This guide covers two tools that often get used together: unique tracking links (short links that measure clicks and attribute gifts to a channel) and autofill links (URLs that pre-fill the giving form with an amount, designation, recurring frequency, and more). It also explains why your click counts may differ from your email vendor's, and what donors see if they follow a link to a campaign that isn't live yet.
Unique tracking links
What they are
A unique tracking link is a short URL—formatted like givecampus.com/s/abc123—that redirects to a destination you choose and records activity along the way. Create one for each channel (an email, a postcard QR code, a coach's social post) and you'll be able to see clicks, gifts, and dollars per link in your unique tracking link report.
Creating one
From your campaign, form, or event admin view, open the tracking links section, give the link a name (this is the label you'll see in reports—make it descriptive, like "FY26 Spring Appeal Postcard"), and choose the destination. GiveCampus generates the short link for you.
A tracking link can point to:
- A campaign page
- A tiered (tier 2 or tier 3) landing page
- A giving form
- An event page
Short links and your custom domain
Short links are always generated on the GiveCampus domain (givecampus.com/s/...)—they can't be created on your school's custom domain (like give.school.edu). The destination can absolutely be a page on your custom domain; only the short link itself lives on givecampus.com. If you need a branded URL for print, create a redirect on your own domain (for example, school.edu/give-now) that points at the GiveCampus short link—you'll keep both the friendly URL and the tracking.
Using tracking links with QR codes
QR codes work great with tracking links: generate the QR code from the short link so scans are counted. If you also want a typed-out URL under the QR code, print the short link itself (givecampus.com/s/abc123)—it's the URL that tracks. Don't print the long destination URL, since visits to it won't credit your link.
Heads-up: If your campaign is still in draft, its pages and giving form aren't public yet—anyone following your link or QR code will hit a sign-in page. Test your printed links after the campaign (or its pre-launch page) is live, not before.
How clicks are counted—and why your email vendor shows more
GiveCampus counts a click when a real visitor lands on the destination page through your link, with two safeguards:
- One count per visitor session. If the same person clicks your link five times in one sitting, that's one click in your report.
- Known bots are filtered. Link-preview crawlers from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google aren't counted.
Email platforms count differently: they typically log every click event, including repeat clicks and—significantly—automated clicks from corporate email security scanners that "click" every link in every message before delivery. That's why an email vendor can report two or three times the clicks GiveCampus shows. Neither number is wrong; they're measuring different things. For donor behavior, the GiveCampus count is the conservative, deduplicated view—and gifts and dollars per link are the numbers that matter most.
Gift attribution
When a visitor arrives through a tracking link, their session is tagged, and a gift they make is credited to that link in your unique tracking link report. On campaigns, you can also send donors to a specific giving form with tier credit using the tc=parameter (for example, /campaigns/12345/donations/new?tc=678), which credits the gift to that tier 2 or tier 3 page.
Autofill links
Autofill links pre-fill the giving form so donors land with their amount, designation, or recurring choice already selected—fewer clicks, more completed gifts. There are two flavors: URL parameters you can add to any giving form link, and personalized autofill links generated in bulk from a CSV.
URL parameters you can add yourself
Start from your giving form URL (it looks like .../campaigns/12345/donations/new) and add parameters after a ?, joining multiple parameters with &.
| What you want to pre-fill | Parameter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Gift amount | value | ?value=100 |
| One designation | designation | ?designation=annualfund |
| Multiple designations | designation_1, designation_2, ... | ?designation_1=annualfund&designation_2=athletics |
| Recurring gift | recur with period | ?recur=true&period=monthly |
| Number of installments | recur_length | &recur_length=12 |
| Offer a match | donation_type=match | ?donation_type=match |
| Offer a challenge | donation_type=challenge | ?donation_type=challenge |
| Pre-select an incentive | reward_id | ?reward_id=4567 |
| Credit a tier 2/3 page | tc | ?tc=678 |
| Source tracking | utm_source, utm_medium, etc. | ?utm_source=email |
A few notes:
- Designation parameters use the designation's URL-friendly name. You can find each designation's autofill value in your designation settings, or ask support to send you the list.
- You can combine parameters:
?value=50&designation=annualfund&recur=true&period=monthlypre-fills a $50 monthly recurring gift to the Annual Fund. - One amount per link. URL parameters can pre-fill multiple designations, but not a separate dollar amount for each one—the donor splits the total on the form. If you need per-designation amounts pre-filled, use personalized autofill links (below), or send one link per designation.
- Match and challenge links only work on campaigns that allow donor matches and challenges.
- Recurring start dates can't be set by URL parameter—donors choose timing on the form where available.
Personalized autofill links (bulk, from a CSV)
For appeals where every donor should see their own ask amount and details—including Smart Ask Amounts—use personalized autofill links:
- From your campaign or form's tracking section, download the autofill links header template. The columns reflect the fields your form can pre-fill (for example,
value,payer_name,payer_email,zipcode,addr_country). - Fill one row per donor and upload the file.
- Download the generated file: each row now includes a personalized link ending in
?aft=...—a token that pre-fills that donor's details. Merge that column into your mail merge, email platform, or GC Outreach send.
Tip: The most common upload problem is misaligned columns—usually from editing the header row or letting a spreadsheet shift values into the wrong column. Keep the template's headers exactly as downloaded, and spot-check the preview screen before generating links. If the preview shows values under the wrong headers, fix the CSV and re-upload.
Common questions
Can I get a tracking link on our give.school.edu domain? The short link itself is always on givecampus.com. Point a redirect from your own domain at the short link if you need a branded URL.
Why are my QR code links sending people to a login page? The campaign or form is still in draft. Links work for the public once it's live (a live pre-launch page counts—visitors will see the countdown page until launch).
My email platform shows 1,500 clicks but GiveCampus shows 500. Which is right? Both, for what they measure. GiveCampus de-duplicates by visitor session and filters known bots; email vendors count every click event, including security scanners. Compare trends within one system rather than across systems.
Can one link pre-fill several designations with different amounts? Not with URL parameters—multiple designations, one total amount. Use personalized autofill links or separate links per designation.
Can I link straight to a section of the giving form, like the employer matching box? No—giving form links open at the top of the form. There's no supported anchor for specific sections.
Where do I see results? The unique tracking link report on your campaign or form shows clicks, gifts, and dollars per link. To see every tracking link across your account, pull the report from each campaign or ask support for a consolidated export.
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