In Part 1 of this series, we explored how to streamline your giving form and reduce friction. Now that the path to giving is smoother, it’s time to focus on what will make donors more likely to complete their gift—and increase the amount they give when they do.
Enter: personalization and AI-powered tools.
In an era when online experiences are expected to be tailored, fundraising is no exception. Today’s donors want giving experiences that feel relevant, intuitive, and seamless—just like what they get from their favorite e-commerce or streaming platforms. And when they get that experience? They give more.
Here’s how you can harness donor data, smart technology, and behavioral insights to take your online giving form from functional to exceptional.
Here are six ways personalized giving forms are moving the needle:
1. Personalized Greetings Create Immediate Connection
Addressing donors by name (“Hi Leslie!”) makes the experience feel warm and familiar. It reassures the donor that they’re in the right place and reinforces their connection to the institution.
Why it matters: Emotional resonance builds trust. Even small personal touches can increase form completion rates.

2. AI-Generated Smart Ask Amounts
Dynamic gift arrays, based on data-driven insights and predictive models, can lead to significantly larger donations. GC Intelligence, the AI power behind the GiveCampus platform, uses donor demographics, past giving patterns, and wealth indicators to recommend personalized ask amounts.
Why it matters: Pre-selecting the right ask amounts reduces friction and nudges donors toward higher giving levels without guesswork. Donors exposed to our smart prompts are 30% more likely to accept and 25% more likely to make their largest gift ever.
3. Recurring Gift or Pledge Options
Making it easy to set up a recurring gift or pledge commitment transforms one-time donors into sustained supporters. The recurring toggle is easy to spot and simple to activate.
Why it matters: Recurring donors are retained at much higher rates and have a significantly greater lifetime value—almost 10x in some cases.
4. Default to the Donor’s Last Supported Cause
Rather than forcing donors to choose from a long list of designations, smart forms can pre-fill the designation field with the donor’s most recently supported fund.
Why it matters: Familiarity shortens decision-making time and reduces drop-off. It also encourages continued loyalty to specific initiatives.
5. Multiple, Modern Payment Methods
Offering digital wallets like PayPal, Venmo, and Apple Pay meets donors where they are. These options are especially valuable for mobile-first donors who expect one-tap checkout.
Why it matters: When donors see their preferred payment method upfront, they’re more likely to follow through. As previously discussed, data shows a +2.93 pp lift in conversion just from surfacing digital wallet options earlier in the checkout process.
6. DAFpay and Other Giving Vehicles
Providing an optimized giving experience for constituents with Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) is another way to grease the wheels of giving. DAFpay is a fast, secure, and reliable way for supporters to give to your school through their Donor Advised-Fund—and they can do it in under 15 seconds on GiveCampus.
Why it matters: DAFs make up a significant percentage of annual giving in the US—and, right now, there is approximately $230 billion sitting in DAF accounts ready to be donated. Plus, on average, DAF gifts are 24x as large as credit card gifts.
BLOG: How to Streamline DAF Giving for Every Member of Your Advancement Team
Conclusion: Make Every Gift Feel Personal and Powerful
By embracing the strategies outlined here—from dynamic ask amounts to modern payment options and donor-specific defaults—your giving form becomes more than just a transaction point. It becomes an experience donors recognize, trust, and value.
We hope the tips outlined in this series will help you create a giving experience that gets donors over the finish line time, and time again.
Want to see how these best practices come together in one seamless experience?
Explore the Anatomy of a High-Converting Giving Form in our interactive infographic—and discover what’s possible when giving is both easy and intelligent.