Ideas Bank

Guest checkout is now deployed across the website for US donors by default

Agree! Blackbaud says "make it easy" yet they have made it hard.

I agree. Having to login is both unnecessary and off putting for the potential donors. Many donations will be lost this way

Jaime, can you please develop this further so that we get enough info to connect their Just Giving donation to their preexisting eTapestry account? We have a bunch of donations under Guest Checkout eTap account which absolutely stinks when we go to an account and don't see that they donated $X,XXX to a JustGiving campaign. Our only option is to delete Guest Checkout Journal Entries and then import JustGiving data, but only that data for the Guests...it's terrible!

I'm seeing all the comments, inclduing the ones from the  BB consultants, and thinking 'Why isn't JustGiving credit card processing set up in a similar manner to OnLine Express in Raiser's Edge?'   For those who haven't used Online Express, it is a 'module' within Raiser's Edge that allows you to set up your online giving so that it flows right into Raiser's Edge.  You set up the page, like you would do in JustGiving, and then set up the donation area, which asks for specific fields, like name, address, phone, etc., and then put the donation button on the page and tell the page to go live.  People make donations without having to register or create an account.   And for Etap users, our DIY Forms are basically the same process.  If JustGiving can't do that because of programming, maybe they can modify the program to allow for a customized donation button that would allow donors to be redirected if they don't want to register.  Just two thoughts.

Yes, guest checkout is not switched on for the US audience in regard to. It is not a control that charities will necessarily have. And where it would be it would be randomly tested (AB style) so there is no guarantee what pot you'd be in at any given time.

Hi Jamie,

What is the difference between creating a crowdfunding vs fundraising page? I would like to test out the guest checkout, but every time I try to create a new campaign in Just Giving, I don't see any way to enable guest checkout. Is this something that we just don't have access to?  

Hi Dana

Guest checkout is still something we're trialling and we know there is a lot of interest in the US. The challenge is to ensure the right amount of information is collected so that we can share supporter/donor details with the charity whilst encouraging people to speed through checkout. We continue to test and will in 2020 certainly be rolling out variations on this.

So no hard promises right now but watch this space.

Jamie

Have there been any updates on this?  I don't mind the donor being asked for details (name, address, etc.) but we are getting major push back on the requirement to create an account.  Thanks for any updates you can provide, Jamie!

Hi Jamie,

I am relieved that this is something already in the works. However, Guest Check Out still adds an extra click after a guest has already clicked "Donate Now" (Facebook and Classy skip this step by taking you directly to a credit card processing page where you type your name, email, and optional password (to create a profile), along with your credit card info.

Hi Ravi,

Nice idea and essentially what you're describing here is Guest Check Out. An approach we are already testing across our platform as I write! (see image below). It is currently deployed 100% on our crowdfunding pages and we'll in turn test and learn across our fundraising pages.

Balancing the need for users to log in or donate as a guest is a challenge. Charities rely on the details of donors (name, email etc) so that they can cultivate donors into long term supporters but at the same time if guest check out makes it easier and faster for people to donate then that's also a great thing!