Custom fields

A donation record contains the amount, the payment method, and the details of the supporter. A custom field adds one more piece of information that your organization defines: for example, which email produced the donation, which event the donation came from, or which appeal code you want to pass to the CRM.

To use it, you first create a custom field in Fundraise Up, then add it to your campaign, and finally set its value. After that, the value is recorded on every donation made through that campaign, and you can track it in your CRM or exports.

Custom fields are available in every type of campaign:

• Campaigns, whether they open in the Checkout Modal or as a Campaign Page
• P2P campaigns
• Gift Cart catalogs
• Tap to Donate campaigns
• Giving Station campaigns

Your team can also enter values by hand in Virtual Terminal while processing a donation.

Every custom field your organization has is listed in Settings > Custom fields. Create a field there once, and any campaign can use it.

1. Go to Settings > Custom fields.
2. Click Create custom field.
3. Under Name, enter a name, such as chapter_code. Names cannot contain spaces, and there is a 50-character limit. Names are case-sensitive: source and Source are counted as two separate fields. You cannot use the word Element as a name for a custom field.
4. Under Value input, choose Text line or Predefined options. This setting applies to whoever configures the campaign later. Text line lets them enter any value. Predefined options gives them a fixed list to pick from instead. A fixed list restricts only what can be chosen in the settings of the campaign: a value that arrives from a URL parameter or the JavaScript API is recorded as it was sent, even when it is not on the list.
5. (Optional) Add a Default value. A default value pre-fills the field whenever it is added to a campaign. Use it when most donations share one value: for example, if 90% of your donations come from your Northwest chapter, set NW21 as the default for chapter_code, and add other values to the links you give the remaining chapters. Values have a 200-character limit.
6. (Optional) Select Auto-add to new campaigns. A field with this option selected is added to every campaign you create from then on. Use this for the fields your reporting depends on, so that nobody has to remember to add them one campaign at a time. Auto-add does not apply to cloned campaigns.
7. Click Create field.

A custom field will not work until it is added to a campaign. Open the Settings tab of the campaign, find Custom fields, click Add field, and choose the field.

There is no limit to the number of custom fields one campaign can use.

After that, you have several ways to gather the information from custom fields:

• Campaign settings: Enter a value on the field in the campaign, and every donation to that campaign is recorded with that value. If the field has a default value, it is already pre-filled here, and you can change it for this campaign.
• URL parameter: Add the field name and value to the link — for example, ?chapter_code=NW21. Match the name exactly as you configured it in the Dashboard. If the link already has parameters, such as UTM parameters, use & instead of ?.
• JavaScript API: Pass it programmatically with FundraiseUp.openCheckout().

  1FundraiseUp.openCheckout('FUNXXXXXXXX', {
  2    customFields: {
  3      chapter_code: 'NW21',
  4      appeal_code: 'fy2026',
  5      referral_source: 'newsletter',
  6    },
  7});

A value in a URL parameter takes precedence over the value set in the campaign. Set the value that covers most of your donations in the campaign, then add the parameter only to the links that differ.

A value from a URL parameter stays with the supporter for the rest of the session. Supporters can visit other pages before they donate, and the donation is still recorded with that value. This is why custom field values are often absent from the address bar during checkout and recorded regardless.

Your organization runs one campaign for its annual appeal, and three regional chapters each promote it to their own mailing lists. Your CRM requires the chapter code on every donation record.

1. Create a field named chapter_code in Settings > Custom fields, then add it to the campaign.
2. Give each chapter a link with its own value:
   • example.com/give?chapter_code=NW21
   • example.com/give?chapter_code=SE07
   • example.com/give?chapter_code=MW14

A donation made through the first link is recorded with chapter_code: NW21. Each chapter receives credit in your CRM without a separate campaign per chapter.

The campaign, the donate button, and the code on your website are unchanged. Only the links are different.

If most of your donations come from one chapter, you do not need a tagged link for every chapter. Set NW21 as the value of chapter_code in the settings of the campaign, and give a tagged link only to the other two:

• example.com/give?chapter_code=SE07
• example.com/give?chapter_code=MW14

Donations through those two links are recorded with the value from the link. Everything else is recorded with NW21: the plain example.com/give link, the mailing from the Northwest chapter, and any link a supporter forwards to someone else.

The information gathered by your custom fields appears:

• On donation records: Go to the Donations or Recurring tab in the Dashboard, click any donation or recurring plan, and scroll down to the Custom fields section. You see the name of the field and the value recorded for that donation.
• In exports: You can include custom field names and values when you export data.
• In CRM integrations: Your custom field names appear in the mapping rules for your integrations.

In Settings > Custom fields, click the three-dot menu (…) to Edit, Clone, Archive, or Remove a custom field.

When you rename a custom field, it changes in every campaign that uses it, and in the export templates and CRM mappings that refer to it. Donations already recorded keep the name they were recorded with.

Archive takes a field out of the list that campaigns pick from and stops auto-add. Campaigns already using the field keep it and go on recording values. Archived fields are listed under Archive, and Unarchive brings one back with its settings.

Remove deletes a field, and works only when no campaign uses it. If one still does, the confirmation window lists the campaigns to address first. Donations and recurring plans already recorded are not affected — they keep the field and the value recorded for them.

To find a field, search the list by name or ID. The Campaigns column counts how many campaigns use each field; click that number to see the breakdown by campaign type.

A subaccount sees the custom fields of its parent account alongside its own, and can add either to its campaigns. It cannot edit, archive, or remove a field that belongs to the parent account. To use one with different settings, a subaccount must clone it and configure the copy.

A parent account and a subaccount can each have a field with the same name. Both appear in the subaccount list, and the Account column shows which account owns each one. A single campaign can use only one of the two.

When a parent account archives one of its fields, the field is archived in its subaccounts as well. A subaccount field with the same name is not affected.