Donors can now leave you a message!

We’re pleased to announce the release of a new feature enabling donors to leave a message for their charity with their donation.

This is the most requested update from your donors and will be especially useful for those making donations on behalf of a loved one.

Our Product Manager, Will Hardy, explains:

What is it?

When a user makes a donation on the Justgiving site or via a dedicated donation facility (like here) they will be given the option of leaving a message for their charity as per the screen-grab below:

A donor is only able to leave a message if they reveal their details to the charity, so when a user starts typing in their message, the "Please tick here if you want The Demo Charity...." box (highlighted in red above) will be automatically ticked.

We have also updated the text in this option and included a tooltip to make it clearer to users what details are passed on to you. When you hover the mouse pointer over the sentence, the box below appears:

This will undoubtedly have an effect on your charity’s opt-in rates: if a donor leaves you a message, their details will appear in your online Charity Account.

Where can I find the message?

The donor’s message will only be available in the Payment and Direct Donation reports created in the Charity Account:

You will be able to see your donors’ messages by selecting the "Message from Donor" option when you decide on the columns to feature in your reports, as below in a Payment Report:

This "Message from Donor" column will not be visible if you are using saved custom column selections. You will have to select "JG Default View" to see this column and you can then set-up your customised columns again to include it if you wish.

This column will then be exported in the relevant section of your report and you will be able to see the donors’ contact details.

Please note this does not apply to donations made via fundraising pages, where sponsors can already leave a message on the page.

What should I do with it?

This functionality is most likely to be used by people making In Memory donations, so we would suggest you check your account frequently to find out what messages have been left. As you will see the contact details for all the donors, you are then able to contact them and thank them appropriately.

If you do receive a lot of ‘In Mem’ donations, we recommend you promote the new “donate” link on your own website.

If you have any questions, please contact me.