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All About Unique Tracking Links

Updated

Have you ever wondered if your marketing is actually reaching donors? Do you want to know more about the impact of different channels in your community or test channels against one another? Are you in need of metrics to inform adjustments or new approaches to your marketing strategy? Here’s your chance to do all this—and take your marketing to the next level! 

What are Unique Tracking Links?

Unique Tracking Links are a feature in each form and campaign's setting that allow you to track on the number of clicks, donors, and dollars that came from a specific channel. You can attach the tracking link title or description (e.g. an appeal code) to the gift reports if you add the appropriate columns to your report setup.

This data will empower you to adjust your strategy in real time and make more informed decisions about where to invest your valuable time and resources

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How can I use Unique Tracking Link data?

Your team can gain a number of key insights from Unique Tracking Links, such as:

  • Return on investment of a print mailer such as a postcard
  • The time of day that is most effective for sending an email or posting on social media
  • Which email content generates the most traffic/click-throughs or largest gifts
  • Which social media site (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) drives the most activity
  • Which buttons and links on your website are being used most often

Creating Unique Tracking Links

To create a Unique Tracking Link, navigate to your form or campaign settings and look for the 'Tracking & Analytics' section, then go to 'Links & Appeal Codes'

An overview of the details of your Unique Tracking Links is provided on the same page where you created them.

Even more detail about Unique Tracking Links is available by navigating to the 'Statistics' section of your form or campaign settings.

Enter a descriptive name in the Title field and click Create Link

Pro tip: make sure the title is something distinct and easy-to-remember! Including the channel and the time of use, the constituency you are targeting, or other applicable information, will help keep the data clean-- and your memory sharp-- when you revisit the giving form/campaign later on.  You can create a link for each different channel or vehicle you’d like to track, so naming them in an intentional way keeps things tidy.

A new row with the details of the Unique Tracking Link will appear. You can click into the fields highlighted in yellow to update information about the link, including a description, tag, and details about whether or not the marketing outreach in which the link is featured is paid (such as a promoted post on Facebook or a Twitter or Instagram ad).

Copy your new Unique Tracking Link’s URL from the ‘Link’ column and start sharing it-- online, in print, and anywhere you include a link! Remember that you can create multiple links for different constituencies, platforms, and vehicles—there’s no limit.

Troubleshooting: When a tracking link’s stats don't appear

If a tracking link shows zero clicks or no donors in your Statistics view or reports, follow these steps to identify and resolve the issue:

  1. Confirm the link resolves correctly

  2. Verify the link was created in the correct location

    • Check that the link appears in the unique tracking links section of the correct giving form or campaign. A link reports only where it is created.

  3. Review the Statistics view

    • Open the Statistics section for the form or campaign to see clicks, donor counts, and donation amounts. If the link is listed but shows no activity, proceed with the next steps.

  4. Ensure the shared link includes the "a=" parameter

    • Some workflows (autofill links, personalization URLs, or vanity redirects) may strip or reorder URL parameters. Confirm that the expanded URL shows the tracking link’s numeric ID as the value of the "a=" parameter.

  5. Check report column settings

    • For donation exports or custom reports, validate that the advocate_link_title and advocate_link_desc columns are included. These fields display the Tracking Link’s Title and Description.

  6. Look for third-party redirects or link shorteners

    • If the tracking link is behind a redirect (such as a vanity URL or a marketing tool), the redirect may remove query parameters. Test the link from the same source where donors will click it and verify the expanded URL.

  7. Examine autofill and personalization combinations

    • When combining tokens with a tracking link, the final URL must include the tracking link’s "a=" parameter after any autofill tokens.

  8. Allow for data update delays and verify date ranges

    • Confirm that you are viewing the correct date range in the Statistics view and that filters are not unintentionally limiting the data.

  9. Recreate the link if necessary

    • If testing shows that the link does not expand correctly, recreate the unique tracking link and update it in your campaign assets.

  10. Gather details for further investigation

    • Record the short tracking link, the expanded URL, the form/campaign details, timestamps for link sharing and testing, and screenshots of both the tracking links list and the Statistics view. This information will help diagnose any persistent issues.

Following these steps should resolve most issues with tracking link stats or provide the necessary details for a technical investigation.

Examples:

  • If a link expands to a non-GiveCampus domain, review your redirect rules or marketing tool settings.
  • If the link expands correctly but clicks from a specific source are missing, verify whether that source wraps links and preserves query strings.
  • If report columns show unexpected values, ensure you are viewing advocate_link_title for the Title field and advocate_link_desc for the Description field.

QR Codes for Unique Tracking Links 

With the QR Code Generator for Unique Tracking Links, you can create scannable QR codes to help your marketing strategy. The QR codes function the same way that unique tracking links do, redirecting donors to a giving page while allowing school admins to track where these donors are coming from.

To generate custom QR codes, simply head to the settings page of your giving form or campaign, and click the tab labeled “Unique Tracking Links.” From there, click on the button labeled “QR Code” on the rightmost column to generate a QR code for a specific tracking link.

This will open a pop-up window that contains an image of your QR code, which you can then use on printed flyers, social media graphics, and similar marketing materials. To save the QR code for later use, simply right click on the image, and hit “Save Image As…”

Analyzing the results of Unique Tracking Links

 This table shows the number of clicks a link generated, the number of donors a link generated, and the number of dollars those donors gave to the giving form / campaign.

 In this area, you’ll find a table that offers an overview of the clicks, number of donors and dollars generated by each link, as well as the names of donors who gave through each link.

Q: What happens to Unique Tracking Links when I clone a campaign — should I copy them or start fresh?

A: When cloning a campaign, the cloning interface includes a checkbox (selected by default) to copy Unique Tracking Links. Copying these links preserves the original titles and descriptions, allowing you to adjust a few details without rebuilding the links from scratch. If you plan significant changes to link names, destinations, or target audiences, you can uncheck the box to create new links for the cloned campaign.

You’ll also find an interactive graph that shows the usage of each link over time. Toggle data related to each link on and off by clicking on the colored dot next to the link’s ID number. To learn the times at which links were clicked, hover over different points on each line on the graph. To easily share results with other team members, you can even export the graph via the ‘export’ menu in the upper right-hand corner of this section.

 

FAQs

  1. Generate your unique tracking link (like https://givecampus.com/yvxlrj)
  2. Build your Personalization URL, or export in bulk the Personalization URLs
  3. Ensure your Personalization token is part of the URL using ?adid=
  4. Add “&a=" following the Personalization token (&a=yvxlrj)
     

Best Practices

  • Don't only use Unique Tracking Links for digital marketing. Use them every time you share a giving form / campaign link, whether in print, on your website, on social media, or in emails. There’s no limit to the number of Unique Tracking Links you can create—so if there’s a link, track it!
  • If you’re not sure where to start, it’s a good idea to focus on a few platforms and vehicles you’re most interested in studying—or new ideas you’re trying out—to see what’s working for you.  Alternatively, have you recently made a change or are thinking about changing something in your marketing and outreach? Track it! This is a great way to easily gather really robust data to help you make the case for (or against!) different marketing strategies, and can give you a lot of insight into where your donors are engaging. This makes your time spent reaching out more effective and efficient, while raising more money. Win-win!
  • Need an easy-to-remember and print-friendly URL? Ask your web team to create a ‘vanity URL’ through a 302 redirect that automatically redirects to your GiveCampus campaign or Giving Form (ex. www.holycross.edu/givepurple).
  • When drafting digital communications, use Unique Tracking Links to hyperlink words and phrases, especially in your Call to Action. For example: “Have an impact at your alma mater by making a gift today.”
pecific campaign areas
  • Challenge hours section links
  • Campaign page section navigation

    • Troubleshooting Appeal Code Column Placement

    If your tracking link appeal codes are appearing in unexpected columns in your donation reports:

    Check your Title and Description fields:

    • advocate_link_title column shows what you entered in the Title field
    • advocate_link_desc column shows what you entered in the Description field

    To fix misplaced appeal codes:

    1. Navigate to your campaign or form settings
    2. Go to Tracking & Analytics > Links & Appeal Codes
    3. Check whether your appeal code is in the Title field or Description field
    4. If it's in the wrong field, edit the tracking link to move the appeal code to the correct field

    For consistency across campaigns, ensure all tracking links follow the same pattern for where you place appeal codes.

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