GC Labs: Smart Designation Nudge: Suggest a Second Fund at Checkout

Smart Designation Nudge: Suggest a Second Fund at Checkout

When a donor chooses a fund on your giving form, the Smart Designation Nudge suggests a small add-on gift to one more fund they're likely to care about. It shows up as a small card under the fund they picked. One tap adds it; one tap dismisses it. It never blocks checkout.

The nudge has two modes:

• Smart: GiveCampus recommends the fund, based on what donors at your school commonly support together. This is the default.
• Fixed Fund: You choose one fund, and every eligible donor on that form is nudged toward it.

This article covers how each mode works, exactly when donors see the nudge, and every setting you control.

At a glance

What donors see

1. A donor enters a gift amount and chooses a fund, for example $60 to Women's Basketball.
2. A card appears under that fund: "Add $10 to the Athletics Annual Fund?" with an Add button and an X to dismiss.
3. If they tap Add, the second fund joins their gift at $10 and the total becomes $70. They can still edit either amount.
4. If they dismiss it or simply keep going, the card disappears and doesn't come back during that visit.

The card is built for mobile first and sits inline on the form. It's never a pop-up.

When the nudge appears

All of these must be true for the nudge to surface:

• The donor chose the fund themselves, from the designation picker, from search, or by tapping a priority button.
• The donor has entered a gift amount above $0. If they pick a fund first, the card appears as soon as they enter an amount.
• It's the first fund the donor chose during this visit.
• There's room for another fund. The form's maximum number of designations is above 1, and the donor hasn't reached it.
• The suggested fund isn't already in their cart.

If a donor removes every fund and starts over, the nudge can appear again on the next fund they choose. Once a donor adds or dismisses it, it won't reappear in that visit.

When the nudge never appears

The nudge is designed to respond to a choice the donor made. If something else determines the fund for the donor, it stays off for the entire visit, even if the donor adds more funds later. That includes:

• Links that pre-select a fund, including URLs with auto-fill parameters, email and text links, personalized links, and tiered campaign links.
• Forms with only one selectable designation, or where the maximum number of designations is set to 1. (In this case the Designation Nudge setting is turned off, with a note to raise the maximum.)
• Pledge forms, membership forms, and the recurring gift management screen.
• Embedded forms, match and challenge forms, and event registration donation forms.

What about my form's default fund? If your form starts with a default fund (e.g., the Annual Fund), keeping that default doesn't trigger the nudge. If the donor adds another fund or swaps the default for a different one, the nudge appears on the fund they chose.

How the suggested amount is calculated

The add-on is 10% of the donor's gift, rounded up to the nearest $5, with a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $100.

• The card updates live if the donor changes their gift amount before adding.
• The donor can change the add-on amount after adding it.
• For recurring gifts, the add-on joins the same recurring gift and the card says so (e.g., "+$10/month").
• The amount rule is the same for every school and can't be changed in settings today.

Option 1: Smart Designation Nudge

Smart mode lets GiveCampus pick the fund. It's the default, so if you do nothing, this is what your donors see.

How Smart mode picks a fund

• The Smart Designation Nudge looks at the fund the donor just chose and recommends a fund that donors at your school often support alongside it. Recommendations are built from your own giving data, not other schools'.
• It shows one recommendation: the top-ranked fund that's eligible on this form and isn't already in the donor's gift.
• When a pairing is strong enough, the card adds a short reason, such as "Often given with Women's Basketball."
• Recommendations refresh nightly as new gifts come in.

Which funds Smart Mode can recommend

Smart only recommends funds that are already on the form and that a donor could choose themselves:

• Visible on this form
• A single fund, not a group or category
• Not a write-in ("Other") option
• Active (not hidden or deleted)

If you don't want a fund recommended, your options today are to hide it on the form or to switch that form to Fixed Fund. Lists of funds to include or exclude aren't available yet.

When Smart Mode doesn't have a recommendation

Smart generates its recommendations by measuring which other funds your donors tend to support alongside the chosen one. If the donor selects a fund that isn't backed by much giving history, Smart tilts its recommendations toward the funds that are most popular on your form. And if there's too little history behind the chosen fund for Smart to say anything useful, it won't make a recommendation at all.

When Smart doesn't have a strong recommendation:

• With a fallback fund set: the donor sees your fallback fund instead, under the same rules.
• With no fallback fund (the default): the donor sees no nudge.

Tip: If you want every eligible donor to see a nudge, set a fallback fund. A broad priority, such as the Annual Fund or a current-use scholarship fund, works well.

Set up Smart Mode

For your whole school

1. Go to Online Giving School-Level Settings → Donation Form.
2. In the Designation Nudge section, select Smart Designation Recommendation.
3. Optional: choose a fallback fund.
4. Save.

If your school-level fallback fund isn't on a given form, that form shows no nudge when Smart has no recommendation. You can set a different fallback on that form.

For one form

1. Open the form in the form builder and go to Form Settings → Designations.
2. In the Designation Nudge section, select Smart Designation Recommendation.
3. Optional: choose a fallback fund. The picker only lists funds on this form that can be nudged.
4. Save. Donors see the change on their next page load.

Option 2: Fixed Fund Designation Nudge

Fixed Fund mode puts you in charge. You pick one fund, and every eligible donor on that form is nudged toward it, whatever fund they chose. It's a good fit for a campaign priority, a brand-new fund with no giving history yet, or a form where you want full control over what donors see.

How Fixed Fund works

• You choose one fund per form.
• Donors see the nudge under the same rules as Smart mode (see When the nudge appears).
• If the donor's chosen fund is your fixed fund, they don't see a nudge. There's no backup in this mode.
• No reason line appears on the card; it simply suggests your fund.

Set up Fixed Fund mode

For one form

1. Open the form in the form builder and go to Form Settings → Designations.
2. In the Designation Nudge section, select Fixed Fund.
3. Search for and select your fund. The picker only lists funds on this form that can be nudged, so groups, hidden funds, and write-ins won't appear.
4. Save. Donors see the change on their next page load.

[Screenshot: Form-level settings, Fixed Fund mode]

For your whole school

1. Go to Online Giving School-Level Settings → Donation Form.
2. In the Designation Nudge section, select Fixed Fund and choose your fund.
3. Save.

If the school-level fixed fund isn't on a given form, the nudge is off for that form. You can choose a different fixed fund on that form.

If your fixed fund changes

If the fund is later hidden, deleted, or removed from the form, the nudge stops showing right away and the Designation Nudge section shows a warning. Choose a new fund and save to turn it back on.

Which mode should I use?

You can mix modes across forms. For example, use Smart on your main giving form and Fixed Fund on a Giving Day form.

Turn the nudge off

• School-wide: Online Giving School-Level Settings → Donation Form → Designation Nudge → Off.
• One form: Form Settings → Designations → Designation Nudge → Off.
• GC Labs members: you can also toggle off the Smart Designation Nudge beta in your GC Labs portal.

Changes in the app take effect on the donor's next page load. You can turn it back on anytime.

Measuring impact

Holdout group (during the test period)

While we measure impact, half of eligible donors on each form are randomly placed in a holdout group. A donor stays in the same group if they come back to that form.

The holdout lets us compare giving with and without the nudge, so we can show you what it adds.

FAQs