Automatic Thank-You and Receipt Emails
DonorDock can automatically send a Thank You or Receipt email when a donor completes a Gift through an Online Giving Form. These emails use Transactional Templates, allowing your organization to control the message, branding, receipt language, and merge fields included in the acknowledgment.
Automatic receipts are set up for each Giving Page separately. This allows different pages to utilize various templates tailored to their purpose, such as general donations, annual appeals, events, Membership programs, or other fundraising campaigns.
Set an Automatic Thank You Email on a Giving Page
The receipt settings are located under the "Success Settings" section of the Online Giving Form.
Navigate to "Online Giving"
On the right, click the name of the Giving Page you want to update
On the left, scroll down and click to expand the "Success Settings" section
Turn on the "Send Automatic Thank You Email" toggle
From "Email Template for Thank You Email," select the Transactional Template you want to use
From "Send Thank You Email From," select the team member you want to send the email
Click "Save" in the upper-right corner of the Giving Page settings
Once saved, future Gifts associated with that Giving Page will use the saved receipt settings.
Transactional Templates
The template selected for an automatic Giving Page receipt must be a Transactional Template. Transactional Templates are designed to support transaction-specific information, including Gift and payment details that are not available in standard Marketing Templates.
This allows the receipt or acknowledgment to include supported transaction merge tags for information such as the Gift Amount, Gift Date, Fund, Campaign, Appeal, payment details, and other data connected to the individual Gift.
Because the template is selected at the Giving Page level, the same Transactional Template is used for all Gifts that use that page’s standard automatic receipt settings. If the page receives Gifts with different amounts, Funds, Custom Field responses, or other Gift information, the Giving Page does not automatically choose a different receipt template based on those values.
This works well when all donors using the page should receive the same general acknowledgment. For example, a Giving Page created specifically for an annual appeal can use a receipt written for that appeal, while a Membership Giving Page can use a template designed for new members.
If the receipt's details need to change depending on the specific Gift, Automations offer greater flexibility.
Receipts for Recurring Gifts
The receipt template saved on the Giving Page also applies to recurring Stripe subscriptions created through that page.
When a donor first creates the recurring subscription, the applicable automatic acknowledgment can be sent for the initial Gift. As future recurring payments are processed and new Gifts are created in DonorDock, the same Giving Page receipt template continues to apply to those recurring Gifts, based on the GivingPageId saved in the subscription metadata in Stripe.
This means a recurring donor does not receive the receipt only when the subscription is first created. The template associated with the Giving Page remains connected to the recurring giving experience and can be sent as each resulting Gift is recorded.
Use Automations for Conditional Receipts
Automations can be used when different Gifts from the same Giving Page should receive different acknowledgment emails.
For example, the receipt may need to change based on:
Gift Amount
Fund
Gift Type
Gift Tags
Custom Field responses
Whether the Gift meets another specific reporting or segmentation condition
An Automation can use the "Gift Created" trigger and include Gift filters for the Giving Page, plus any additional conditions that must be met. The Automation can then send the appropriate Transactional Template when those conditions are satisfied.
For example, one Automation could send a standard acknowledgment for Gifts below a certain amount, while another sends a different stewardship message for Gifts above that amount. You can use the same approach to send different emails based on Custom Field answers or other Gift information collected through the Giving Page.
If Automations are being used to control receipt logic, review the Giving Page’s "Send Automatic Thank You Email" setting carefully. Leaving the standard Giving Page receipt enabled while also sending a receipt through an Automation can result in the donor receiving more than one acknowledgment for the same Gift.
Choosing the Send From Address
The "Send Thank You Email From" field controls which DonorDock user is used as the sender when the Giving Page receipt is sent.
When Send From settings conflict across a template, giving page, and organization settings, DonorDock uses the following sender priority:
The Send From setting saved directly on the Transactional Template
The "Send Thank You Email From" setting on the Giving Page
The organization-level Receipt Settings
This allows an organization to use a standard organization-wide sender in most cases while still overriding it for a particular Transactional Template or Giving Page when needed.
Using a General Organization Email Address
If receipt emails should come from a general organization address instead of an individual team member, an Administrator can create that email address as a non-interactive user in DonorDock.
Non-interactive users do not count toward the organization’s regular user limit and can be selected as the sender for supported communications. This can be useful for addresses such as a general development, donations, or receipts inbox that should remain consistent even if individual staff members change.
Thank You Email vs. On-Page Thank You Message
The automatic Thank You Email is separate from what the donor sees immediately after completing the Gift.
Under "Success Settings", the Giving Page can display a custom Thank You Message or redirect the donor to another webpage. The "Send Automatic Thank You Email" setting controls the separate email acknowledgment sent to the donor.
Because these settings work independently, an organization can display an immediate confirmation on the Giving Page and also send a more complete receipt or acknowledgment by email.
For example, the on-page message might simply confirm that the Gift was successfully submitted, while the email provides the formal acknowledgment, tax language, organization details, and any additional follow-up information.
Updating a Receipt Template
Changing the Transactional Template selected on a Giving Page affects future emails sent using that Giving Page’s automatic receipt settings. Previously sent emails are not changed.
If the content of the selected Transactional Template itself is edited, future receipts will use the current saved version of that template. This lets you update receipt language without rebuilding the Giving Page.
When making significant changes, it's good practice to send a test from the Template area and review the merge tags, sender information, links, and receipt language before relying on the updated template for future Gifts.
DAFpay Gifts
DAFpay Gifts do not use the standard Giving Page automatic receipt in the same way as Stripe or PayPal Gifts. The donor has already made the charitable contribution through their Donor-Advised Fund and should receive the applicable tax acknowledgment from their DAF provider.
DonorDock still records the DAFpay Gift and the related donor Soft Credit for stewardship and reporting, but organizations should avoid sending a standard tax receipt that could suggest the donor made a second deductible contribution directly to the nonprofit.