Charitable Documentation

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

Popular Resources

Start Here

Donor Management

Recurring Donations

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Integrations

Extensions

How to Switch Donation Form Templates

In Charitable, you can choose between two premade donation form templates. These templates are designed to have all the required fields you need in your donation form.

You can choose to display a standard template or a minimal view. This guide will show you how to find and switch your donation form templates.

Prerequisites

You need to have Charitable 1.8.3.6 version (or above) installed and activated on your WordPress site.

Switching Donation Form Templates

In your WordPress dashboard, open Charitable » Settings tab. Under the General tab, open the Donation Form page.

Find donation form settings page

Here, you’ll see the Form Template field where you can switch templates using the drop down menu.

By default, Charitable displays the Standard form template.

The Minimal view attempts to reduce the space taken up by the donation form. It is designed to give you a donation form that is more compact.

Donation form templates

The minimal look is best suited for when the donation form is on a separate page.

Once you’ve made your selection, scroll down and click on the Save Changes button.

How to Make The Donation Form Shorter

If you find the donation form longer than you’d like on your website, in the same settings page, right below the Donation Form template options, there is a field “Only show required fields”.

Set this to “Yes”.

This will make Charitable’s donation form a “short form”.

Not sure how to create a donation form?

Watch our tutorial here:

Fundraising Tips and Advice

We regularly share practical guides, proven strategies, and insider tips to help you raise more funds and build stronger donor relationships. Join thousands of nonprofits who get our best content delivered straight to them:

FAQs for Charitable Donation Form Templates

What are the available donation form templates in Charitable?

In Charitable, you can choose between two premade donation form templates: the Standard template and the Minimal view template.

How can I switch between donation form templates in Charitable?

To switch templates, navigate to the WordPress dashboard and go to Charitable » Settings. Under the General tab, open the Donation Form page, and use the Form Template dropdown menu to select your desired template.

What is the difference between the Standard and Minimal templates?

The Standard template includes all the required fields in a more expansive layout. The Minimal view is a more compact design, reducing space and is ideal for donation forms placed on separate pages.

What version of Charitable do I need to use these templates?

You need to have Charitable version 1.8.3.6 or above installed and activated on your WordPress site.

How can I make the donation form shorter?

In the same settings page where you choose the template, there is a “Only show required fields” option below the Donation Form template options. Set this option to “Yes” to convert Charitable’s donation form into a shorter version.

Can I customize the appearance of my donation forms? 

Yes. You can customize colors, form templates (standard or minimal), and field display options. You can also use custom CSS and code snippets.

I made changes to settings but they’re not showing up. What should I do? 

Always click “Save Changes” after making any modifications. If changes still don’t appear, try clearing your website cache if you’re using a caching plugin.

What’s the difference between displaying donation forms “on the same page” vs “on a separate page”?

  • Same page: The donation form appears directly on your campaign page
  • Separate page: Donors are redirected to a dedicated donation page
  • Modal: The form appears in a popup overlay

Choose based on your preference for user experience and page design.

I’m completely new to Charitable. Where should I start? 

Follow this Getting Started guide here and start with the Setup Wizard that appears when you first install Charitable. It takes about 5 minutes and will guide you through the essential configuration steps including payment setup and creating your first campaign. If you missed the wizard, you can access all these settings manually through Charitable » Settings.

Where can I get support if I have issues?

  • Free users: Use the WordPress.org support forums
  • Pro users: Contact support directly for priority assistance
  • Documentation: Check the comprehensive documentation library
  • Community: Join the newsletter and follow social channels for tips and updates

Are there video tutorials available? 

Yes! Subscribe to the Charitable YouTube channel for step-by-step tutorials and success stories.

We hope these FAQs help! 

Need support? Have a question? If you are a lite/free user of Charitable, you can reach out to our team on the WordPress.org support forums and our team will respond in a timely fashion. If you have an active license, feel free to reach out us directly for priority support.

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

Submit a Support Ticket
Contact Us

Last Modified:

What's New In Charitable

View The Latest Updates
🔔 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

🗒️ Custom Receipts… New Addon!

With Custom Receipts, you decide which page your donors see, on every campaign. Here’s how it works, and why it’s worth turning on today.

Left side shows a donation receipt with donation number, date, total, and payment method for a gift to Anywhere, titled 'One Family Gets Clean Water For A Week.'

Create receipts that are CUSTOM TO THE DONOR OR CAMPAIGN. You can also:

📅 Year-end appeal: Reinforce the goal and invite donors to share while momentum is high.

🎗️ Memorial or tribute campaign: Give a gentle, respectful thank-you that fits the moment.

💎 Major gifts: Show a special message only to donors who give above a threshold.

🔁 Recurring growth: Invite one-time donors to become monthly supporters right on the receipt.

🌍 Global campaigns: Surface a country-specific note, like a Gift Aid reminder, only where it applies.

Learn more here.

New templates

🤩 New Beacon Campaign Templates w/ “Hero” Block!

With the new Beacon Campaign Templates for Charitable Pro, you can launch a stunning, full-width fundraising page that instantly captures visitor attention above the fold.

Fundraising page header for Save Maple Grove Park with a donation widget and a small square photo of a sunlit tree thumbnail on the left.

🔦 Above-the-Fold Impact: Lead with a full-width hero image, your logo, and your goal with a donation widget locked right on top of the banner so your ask and momentum register instantly without scrolling.

📐 Two Flexible Layouts: Choose between a structured two-column layout for side-by-side storytelling and supporting details, or a clean one-column view designed for uninterrupted long-form narratives.

⚡ All-in-One Hero Field: Powered by the new Campaign Hero field, bringing background media, live progress bars, custom donation amounts, and recurring giving tabs together into a single cohesive block that can be dropped into any layout.

🎨 Automatic Theme Matching: The hero banner and donation widget automatically inherit your campaign theme’s button and accent colors, ensuring your entire presentation stays beautifully on-brand without touching a line of CSS.

Learn more here.

donation form Feature New

📝 Donation Form Block: Embed a Working Donation Form Anywhere

With the new Donation Form Block for Charitable Pro, you can drop a fully working donation form directly onto any page or post in the WordPress block editor. No redirects, no page reloads, and zero friction between reading your story and making a contribution.

📝 Drop Forms Anywhere: Place a working form directly onto your homepage, inside a story-driven blog post, on a dedicated landing page, or within a campaign announcement.

🎯 Dynamic Campaign Binding: Easily choose a specific campaign from the block sidebar or set it to automatically bind to whichever campaign is currently being viewed.

📐 Full vs. Minimal Form Views: Switch between a full layout or a compact minimal view to perfectly fit sidebars, narrow columns, or wide landing pages.

🎨 Scoped No-Code Styling: Customize typography, container spacing, border radius, amount buttons, and accent colors independently for every form instance without touching a line of CSS.

Learn more here.

ambassadors New

👤 Creator Profiles: Put a Face to Every Peer-to-Peer Campaign

Ambassadors 3.3.0 now provies Creator Profiles — giving your supporters a permanent, shareable public home that turns one-time fundraisers into ongoing relationships.

👤 Public Creator Pages: Give every fundraiser an instant, clean landing page at /creator/their-name/ to showcase their custom avatar, bio, and a browsable grid of their campaigns.

📊 Proof of Impact: Boost donor trust by displaying site-wide milestones on the profile—like total funds raised and total donor counts.

💳 Interactive Hover Cards: When donors hover over a creator’s name on a campaign page, a compact card expands with their bio and social handles right at the moment of decision.

📍 Responsible Location Sharing: Allow creators to safely show local supporters where they are based using only city, state, and country details.

🛠️ Self-Serve Customization: Fundraisers can update their own profiles and link up to six social networks directly from the My Campaigns hub, saving you admin time.

Ready to empower your advocates? Update to Ambassadors 3.3.0 and turn on “Enable Public Creator Page” today!

Improvement Payments

📱 Turn Mobile Scrollers Into Donors: Meet Charitable’s Mollie Upgrade

Losing mobile supporters because they hate typing out long card numbers on their phones? Charitable’s updated Mollie integration features:

⚡ One-Tap Wallet Checkout: Enable donors to complete their gifts instantly using Apple Pay or Google Pay with a simple face scan, fingerprint, or tap.

💰 No Extra PCI Burden: Skip complex domain verification and security compliance since all wallet transactions run safely through Mollie’s hosted checkout.

🛠️ Custom Cancel Routing: Keep the experience predictable by automatically sending donors who back out to your cancellation page, or use developer filters to route them to a custom page.

Visit this page to learn more.

View All Announcements