Charitable Documentation

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

How to Create a Tribute Campaign in Charitable

Requires: 

  • Charitable Pro 1.8.16+
  • Charitable Tributes 1.0.0+

There are two ways to collect tribute gifts, and they suit different moments.

  1. Run the setup wizard to create a dedicated tribute campaign with its own shareable page. This is the right choice when a family asks for gifts “in lieu of flowers,” or when you want a single page focused on one honoree.
  2. Turn on the tribute option for a campaign you already have. This is the right choice when you want any donor to be able to dedicate their gift on a general donation form, without creating a separate page.

This guide covers both.

Here’s a sample of a Tribute page:

Hero image of a cat with the title'Sarah The Cat' and a red 'Donate in Their Memory' button; below is a 'Photos & Memories' gallery with six cat photos in a grid.

For more on Tributes, see our Charitable Tributes Guide.

Launching a tribute campaign with the wizard

When a family asks for memorial gifts, speed matters. The setup wizard walks you from a starting template to a live, shareable tribute page in well under 2 minutes. From anywhere in the Tributes area, click New Tribute Campaign at the top of the page to open it.

The wizard has five steps, shown as “Step 1 of 5” along the top so you always know how far you are.

Step 1: Pick a template

Templates are pre-built starting points, grouped into categories so you can find the right tone quickly.

  • Memorial – In Loving Memory, In Lieu of Flowers, and a Memorial Anniversary.
  • Celebration – Birthday Tribute, Anniversary Tribute, Wedding Gift, and New Baby.
  • Support – a Recovery or Support Fund.
  • Custom – start from a blank tribute and build it your own way.

The template you pick sets the default tribute type, the wording, and which honoree details the next step asks for. You can change everything later in the block editor.

Step 2: Who is this for?

This step is where you name the honoree and add a few details about them.

  • Honoree name (required) – the person, pet, or cause being honored.
  • Dates – depending on the template, you may be asked for a date of birth and a date of passing. These power the date range on the Honoree Card block and can anchor annual giving.
  • Photo – click to choose an image from your media library.

If the template you picked is a support fund created with the honoree’s knowledge, you will also see a consent checkbox to confirm they agreed to be featured.

Step 3: How should donors share?

Here you decide how donors interact with the page.

Create a Tribute Campaign dialog with pre-selected'Send an eCard' and a grid of visibility options (Anyone, Family Approval, Members Only, Private Link).
  • Enable e-card to the notification recipient – let donors notify a loved one that a gift was made.
  • Enable annual recurring opt-in – let donors turn a one-time gift into an annual tribute. Requires the Recurring Donations addon to actually charge renewals.
  • Privacy level – choose how visible the tribute is: public, family approval required, members only, or private link only.
  • Enable donor messages – let donors leave a personal message on the gift.

Step 4: Where does the money go?

Every tribute campaign needs a destination for the funds.

Modal for creating a tribute campaign with two options: start a new campaign or use an existing one; campaign name preset'In Memory of Billy The Cat' and a goal of $1000 input; Back and Create Tribute Campaign buttons visible.
  • Create a new campaign (fund) – Tributes creates a Charitable campaign behind the scenes and points the tribute page at it. You can give it a name and an optional goal amount.
  • Use an existing campaign – point the tribute at one of your current campaigns from the dropdown, so the gifts roll into a fund you already run.

Step 5: Done

The final step gives you everything you need to go live.

Tribute campaign setup dialog, showing ready message, a URL to copy, a shortcode to copy, publish options (Live Now or Save as Draft), and footer actions (Customize, View Page, Finish).
  • Choose to Publish the page now or Save as Draft to finish it later.
  • Click Customize in editor to open the tribute page in the block editor, where the 6 tribute blocks are ready to use.
  • Copy the share link to send to the family, or the shortcode to embed the tribute somewhere else on your site.

That is it. Your honoree record and tribute page now exist, and any gift made to the page links to the honoree automatically.

Adding the tribute option to an existing campaign

You do not need a dedicated page to accept tributes. You can turn the tribute option on for any campaign, and donors will see it on that form. Gifts that include a tribute still create and link honoree records, exactly like the wizard-built pages.

  1. Edit the campaign in the Campaign Builder.
  2. Open the Settings area and find the Tributes panel.
  3. Turn on Enable tributes for this campaign and save.

Now, when a donor gives to that campaign, they can choose to dedicate their gift. Nothing changes for donors who just want to give normally; the tribute fields only appear when a donor opts in. For exactly what the donor sees, read The Tribute Donation Experience.

Choosing how the tribute fields appear

In Tributes » Settings » Donation Form you can choose the form pattern that controls where the tribute fields sit on the form:

  • Blocks inline – the tribute option appears in the same section of the form as the donation amount.
  • Blocks step – the tribute option appears on its own step in a multi-step form.

You can also customize the donor context line, the short bit of helper text shown above the tribute fields, so it speaks in your organization’s voice.

Tips

  • Use the wizard for one-honoree pages and the campaign option for “any gift can be a tribute” forms. Many organizations use both.
  • A wizard-built tribute campaign always links its gifts to its honoree, even if the donor does not re-enter the honoree name. The honoree and tribute type are properties of the page, so every gift counts.
  • You can run the wizard as many times as you like. Each run creates one tribute page and one honoree record.

Developer reference

Wizard AJAX endpoints

The wizard is a modal driven by wp_ajax_ endpoints. All require a nonce and the manage_charitable_settings capability.

ActionPurpose
charitable_tributes_wizard_openInitialize a wizard session.
charitable_tributes_wizard_stepRender and handle a single step.
charitable_tributes_wizard_set_campaign_statusToggle the new campaign between publish and draft.
charitable_tributes_wizard_discardDiscard an in-progress wizard session.

Registering a custom template

Templates are filterable, so you can add your own starting points to the picker.

add_filter( 'charitable_tributes_templates', function ( $templates ) {
    $templates['scholarship-fund'] = array(
        'label'        => __( 'Memorial Scholarship', 'your-textdomain' ),
        'category'     => 'memorial',
        'tribute_type' => 'in-memory-of',
    );
    return $templates;
} );

See the Developer Reference for the full template array shape.

Campaign meta

When the tribute option is enabled on a campaign, Tributes stores _campaign_tribute_enabled on the campaign post. Wizard-built fund campaigns also carry _charitable_tributes_managed_fund, which is how a gift to that fund is automatically associated with the campaign’s honoree at completion.

Related

Helpful Links

🤝 Get help when you need it

Connect with Customer Support →  

📑 Find the guide you need

Browse the Documentation Hub →  

⬇️ Download proven strategies, campaign ideas, and expert tools
Get the Fundraising Kit →  

💸 Get Free Fundraising Resources
Head to the Charitable Fundraising Hub

🤔 Got questions about Charitable?
Charitable FAQs

Need help understanding non-profit terms and jargon?
See our Non-Profit Glossary

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

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!

recurring donations updated

💳 Introducing Card Updates: Fix Expired Cards Without Losing Subscriptions!

newExpired or updated credit cards are one of the biggest silent leaks in recurring fundraising. With Card Updates in the Recurring Donations extension, donors can now refresh their payment details directly—keeping their subscription, schedule, and giving history completely intact.

No canceled plans, no lost history, and zero administrative headache for your team.

What’s New:

⚡ 30-Second Self-Service: Donors get a dedicated “Update Card” button in their dashboard that opens Stripe’s secure, PCI-compliant Customer Portal to update card details instantly.

🔒 Scoped & Safe Access: Scoped exclusively to card updates by default, donors can’t accidentally cancel or alter their plans from inside the portal, keeping your webhooks and data in sync.

🤝 Admin-Assisted Support: Helping a donor on the phone? Open their secure Stripe portal in one click from your admin screen or generate a single-use update link to email them.

📋 Automatic Audit Trail: Every payment method update is recorded automatically with a timestamp in both system-wide logs and the individual donor’s profile.

Ready to protect your recurring revenue? Get the Plus or Pro plan and update Recurring Donations to 2.3.0+ and enable “Update Payment Method” under your Settings today!

Integration page builder

Divi Fans Rejoice! Native Divi 5 Campaign Progress Bar Module!

With our new native Divi 5 module, you can anchor your microsites with real-time fundraising stats directly on the visual canvas. Here’s how it works, and why it’s worth turning on today.

Create campaign updates that are VISUAL AND LIVE. You can also:

📊 Campaign Progress Bar: Drop a live progress bar into any Divi 5 layout and show goal progress in real time.

🎨 Deep styling controls: Easily customize the bar and track color, height, and radius to match your brand perfectly.

👁️ Visual Builder ready: Configure and preview everything directly on the Divi canvas as a first-class module.

🔁 Identical rendering: The same exact engine powers this module, meaning consistent design without legacy shims.

✅ Faster launches: Never leave the Divi 5 interface to configure shortcodes or guess how your goal labels will look.

Learn more here.

Integration page builder

👉🏻 New in Charitable: Native Elementor Widgets for Seamless Campaign Building

With native Elementor widgets, you design donation campaigns right alongside the rest of your page without touching code. Here’s how it works, and why it’s worth turning on today.

Create fundraising pages that are VISUAL, NATIVE, AND SHORTCODE-FREE. You can also:

⚡ Mini Donation: Add a compact, high-converting donation widget with preset amounts and full color control.

⏳ Campaign Countdown: Build urgency for a deadline-driven appeal, complete with optional confetti when the goal is hit.

📣 Donation Feed: Prove momentum by showing visitors the social proof of real people giving right now.

🏆 Donor Leaderboard: Celebrate top supporters with gold, silver, and bronze styling to spark friendly giving.

🖼️ Campaign Showcase: Feature multiple campaigns in a landing page grid or carousel, with search, filters, and badges.

Learn more here.

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.