate for no added cost. So, the $14.95 you pay to BluePay currently covers your account, whether you are in 1.0 or 2.0.

We’ve pre-migrated all 1.0 accounts, so you can log in, check things out, clean things up, and modify your account to take advantage of 2.0’s awesome features.

Once you are happy with how your giving page, appeals, and forms look, simply share your new url. You would also need to re-embed any embedded appeals with giving forms from the 2.0 system. That’s it. For security reasons, you will also want to have your 1.0 traffic redirected to your 2.0 system. By default, we will redirect everything to your giving page. But If you’d like something more special (e.g. a specific giving form), let us know!

Don’t want to switch just yet? Just don’t share your 2.0 URL.

To check out 2.0, login here. That will get you into your 2.0 account.

See features you’d like to have added? Questions? Just let us know. As always, we value your feedback, and we try to be as responsive as possible to maximize the usefulness of our platform.