Charitable Documentation

Learn how to make the most of Charitable with clear, step-by-step instructions.

How to Setup and Use DonorTrust Real-Time Notifications

DonorTrust shows recent donations made on your website in real-time. This is a great way to build trust and encourage more people to give to your cause!

Why it Works: People are more likely to trust what others are doing. When visitors see that others are donating, they’re more likely to trust your organization and donate too.

With DonorTrust, real-time notifications in neat non-intrusive popups will appear on your site. Here’s an example:

DonorTrust popup

Setting up DonorTrust notifications is simple and easy to do. Let’s get started!

Prerequisites

  • A WordPress site with Charitable Pro (1.8.7.3+) installed. Not sure how to do that? See our guide on How to Install Charitable »
  • At least one campaign with paid donations.

DonorTrust is an addon that comes with the Charitable Pro plugin and is available on the Plus, Pro, or Elite plan.

You can install and activate it like any other Charitable addon. See our documentation on how to download and activate addons easily.

If you are a Charitable Lite user, consider Upgrading to Pro to access DonorTrust and many more features. You may also see the difference between Charitable Lite vs Pro.

Step 1: Enabling DonorTrust

We’ve made it as easy as 1 click to enable this feature. Go to the Charitable » Settings » Advanced tab within your WordPress admin.

Open the DonorTrust tab, and you’ll see a toggle switch to enable this feature.

Enable DonorTrust

Once enabled, new settings will appear.

Step 2: Selecting Campaigns to Display

In the Campaigns section, you can choose which campaigns you want to show notifications for. Simply select individual campaigns and use the arrows to move them to the right column.

When a campaign is added to the right column, Charitable will start creating and displaying popups for donations made to that specific campaign.

Add campaigns to DonorTrust

You can choose to quickly add all active campaigns or all completed campaigns.

Step 3: Making Clickable Popups

By default, the popups will link to the campaign page. This option is already enabled. When someone clicks on a notification, the campaign will open in a new tab.

Clickable link in DonorTrust

If you’d prefer to only show the recent donation information without links, turn this switch off.

Enable link to campaign in DonorTrust

Step 4: Choosing a Minimum Donation Amount

You might not want to show every donation. You can set a minimum donation amount, like $25 or $100. Decide what amount you think will have a positive impact on potential donors.

Minimum donation amount in DonorTrust

The default amount is set to $0.00, which means all donations will be displayed.

Step 5: Setting up Display Rules

Charitable lets you control where and to whom your popups appear. First, choose who can see the notifications using the Show To options:

  • All visitors
  • Only logged out users
  • Only logged in users
Show to in donortrust

Below that, you can choose where the popups appear using the Show On options:

Show on options in donortrust

DonorTrust popups can appear on any frontend page of your site. You can also select specific pages:

  • The homepage
  • Campaign pages
  • Donation form pages
  • Individual WordPress pages

You can choose as many of these options as you want.

Step 6: Customizing the Popup Details

Next, you can control what details appear in the popup. These include:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Donation amount
  • State/region
  • Country
What data to display in DonorTrust

Important: Remember to consider privacy and data laws when choosing this information.

You can also choose how you want the popups to be ordered. You can arrange them by donation date, campaign creation date, or randomly.

Order and amount in donortrust settings
Order and amount in donortrust settings

You can also choose the maximum number of donation records to display. We recommend setting it at around 10, up to a maximum of 20.

Step 7: Increasing the Trust Factor

Below this, you can choose to show how long ago the donation was made, adding a “Time ago” detail. This helps build trust.

Verified badge in DonorTrust

You can also display a validation checkmark to further add trust and credibility. This will add text like “Verified by [Your Organization Name]” to the popup, for example, “Verified by World Charity Inc.”

DonorTrust verified badge

By default, Charitable will show the initials of the donor. You can choose to add an avatar instead.

That’s it! Save Changes, and your popups will now appear on your site according to the settings you’ve chosen.

DonorTrust is a simple yet powerful tool to help increase donations by building trust and showing social proof. You can leverage the power of real-time notifications and encourage more visitors to support your cause.

Next up are frequently asked questions to help clear up any doubts you may have.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Charitable?

Charitable is a powerful and flexible WordPress donation plugin designed to help nonprofits and charities easily accept online donations. It simplifies the process of creating donation forms, managing campaigns, and tracking contributions.

What is DonorTrust? Do I need to use it with DonorTrust?

DonorTrust is a feature within Charitable Pro. It displays real-time notifications of recent donations made on your site. This is a form of social proof that can encourage more visitors to contribute to your cause.

How many donation records should I display?

Most websites display 5-10 donations. This provides enough social proof without creating information overload or making the page feel cluttered.

Can I customize the appearance of the popups?

Yes, you can control the details displayed in the popups (name, donation amount, country, etc.). You can also change the order the records are displayed and control where popups appear on your site.

Is there a privacy concern with displaying donor information?

Yes, that’s an important consideration. Be mindful of privacy laws and only display information that donors are comfortable with. Consider showing only donation amounts and a general location (e.g., State/Region) and avoid displaying full names or other personally identifiable information if you are unsure of local rules.

Can I test DonorTrust before making it live?

Yes. Once you’ve saved settings, you can manually create a test donation to verify that the popups appear and are displaying correctly. Make sure to view your site as a visitor before fully launching it.

What if I don’t want the popups to be clickable?

You can easily turn off the clickable link within the settings; the popups will simply display the donation information without redirecting to the campaign page.

Does DonorTrust work with all WordPress themes?

DonorTrust should work with most well-coded WordPress themes.

You may also want to connect your Charitable campaigns to Google Analytics to get indepth insights on your campaigns.

To make the most of Charitable and its features, check out our Documentation Hub »

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

Last Modified:

What's New In Charitable

🔔 Subscribe to get our latest updates
📧 Subscribe to Emails

Email Subscription

Join our Newsletter

We won’t spam you. We only send an email when we think it will genuinely help you. Unsubscribe at any time!

Addon New

🤯 New Addon: Campaign Updates

Keep your supporters informed and engaged with every step of your progress! Share the ongoing impact of your mission and build lasting trust with your donor community!

The Ultimate Engagement Tool

Fundraising is a journey, not a one-time event. Now, you can easily provide real-time updates directly on your campaign pages, ensuring your donors stay connected to the causes they care about most.

📣 Easy Storytelling: Quickly post text updates, milestones, or field reports to show exactly how donations are being put to work, keeping the momentum alive throughout your fundraiser.

🏗️ Visual Builder Integration: Seamlessly add the Updates block anywhere on your page using our drag-and-drop builder, or use a simple shortcode to display news in widgets and sidebars.

📩 Build Donor Trust: By consistently sharing progress and success stories, you create a transparent giving experience that encourages recurring support and deeper community involvement.

Integration New

Build Beautiful Fundraising Pages Visually with WPBakery Integration

We are excited to announce our brand-new integration with WPBakery, one of the most popular WordPress page builders, designed to help you create stunning layouts for your campaigns without touching a single line of code.

The Ultimate Design Experience

Designing your nonprofit’s website should be as simple as your mission is powerful. Now, you can bring Charitable functionality directly into your WPBakery workflow, using native elements to build high-converting donation pages and campaign grids in seconds.

🖱️ Drag-and-Drop Building: Easily add donation forms, campaign progress bars, and “Donate Now” buttons to your layouts using the WPBakery elements you already know and love.

🎨 Total Creative Control: Customize the look and feel of your fundraising elements using WPBakery’s native design options. Adjust margins, padding, and borders to ensure your campaigns fit perfectly with your site’s branding.

📱 Seamlessly Responsive: Every element is built to be fully responsive and mobile-friendly, ensuring your donors have a smooth, professional experience whether they are giving from a phone, tablet, or desktop.

Integration New

🖼️ Add Image Galleries to Fundraising Campaigns With Envira Gallery

Showcase the impact of your mission like never before. We are excited to announce our brand-new integration with Envira Gallery, the best WordPress gallery plugin, designed to help you tell your story through powerful, high-performance visuals.

The Ultimate Storytelling Experience

A picture is worth a thousand words – and now, it’s worth even more for your fundraising. Connect your visual impact directly to your cause by creating stunning, responsive galleries that engage donors and drive contributions.

🖼️ Visual Impact: Easily create beautiful, fast-loading galleries to show your nonprofit’s work in action, from field reports to event highlights.

🔗 Seamless Connection: Link gallery images directly to your fundraising campaigns, making it effortless for inspired visitors to go from viewing a photo to making a donation.

📱 Perfectly Responsive: Whether your donors are on a phone, tablet, or desktop, your galleries will look professional and load lightning-fast, ensuring a smooth experience on every device.

Integration New

👉🏻 New Divi Integration In Charitable Pro

Bring the power of Charitable directly into your favorite page builder and maintain total creative control with our brand-new Divi integration.

The Ultimate Design Experience

No more switching back and forth or relying on complex shortcodes. Use dedicated Divi modules to build, style, and launch high-converting donation pages without ever leaving the Divi Builder.

⚡ Native Divi Modules: Effortlessly drag and drop your donation forms, progress bars, and campaign details exactly where you want them.

⚙️ Visual Customization: Tweak colors, fonts, and spacing using Divi’s familiar design settings to ensure your fundraiser matches your brand perfectly.

🚀 Live Visual Editing: See your changes in real-time. What you see in the builder is exactly what your donors will see, ensuring a seamless giving experience every time.

donation form New

👉🏻 New Campaign Selector For Donation Forms

Take your campaign management to the next level. Find the perfect fundraiser for any page and stay in your creative flow with our new Campaign Selector integration.

The Ultimate Selection Tool

No more hunting for IDs or creating one page for every donation form. Use the new Campaign Selector to allow users to switch to a campaign with no code.

⚡ Instant Search: Quickly find any campaign leaving your page or post.

⚙️ Editor Agnostic: Whether you’re using the Block Editor, Elementor, or WPBakery, selecting your campaigns is now a unified experience.

🚀 Real-Time Previews: See exactly which campaign you’ve selected instantly, ensuring your donors always see the right cause.