Online donations: Encourage your audience to give back this holiday season

Online donations: Encourage your audience to give back this holiday season

Hello fellow form builders,

The holiday season isn't just about shopping and festivities. There's a special zeal to give back to the community as a gesture of gratitude. While donation boxes are still around, many businesses are focused on their online presence. That means you can use online donations and reach a larger audience for more donations. In this post, we'll show you how to design online donation forms and increase the collection amount for your cause. 

Designing an effective donation form

A successful donation form is one that your donation goal. That may be shopping for underprivileged kids during the holidays, or throwing a Christmas party at a retirement home so the seniors don't feel lonely while they're away from their family. To collect more, you need to have an effective form in a place where people notice it. 

Keep it simple

Choose a simplistic design for your donation form, with your cause clearly stated on your form or the page where you host it. If you have a brick and mortar store, you can place the QR code for your form around your store with a call to action to root for your cause and donate. Clear, crisp design and the minimum amount of fields will make the whole experience delightful for your customers.

Put your thank you(s) in place

Set up automated tax receipts and thank you notes for your audience. This can keep them updated about their donations and does away with any hassle that they may face while filing their taxes. Email notification or SMS updates can also help you to give your donors a special note of thanks, along with a receipt for their donation. 

Place online payment option

Configure an online payment field so that your respondents can pay on the go as they fill their form. As more people move to cashless and contactless transactions, having an online payment gateway configured is a huge plus. You can also suggest a donation amount by prefilling the payment field. This can increase your average donation amount, compared to leaving the field empty for donors to choose the amount. 

Sharing your donation forms

People are much more likely to give in public than in private. Having said that, the placement of your donation form plays a major role in how successful your campaign is. If your store gets a lot of foot traffic, you could place a device with the form at check out counters or place the QR code for the form around your store. If you run an online business, you can choose to share your donation form on social media, send it as an email campaign, or even create a donation page and embed your form there. 

Donations are an important part of the holiday season. People love to give as much as they receive. With simple tweaks to the way you collect, you can help your cause even more. This holiday, create stunning online forms and move one step closer to fulfilling your cause. 


If you have any questions or feedback to share, feel free to comment below or drop us an email at support@zohoforms.com

    Access your files securely from anywhere







                          Zoho Developer Community






                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts



                                                          • Sticky Posts

                                                          • 5 ways to adapt social distancing this holiday season using online forms

                                                            Hello fellow form builders,  Social distancing measures are being woven into the fabric of daily business practices, ending many forms of direct-contact business. To adapt to this, businesses might want to change their business practices, adding necessary
                                                          • Online donations: Encourage your audience to give back this holiday season

                                                            Hello fellow form builders, The holiday season isn't just about shopping and festivities. There's a special zeal to give back to the community as a gesture of gratitude. While donation boxes are still around, many businesses are focused on their online
                                                          • Getting your forms ready for the holidays

                                                            Hello fellow form builders! With the holidays coming up, we've all started to get the hang of the new normal as people get ready for all the festivity around. This year is different from others in the past, which means businesses are trying out new ways
                                                          • 5 Ways to pull off holiday events like a pro using online forms

                                                            Hello fellow form builders, This is the fifth post of the five-part series on "Getting ready for the holiday season with Zoho Forms." This series aims to help you make the best of your forms and grow your business this season. Holiday events are suppose to be fun, and so is hosting them. So if you are overwhelmed and it seems like your event organizing is all over the place, then something has gone wrong. Yet, sweat not - we've got you!   The entire event planning process can be made easy by automating
                                                          • 5 ways to improve your holiday fundraising with online forms

                                                            Hello fellow form builders,  This is part four of our five-part series on "Getting ready for the holiday season with Zoho Forms." This series aims to help you make the best of your forms and grow your business this season. Asking for money isn't easy, yet it's a crucial step for any fundraising group or organization. During this holiday season, make collecting donations fun and more effective with our list of the top five ways to improve your overall fundraising process. Let's dive in. 1. Create


                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                    Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                      Zoho Books Resources


                                                                        Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                          Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                            Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                              Qntrl Resources


                                                                                Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                    Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                    • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                      CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                    • Kaizen

                                                                                      Kaizen

                                                                                    • Functions

                                                                                      Functions

                                                                                    • Meetups

                                                                                      Meetups

                                                                                    • Kbase

                                                                                      Kbase

                                                                                    • Resources

                                                                                      Resources

                                                                                    • Digest

                                                                                      Digest

                                                                                    • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      CRM Marketplace

                                                                                    • MVP Corner

                                                                                      MVP Corner







                                                                                        Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                        Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                        Get Started Now


                                                                                          Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                            Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                            Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ





                                                                                                Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                    ご検討中の方




                                                                                                          • Recent Topics

                                                                                                          • Best way to display complex Bookings Consultation Descriptions on Zoho Site?

                                                                                                            I am a new user so apologies if this has been asked before. I couldn't find any answers in the forum. We offer 18 complex Consultations to our subscribers. Our current platform lets me put detail on these Consultations thoroughly (200-300 words) during
                                                                                                          • DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present

                                                                                                            Hi Support Team, For Domain DKIM record trying to enable status. but showing error "DKIM cannot be enabled for the domain as no verified default selector present" So, please resolve the issue. Thank you.
                                                                                                          • Issue Connecting My Domain to Zoho Sites Despite Purchasing It from Zoho

                                                                                                            Hello, I am facing an issue connecting my domain to my website on Zoho Sites. Details of the issue: I purchased the domain directly from Zoho. I am already using the same domain successfully with Zoho Mail. However, when I try to assign this domain to
                                                                                                          • Insert auto number from main form into subform rows

                                                                                                            Hello. I'm trying to take from my main form "order number" which i have setup as an auto generated number into every line created in my subform. So when a row is created in my subform i want the "order number " from the main form to be inserted automatically.
                                                                                                          • Dark Mode - Font Colors Don't Work

                                                                                                            When editing a document in Dark Mode and selecting font colors, they don't show up on screen.  Viewing/editing the same document in Light Mode shows them just fine.
                                                                                                          • Integrate Bunq with ZOHO Bookes

                                                                                                            We are new users of ZOHO Books, and our bank (BUNQ, in the Netherlands) isn't listed on the bank integrations. Is there a way to handle this?
                                                                                                          • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

                                                                                                            Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards
                                                                                                          • Access Denied

                                                                                                            I am iOS Developer and updating our clients project and shifted ZohoDeskPortalCore SDKs from cocoapods to SPM and changed few lines of code but now i am get access denied, the help center app is unavailable. please contact administrator.
                                                                                                          • Using Zoho Desk to support ISMS process

                                                                                                            Hi, I am evaluating using Zoho Desk for security incident management. This seems to be aligned with Zoho Desk purpose as its just another type of incident. However in security incident management, ideally I can link incidents (tickets) with a risk from
                                                                                                          • Bin Locations

                                                                                                            Dear all, I am wondering if someone has the ability to develop the bin locations option for zoho inventory (integrated with zoho books) Regards, Ryan
                                                                                                          • TaxJar vs Avalara

                                                                                                            Hi, I'm evaluating adoption of a sales-tax service for US based business. Anyone else have experience with TaxJar and Zoho Books? I am a Zoho One subscriber so anticipate needing to use Flow to make this work. It seems like Avalara are simply too expensive
                                                                                                          • How to check Leads with no Task (open activity)

                                                                                                            Hi everyone, I was wondering if there’s a way to view leads that don’t have any tasks assigned or open activities linked to them.
                                                                                                          • What can we do on our end to improve the Answer bot answers?

                                                                                                            Hi, I'm using the Answer bot card in the Codeless bot builder. I've input several questions and their answers in the FAQ section to feed the Answer bot. The text is all in French, as this is the language our customers communicate in. I've tried testing
                                                                                                          • Taxes for EU B2B Transactions

                                                                                                            Currently, ZC doesn't seem to have a procedure for validating VAT numbers of businesses purchasing in another EU state, and removing local VAT is valid.  This is essential for all inter EU B2B trade.
                                                                                                          • How to upload file to Connect using API?

                                                                                                            Hi there. I looked at the API documentation and nowhere did it mention how to use the API method to upload a file even though it is mentioned that it is possible to be done so. Please help.
                                                                                                          • Items Landed Cost and Profit?

                                                                                                            Hello, we recently went live with Zoho Inventory, and I have a question about the Landed Cost feature. The FAQ reads: "Tracking the landed cost helps determine the overall cost incurred in procuring the product. This, in turn, helps you to decide the
                                                                                                          • Group Tax in Service Line Items

                                                                                                            Hi FSM Team! I noticed that when you update a tax in the service line item the group tax is not showing up as an option. Let me know what can be done thank you!
                                                                                                          • FSM Improvement Idea - Show an Import button when there is no data

                                                                                                            I am setting up FSM for a client and I noticed that there is no option to import data, see screenshot below. Even when you click Create Contact there is only an option to Import from Zoho Invoice. It is only after you add at lease 1 record that the Import
                                                                                                          • Zoho FSM API Delete Record

                                                                                                            Hi FSM Team, It would be great if you could delete a record via API. Thank you,
                                                                                                          • OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH Error for Marketing Automation APIs with CRM Plus Account

                                                                                                            I'm trying to integrate Marketing Automation journey triggering via API but getting OAUTH_SCOPE_MISMATCH errors. I need clarification on API access for CRM Plus users.
                                                                                                          • Access token generate from the refresh token not working for API

                                                                                                            Dear Sir/Madam, When I use my refresh token to obtain new access_token, that token return INVALID_TOKEN when the same API is called. I made sure that my api site is correct and match the auth web site. However the original access_token work fine.
                                                                                                          • Function #4: Schedule Customer Statements

                                                                                                            Regularly sending statements to customers is an imperative part of many business processes as it helps foster strong customer relationships and provides timely guidance on payments. While you can generate the statement of accounts and have it sent over
                                                                                                          • Limiting search or dependencies with an asterisk "*".

                                                                                                            I have a form with several dependency fields with options still developing for each field. Since these options were developing and not yet ready to be a selection in the field, I placed a filter for the dropdown field. In this filter, I selected fields
                                                                                                          • Improved RingCentral Integration

                                                                                                            We’d like to request an enhancement to the current RingCentral integration with Zoho. RingCentral now automatically generates call transcripts and AI-based call summaries (AI Notes) for each call, which are extremely helpful for support and sales teams.
                                                                                                          • Cross Data Center Support for 1:1 Chats with External Users

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We appreciate the recent enhancement that enables cross data center collaboration in external channels, which has already improved communication across distributed teams. However, we’ve noticed that this
                                                                                                          • Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

                                                                                                            Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels
                                                                                                          • Answer Bot and Personalized Questions

                                                                                                            Hi there, I have the same problem using the SalesIQ Answer Bot and the Zoho Desk Answer Bot (which really need different names, to be honest, in order to avoid confusion...) Customers that visit our website ask questions in the form of "What do you do?"
                                                                                                          • Handling Greetings/Small Talk at the Beginning of a Zobot Conversation

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, I’m currently configuring a **Zobot** in Zoho SalesIQ and everything is working as expected, except for one specific scenario at the very beginning of the conversation. My target audience has the habit of starting with a **greeting or
                                                                                                          • Regex in Zoho Mail custom filters is not supported - but it works!

                                                                                                            I recently asked Zoho for help using regex in Zoho Mail custom filters and was told it was NOT supported. This was surprising (and frustrating) as regex in Zoho Mail certainly works, although it does have some quirks* To encourage others, here are 3 regex
                                                                                                          • Importing a new list into campaigns

                                                                                                            I'm in the middle of switching my email platform to campaigns. I have a list that I want to import, and it overlaps with my existing Zoho CRM list. The fields in my Zoho CTM are more robust. Will this new list that I upload into my campaigns overwrite
                                                                                                          • when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent

                                                                                                            when I email a invoice how can i see it was sent and also were i can go to see all emails sent?
                                                                                                          • Export Invoices to XML file

                                                                                                            Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunities
                                                                                                          • Showing description in timesheet and timelogs.

                                                                                                            I am wondering if it’s possible in version 5 of Zoho People to have the description show by default or with a manipulation on the user’s part. Let me show you what I mean. As you can see this is the view for the users. Now if they want to see the full
                                                                                                          • How can I see content of system generated mails from zBooks?

                                                                                                            System generated mails for offers or invices appear in the mail tab of the designated customer. How can I view the content? It also doesn't appear in zMail sent folder.
                                                                                                          • CRM Blueprint Notification by Cliq

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho team, In Workflow, there is nofication by cliq, but in blueprint, there is no option as cliq notification. I think it is very convenient to get notified by Cliq , as there are multi modules in apps, but we will always check Cliqs
                                                                                                          • Zoho People Attendance Regularization – Wrong Total Hours Displayed

                                                                                                            While using Zoho People, I observed that the attendance regularization is showing wrong total hours when applied to past dates. For example, if a check-in is added at 10:00 AM and check-out at 6:00 PM for a previous date, the system sometimes calculates
                                                                                                          • Sync Contacts in iOS

                                                                                                            What does the "Sync Contacts" feature in the iOS Zoho Mail app do?
                                                                                                          • Live webinar: Craft the ideal sales pitch deck with Show

                                                                                                            Every great sale starts with a great story. And your pitch deck? That’s where the story takes shape. But too often, these presentations end up looking generic, overloaded with text, or lacking structure. The good news is, it's easier to fix than you think!
                                                                                                          • Project Statuses

                                                                                                            Hi All, We have projects that sometimes may not make it through to completion. As such, they were being marked as "Cancelled". I noticed that these projects still show as "Active" though which seems counter intuitive. In fact, the only way I can get them
                                                                                                          • 👋 Welcome to the Zoho MCP Community

                                                                                                            Hello all, glad to have you here! This is your space for everything AI agents, MCP tools, and intelligent business apps. This community is for you — developers, partners, creators, and businesses exploring how agents can transform work. Whether you’re
                                                                                                          • Next Page