Managing Email Confirmations

GiveCampus makes it easy to customize different gift notification emails for each form or campaign. The moment after making their gift or managing their gift is an important moment in making the donor feel good about their donation. We recommend you customize these emails to build trust and appropriately steward your donors!

Customizing Email Confirmations

You can customize email notifications within Giving Forms and Campaigns via the Settings > Giving Experience > Gift Confirmation Emails. Here are 4 important things to customize and best practices in your gift confirmation emails:

• Email "From Name" and "Reply To":
  • Customize the name that the emails from 'From' as well as where you will receive replies.
  • Pro-Tip: These are transactional emails. We recommend using a generic name (ex: School Name Office of Advancement) as opposed to a single person (ex: Franny Fundraiser). This will ensure the emails do not need to be updated if a staff member leaves!
• Subject Line:
  • Keep it short and sweet and use merge tokens to personalized the email confirmation. For example, "Thank you, $DONOR_NAME$ for supporting $SCHOOL_NAME$"
• Email Language and Imagery:
  • Ensure the language and imagery is tailored to your school and organization!
  • Learn more about the new email text editor.
• **School Contact Information:**It's important to let your donors know who to contact if they have questions about their gift. From the fundraising dashboard > school level settings, set a designated email that will populate via the $School_Contact_Email$ merge token. It is important to set this field even if you don't customize your email confirmations. This email also shows on the footer of each of your GiveCampus pages.
  • Pro-Tip: Use a donor-question specific email address that can be monitored by multiple team members (ex: onlinegiving@school.edu or annualgiving@academy.org)

Standard Gift Confirmation Emails

There are 10 emails you have the option to customize.

Default GiveCampus language is automatically included and delivered to your donors so your donors always get some sort of confirmation email. Customizing allows that to feel more appropriate to your school.

GC Default gift confirmation emails: simplified and editor-matched

• Gift Receipt: sent to donors who make a one-time gift
• Recurring Gift: sent to donors as a thank you/confirmation when they initially set up their recurring gift
• Recurring Gift Updated: sent to donors when each installment of their recurring gift is processed or some other update is made to their gift
• Recurring Gift Canceled: sent to donors when their recurring gift is canceled
• Recurring Gift Ended: sent to donors when their recurring gift fulfills/completes
• Recurring Gift Failed: sent to donors when an installment of their recurring gift fails. Note: you must include the $MANAGE_RECURRING_GIFT_LINK$ merge field in the body of this email template. If you do not include it, the following sentence will automatically be inserted at the bottom of your email: To update your recurring gift, use the following link: $MANAGE_RECURRING_GIFT_LINK$
• Recurring Gift Annual Reminder: a message sent to annual recurring donors 3 days before their credit card will be charged
• Recurring Gift Reactivated: sent to donors when their recurring gift is reactivated after it had failed
• Recurring Gift Card Expired: sent to donors when the debit/credit card that is used as the payment method linked to their recurring gift expires. Note: you must include the $MANAGE_RECURRING_GIFT_LINK$ merge field in the body of this email template. If you do not include it, the following sentence will automatically be inserted at the bottom of your email: To update your recurring gift, use the following link: $MANAGE_RECURRING_GIFT_LINK$
• Incomplete Gift Nudge: If enabled, this email will send to donors who move to the payment form but do not complete their gift. They will receive this as a follow up reminder email within 30-60 minutes. Learn more about incomplete gift nudges.
  
  Pro-Tip: You can also establish Conditional Email templates if you want confirmation emails to be targeted based on the donor's affiliation or designation. Learn more about Conditional Email Templates.

Email Status' & Last Published

Email confirmations will always being delivered to your donors, but we know it's important to know which version is currently being delivered. Here's what the different email status' mean:

• Active + GC Default: The email actively being delivered is the GC Default language
• Active + Time Stamp: The email actively being delivered is the one customized by your school and activated at the published time
• Unpublished Changes + GC Default: You have unpublished changes, and the email actively being delivered to your donors is the GC Default.
• Unpublished Changes + Time Stamp: You have new, unpublished changes and the email actively being delivered is the one customized by your school and activated at the published time.

Standard Merge Tokens

The following merge tokens are available within all email confirmations.

• $TAX_RECEIPT$: A standard merge token including all of the necessary information to qualify as an official tax receipt.
• $DESIGNATION$
• $DESIGNATION_WITH_AMOUNT$
• $DONATION_AMT$
• $DONATION_DATE$
• $DONATION_TIME$
• $DONATION_ID$
• $DONOR_NAME$
• $SCHOOL_NAME$
• $SCHOOL_CONTACT_EMAIL$: Establish your school contact email within Online Giving > School-Level Settings > branding. Establishing that email at the school level and using this merge token will ensure you get donor emails to one single email and can easily make system-wide changes to that email.
• $FIRST_NAME$
• $JOINT_GIFT$
• $LINKEDIN_LINK$
• $FB_LINK$
• $TWITTER_LINK$
• $TAX_DEDUCTIBLE_AMOUNT$: If using an incentive, this will be the tax deductible amount of the gift. This field will dynamically display within the $tax_receipt$ merge token only for relevant donors. While this is a standalone option, we recommend using the dynamic tax receipt in most instances.
• $INCENTIVE_FAIR_MARKET_VALUE$: If using an incentive, this will reflect the FMV of the incentive item received. This field will dynamically display within the $tax_receipt$ merge token only for relevant donors who have selected an incentive. Using this as a standalone merge token will display this field for all donors on a campaign or form. While this is a standalone option, we recommend using the dynamic tax receipt in most instances.
• $INCOMPLETE_GIFT_LINK$: Only recommended with the Incomplete Gift email. this link will allow donors to pick up where they left off in the giving process for an incomplete gift, instead of starting from scratch.

Note: Additional merge tokens will be available for any standard, custom, or school fields that are added to the pre-payment page. 

Additional Recurring Merge Tokens

The following merge tokens are available within recurring gift email confirmations.

Donation-level merge tokens in Recurring Gift Updated emails

When a Recurring Gift Updated email is sent for a processed installment—or when an admin resends an older installment receipt—donation-level merge tokens populate with data from that specific installment. Example tokens include $DONATION_ID$, $DONATION_AMT$, $DONATION_DATE$, $DONATION_TIME$, $DONATION_DATA$, $DONATION_TYPE$, $TAX_DEDUCTIBLE_AMOUNT$, $PAYMENT_TYPE$, $DAF_PROVIDER$, and $DAF_TRACKING_ID$. This ensures donors receive installment-specific details.

Subscription-level tokens (those starting with $RECURRING_*, such as $RECURRING_TOTAL_PAID$, $RECURRING_NEXT_RUN_DATE$, $RECURRING_TOTAL_CHARGES$, and $RECURRING_GIFT_SUMMARY$) continue to reflect the overall recurring subscription.

For non-installment events (for example, a card update or cancellation), donation-level tokens resolve from the parent recurring subscription as they did previously.

This change affects only how merge tokens are computed at the time the email is sent; your saved templates remain unchanged.

• $MANAGE_RECURRING_GIFT_LINK$
• $RECURRING_CARD_EXP$
• $RECURRING_FINAL_PAYMENT_DATE$: The last scheduled payment date for their recurring gift.
• $RECURRING_END_DATE$: The final payment date plus ~5-7 days, this is to account for any potential payment failures that could extend the recurring gift's lifespan
• $RECURRING_LAST_RUN_DATE$: The most recent charge date.
• $RECURRING_CANCEL_REASON$
• $RECURRING_FAILURE_REASON$
• $RECURRING_FREQUENCY$
• $RECURRING_GIFT_SUMMARY$
• $RECURRING_INSTALLMENT_AMOUNT$
• $RECURRING_MAX_CHARGES$
• $RECURRING_NEXT_RUN_DATE$
• $RECURRING_PAYMENT_TYPE$
• $RECURRING_REMAINING_CHARGES$
• $RECURRING_START_DATE$
• $RECURRING_TOTAL$
• $RECURRING_TOTAL_CHARGES$
• $RECURRING_TOTAL_PAID$
• $RECURRING_TOTAL_REMAINING$

Pledge Merge Tokens

The following merge tokens are available within email confirmations for pledges. Learn more about creating pledge forms.

• $MANAGE_PLEDGE_LINK$
• $PLEDGE_CARD_EXP$
• $PLEDGE_BALANCE_REMAINING$
• $PLEDGE_END_DATE$: The date for their final pledge payment.
• $PLEDGE_LAST_PAYMENT_DATE$: The most recent charge date.
• $PLEDGE_NEXT_PAYMENT_DATE$
• $PLEDGE_TOTAL_PAYMENT_COUNT$
• $PLEDGE_CANCEL_REASON$
• $PLEDGE_FAILURE_REASON$
• $PLEDGE_FREQUENCY$
• $PLEDGE_INSTALLMENT_AMOUNT$
• $PLEDGE_PAYMENTS_MADE$
• $PLEDGE_PAYMENTS_REMAINING$
• $PLEDGE_START_DATE$
• $PLEDGE_TOTAL$

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I activate my template?

A: Click "Save and Publish" to activate changes to your email templates!

Q: Why does the test email show a "Fair Market Value of Incentive" and "Tax Deductible Amount" in the tax receipt section?

A: This is for illustrative purposes only. If you haven't enabled donation based incentives that include a fair market value, neither of these lines will display on your receipt.

Q: How can I know exactly what the email will look like for donors?

A: Send yourself a test! If you're extra curious, you can make a small test donation from your form or campaign.

Q: My receipt shows "Gift Designation: None Selected" (or no designation) even though the form had a pre‑selected designation. Why, and how do I make the designation appear on donor receipts?

A: The GC Default gift confirmation email only displays essential information and does not include donor designation details. Even if a donor selects a designation (or the form pre‑selects one), it will appear on the giving form and in the gift record, but not in the GC Default receipt.

To include designation details on donor receipts, create or edit a custom Gift Confirmation template and add one of these merge tokens in the email body:

• $DESIGNATION$ — displays the fund name
• $DESIGNATION_WITH_AMOUNT$ — displays the fund name and the applied amount

Steps to update your template:

1. Open the form or campaign in the admin and go to Settings > Giving Experience > Gift Confirmation Emails.
2. Select the Gift Receipt template to edit it and insert your chosen merge token in the email body.
3. Click Save and Publish to activate the custom template. The Email Status will update to show "Active + [timestamp]" indicating that your custom version is live.

Notes:

• Schools using a custom template already (anything other than GC Default) are unaffected.
• The Email Status indicator confirms which version donors receive: "Active + GC Default" means the simplified template is in use; "Active + [timestamp]" means your custom template is live.
• Choose $DESIGNATION$ for the fund name only or $DESIGNATION_WITH_AMOUNT$ for both the fund name and gift amount.

Q: Can I include my school's Tax ID/EIN on donor gift receipts?

A: Yes. The $TAX_RECEIPT$ merge token generates a tax receipt block with standard information but does not include your school's EIN automatically.

To display your EIN, add it as static text in a custom Gift Receipt template. Here’s how:

1. Go to Settings > Giving Experience > Gift Confirmation Emails and select the Gift Receipt template.
2. Place the $TAX_RECEIPT$ token where you want the dynamic receipt block, then add your EIN as static text nearby (for example: "Our Tax ID/EIN is [Your EIN]").
3. Click Save and Publish to update the template. The Email Status will change to "Active + [timestamp]" confirming the custom template is live.

Notes:

• GC Default receipts display only the simplified data and will not include your manual EIN text. A custom template is required.
• If using incentives with fair market value, the dynamic receipt block will include the Fair Market Value and Tax Deductible Amount only for qualifying donors. You may reference $TAX_DEDUCTIBLE_AMOUNT$ and $INCENTIVE_FAIR_MARKET_VALUE$ elsewhere if needed.

Example:

• Add your thank-you message in the Gift Receipt template. • Insert $TAX_RECEIPT$ where the receipt block should appear. • Below (or above) that block, type your static EIN line such as "Our Tax ID/EIN is [Your EIN]" to ensure every donor sees this information.