Vega Forms: Donations and payments

This article covers the sections that take money, and the Progress section that shows what's been received:

Section	What it's for
Donation amount	The amounts people can choose from, or a fixed amount
Frequency	One-off or regular giving
Payment	How people pay, and where the money is filed in Vega
Designation	Lets donors choose where their gift goes
Gift options	Giving on behalf of someone: in memory, a birthday, in someone's honour
Discount codes	A "gift card or discount code" box that takes money off tickets and memberships
Progress	A target and what's been received so far, or a petition's signatures

All of these can be used on Donation, Event, Registration and Membership forms. Progress can also be used on petitions and other forms that take no payment.

A section's settings are split into tabs: what donors see is on Content, and how it's filed in Vega (campaigns, GL codes, gateway, pathway rules) is on Vega setup.

Donation amount

The Donation amount section sets the gift: a choice of amounts, or one fixed amount.

Setting	What it does
Heading	The heading over the amounts, e.g. Your gift. Left blank, it says Donation amount (or I wish to pledge for a pledge)
Show donation amounts	Shows a choice of amounts. Untick it to offer a fixed amount only: enter the Fixed amount, which is charged with no choice. The donor sees it under the heading, e.g. $50.00
Amounts	The amounts offered, one line each. + Add amount adds one; drag ⠿ to change the order (or select it and use the ↑ ↓ keys)
Button says	The wording on that amount's button. Leave it blank to show the amount, e.g. $25. Type #Amount# to include the amount in your own words, e.g. #Amount# plants a tree shows $25 plants a tree. Changing the amount keeps its wording
Default	Which amount is already selected when the form opens. The first, unless you choose another
▸ (more)	Opens an amount's extra settings in two parts: On the button (Image, Image description) and When it's chosen (Picture, Picture description, Text), and Remove for that amount. A dot on ▸ means something is set
Image (on the button)	A small picture on the amount's button: its full web address, starting https://
Image description	What the image shows, for people using screen readers
Picture (when it's chosen)	A larger picture shown under the amounts, the full width of the form, while this amount is chosen. Its full web address, starting https://. Use it for a photo that is too big for a button
Picture description	What the picture shows, for people using screen readers
Text	Words shown under the amounts (under the picture, if there is one) when this amount is chosen, e.g. Feeds a family for a week. It can run to more than one line. (This was called Impact line)
Buttons per row	Auto (as many as fit, stretched to fill the row), or 1 (one under another, full width), 2, 3 or 4. On a phone the buttons are two a row (one, with 1)
"Other" button	Own row, box beside it (the default): on a row of its own, as wide as an amount button, with the donor's amount box opening beside it. Own line, full width: the full width of the form, the box under it. In the row with the amounts: in with them, the box under them
Image position	Appears once an amount has an image on its button. Where images go on the buttons: Above the text, Under the text, Left of the text, Right of the text or Image only
Use the contact's own amounts on a personalised link	On by default: someone opening a personalised link sees the amounts suggested for them in Vega, where they have some, in place of yours (without your button wording, images, pictures or text). Untick it so everyone sees your amounts
Different amounts for each frequency	Offer different amounts depending on the frequency the donor picks, e.g. 10, 20, 30 monthly but 50, 100, 250 one-off. Each frequency's amounts have their own wording, images, pictures, text and default, so $50 can say something different monthly and one-off. A frequency with no amounts uses the main ones. Buttons per row, the "Other" button and Image position apply to every frequency
Let people enter their own amount	Adds an Other button that opens a box for the donor's own amount. On by default. Untick it to offer only your amounts (and, on a personalised link, the contact's own if shown): any other amount is then refused when the form is submitted
Button says (their own amount)	The wording on that button, e.g. Choose your own. Other if left blank
Minimum and Maximum	The smallest and largest amount a donor can enter themselves. Cents are allowed. The maximum is optional; it catches a slip like 25000 for 250. An amount outside them is stopped with a message (e.g. The smallest amount you can give is $5.00.), on the form and again when it's submitted. They don't apply to your own amounts
Pledge mode	See below

Amounts show with your organisation's currency symbol, e.g. $25, and cents only when an amount has them. Buttons in a row are the same width and height; long wording wraps onto more lines.

Images on the buttons: once any amount has an image, the buttons become picture cards, all the same shape, two to a row on a phone. With Image only, the button shows just the picture, and screen readers hear its amount and wording instead. They suit small images such as icons.

Pictures and text when chosen: these appear under the amounts (after the Other box) when the donor chooses that amount, and change as they choose another. The picture is shown wide (16:9) and the text under it. This replaces the old widgets' document shown when an amount was selected: a widget's amount documents aren't carried over when it's migrated, and the migration report lists them so they can be added here as a picture and text.

Checks: an image's or picture's address must start with https://, or the form can't be saved. An image or picture without a description is listed under Worth checking (except an image with Image only). With Let people enter their own amount unticked, the section needs at least one amount, or the form can't be saved. A maximum below the minimum can't be saved either. One of your amounts below the minimum or above the maximum is listed under Worth checking.

Amounts in links: a link can pre-fill the amount (dtnAmt=50): the matching amount is selected, or it fills in the donor's own amount. If donors can't enter their own amount, an amount that isn't one of yours is ignored. See Putting a form on your website.

Pledges

A pledge records a promise to give without taking any money.

Pledge mode	What happens
No pledge option	Normal giving only
Optional	Donors can choose to pledge instead of paying now
Pledge only	No payment is ever taken

When someone pledges, the card and frequency options are hidden, and the pledge acknowledgement email is sent.

Frequency

The Frequency section offers one-off and regular giving: monthly, quarterly and so on. These are your organisation's Frequency attributes in Vega. To offer a new one, add it in Vega first.

The settings are laid out like the Donation amount's amounts:

Setting	What it does
Heading	The heading over the frequencies, e.g. How often would you like to give? Left blank, it says Frequency
Frequencies	The frequencies offered, one line each, in the order they appear on the form. Drag ⠿ to change the order (or select it and use the ↑ ↓ keys). The bin removes one. The frequencies not offered are listed under them as + Monthly, + Quarterly and so on: click one to add it
Default	Which frequency is already selected when the form opens
Button says	The wording on that frequency's button, e.g. Give monthly. Leave it blank to show the frequency's name. Only the button changes: the payment is still recorded in Vega under the frequency itself
Buttons per row	Auto (as many as fit, stretched to fill the row), or 1 (one under another, full width), 2, 3 or 4

The frequency buttons fill the width of the form, as the amount buttons do. (Older forms showed narrower, rounded buttons; they now fill the row too.)

If your organisation has no one-off frequency in Vega, a built-in One-off option is offered. Remove it if the form should only take regular gifts.

Removing a frequency also clears the amounts set for it under Different amounts for each frequency when the form is saved.

A Frequency section needs something to repeat: a Donation amount section, a fixed amount, or priced tickets. Otherwise the form can't be saved (The Frequency section sets how often the payment repeats, and this form takes no payment). On a membership form, the memberships' own settings decide how often they're paid, so it can't have a Frequency section at all.

A link can set the frequency by name (freq=Monthly). The form then opens on that frequency and doesn't let the donor change it. The start date can still be chosen. See Putting a form on your website.

To file each frequency differently (for example, monthly gifts to one campaign and one-off gifts to another), click Set up in pathway rules. See Routing payments with pathways.

Recurring start date

If a regular frequency is offered, choose when regular payments start:

Option	What the donor sees
Use the sign-up date	Nothing. Payments start from the day they sign up
Allow any start date	A date box to choose their own start date
Show a calendar	A calendar to choose from

With the calendar you can also:

• Restrict calendar to specific days of the month, e.g. only the 1st and the 15th. Days 1 to 28 are available.

• Number of allowance days: how many days before today a start date can be. 0 means today or later.

• Number of months available: how far ahead people can choose. 6 months by default.

A recurring gift can't be submitted without a start date, unless you use the sign-up date. Vega checks the start date again when the form is submitted, against the same rules, so a date outside them is refused (That start date isn't available. Please choose another.).

What's charged, and when

The regular gift starts...	What happens
On the sign-up date	The first payment is taken now, and the card or bank account is saved so Vega can take the later payments
On a later start date	Nothing is taken now. The card or bank account is only saved, and the submission is recorded in Vega as a future recurring payment with its start date. Vega takes the first payment on that date

Saving a card without taking a payment works on Stripe, Windcave, PayWay and BPOINT. Flo2Cash and Paystation can't do this yet: with one of them, a start date later than sign-up is listed as something to fix, and the form can't be saved until Recurring start date is set to the sign-up date or another gateway is chosen.

Payment

Every form that takes money needs a Payment section. It charges the total built up by the rest of the form: donation, membership, tickets and paid RSVPs, less any discount code.

The other way round, a Payment section needs something to pay for: a Donation amount, Membership or ticketed Tickets section, or an RSVP with a price. Otherwise the form can't be saved: Nothing on this form has a cost. Remove the Payment section, for example from a free RSVP form.

Amount on the Payment section (older forms)

The gift's amount belongs on a Donation amount section: a choice of amounts, or a fixed amount with Show donation amounts unticked. New forms don't show an amount on the Payment section.

Older forms may have an amount set on the Payment section itself. On those, the Payment section shows Amount (older setting) with a button:

• Move to a Donation amount section adds a Donation amount section just before the Payment section with the same amount (a fixed amount, or the same amounts to choose from) and clears it from the Payment section.

• Clear it appears instead if the form already has a Donation amount section. That section sets the gift, so the Payment section's amount isn't used and clearing it changes nothing for donors.

Until it's moved, the older amount still works as before.

Payment gateway

On the Vega setup tab, choose which of your organisation's payment accounts takes the money. Test accounts are marked test. If your organisation has none set up yet, add one in Vega to take payments.

How the donor pays depends on the provider:

Provider	What the donor sees	Later start date on a regular gift
Stripe	Card details on the form itself, plus Google Pay or Apple Pay where their device supports it, and bank debit if offered	Yes
PayWay, BPOINT	Card details on the form itself	Yes
Windcave	"You'll be taken to … to enter your card details securely, then brought back here."	Yes
Flo2Cash, NAB Transact, Paystation	"You'll be taken to … to enter your card details securely, then brought back here."	Not yet: use the sign-up date

Windcave and regular gifts: on a regular gift, Windcave keeps the donor's card and gives Vega a billing token, so Vega can take the later payments. For a later start date, Windcave checks the card without charging it, as the old widgets did.

Card type: when the gateway says which kind of card was used (Visa, Mastercard, Amex and so on), the payment records it as the shared Card Types attribute, so you can report on it in Vega. The pay type isn't changed.

Stripe options

• Offer bank direct debit (BECS): for Australian or New Zealand dollar accounts where bank debit is switched on in Stripe. Donors can pay by AU BECS Direct Debit (AUD) or NZ BECS Direct Debit (NZD), one-off or regular. Bank debits take a few days to clear, so these submissions show as Pending (recorded in Vega as Transaction Pending) until Stripe confirms them; Vega then marks the payment as paid or declined. If bank debit isn't switched on in Stripe, the builder tells you and donors see card only.

• Selected by default: whether the payment box opens on Card, Bank debit or Google Pay / Apple Pay. Donors can still choose another.

Pay types for bank debit. Vega records a bank debit under its own pay type:

Account currency	Pay type in Vega	Subtype
AUD	AU BECS Debit	BECS Debit
NZD	NZ BECS Debit	BECS Debit

The subtype is what lets Vega take a regular gift's later payments from the bank account through Stripe. When bank debit is offered, the builder checks your organisation has the pay type and lists it under Worth checking if:

• the pay type is missing: bank debit gifts would be recorded as Credit Card. Add the pay type with the BECS Debit subtype before the form goes live.

• the pay type doesn't have the BECS Debit subtype: Vega wouldn't charge a regular gift's later payments as a bank debit. Set its subtype to BECS Debit.

Note: NZ BECS Debit in the Vega dashboard: an NZ bank debit regular gift is set up through a form, where the donor agrees to the debit online. In the dashboard, its payment details can't be updated, and a new regular gift can't be added with the NZ BECS Debit pay type.

PayPal

Offer PayPal appears if your organisation has PayPal set up in the Vega dashboard (Admin → PayPal) in its currency. Donors can choose PayPal instead of a card for one-off payments only. It isn't offered for regular gifts, membership schedules or pledges.

Campaign and GL code

On the Vega setup tab, choose the Campaign (default) and GL code (default) a donation is filed under in Vega. Both are required when something is filed under them: a donation, a paid RSVP whose campaign has no GL code of its own, or a processing fee that doesn't have its own fee campaign and GL code. The form can't be saved without them.

Otherwise they're not shown, for example on a form that only sells tickets or memberships, or where the fee has its own campaign and GL code. Tickets, memberships, paid RSVPs with a GL code, and such a fee are filed under their own.

Pathway rules, designations and links that carry a campaign can override these. A campaign or GL code from a link is only used if it's one of your organisation's own and active.

Cover processing fee

Tick Offer donors the option to cover the processing fee to let donors add the fee to their payment, so all of their gift reaches you.

Setting	What it does
Rate (%) and Flat fee	How the fee is worked out. They're filled in from the gateway when you choose it
Label	The wording donors see. Type #Fee# where the amount should appear, e.g. Cover the processing fee #Fee# so 100% of my payment reaches the cause. (Forms set up with the older {fee} still work)
Fee campaign and Fee GL code	Where the fee is filed in Vega (on the Vega setup tab). Same as default (the starting choice) uses the campaign and GL code above. Choose both to file the fee separately; then the defaults above aren't needed for the fee

The box is ticked by default. Donors can untick it. On regular gifts, the fee is added to each payment. The fee is worked out on what's paid, after any discount code.

In memoriam (older forms)

Older forms may have an in memory of someone tick box on the Payment section. The In memoriam settings only appear on those forms. Click Move to a Gift options section to switch it to the newer Gift options section, which does the same and more.

Designation

Designation lets donors choose where their gift goes, for example General fund, Scholarships or Building appeal.

Setting	What it does
What the donor chooses between	Campaigns, or Attributes (to ask "which programme?" without creating a campaign for each)
Question	e.g. Where would you like your gift to go?
A choice is required	The donor must choose one
Allow more than one, splitting the gift	Donors can choose several
Shown as	Options (all visible at once) or a dropdown. A dropdown is only possible when donors choose one
When several are chosen	Split the gift evenly, or Let the donor enter an amount for each. Either way, the amounts must add up exactly to the gift

For each choice, set the wording donors see (on Content), and optionally its own GL code (and, for attributes, its own campaign) on Vega setup, and its own acknowledgement on Emails. Anything left blank uses the Payment section's settings.

Until you add at least one choice, the section doesn't appear on the form.

If a donor picks several choices with different acknowledgements, they get one acknowledgement: the pathway rule's or the form's.

Gift options

Gift options let someone give on behalf of someone else: in memory of them, for their birthday, or in their honour. The donor picks one option, or none. This section needs a Payment section on the form.

Setting	What it does
Heading	Shown above the section (optional)
Question	e.g. Is this gift on behalf of someone?
Show the options as	Radio buttons or a dropdown
"Not on behalf of anyone" wording	e.g. No, it's from me

With only one option, the form shows it as a single tick box.

Each option

Setting	What it does
Label	Required. e.g. In memory of someone, Birthday gift
Attribute	Recorded on the payment when chosen. Pathway rules can use it
In memoriam	Marks the payment as in memory of someone. Only one option can be in memoriam
Their name	Asks for the recipient's first and last name. The recipient is matched to a contact in Vega, or added as one, and the payment is linked to them
Their email	Needed to send the recipient a document. Can be required. See Routing payments with pathways
Their phone, Their address	Extra recipient details
A message	Recorded on the payment. You can change the wording (e.g. Who would you like to remember?) and make it required

Rules to be aware of:

• A form can only have one Gift options section.

• A form can't offer both gift options and a gift membership, because both record a recipient. Turn one off.

Discount codes

The Discount codes section adds a Gift card or discount code box to the form, as the old Events and Membership widgets had. A code takes money off tickets and memberships, never a donation.

• The section needs a Tickets or Membership section on the form. A form can only have one.

• Place it where the box should appear, usually just above the Payment section.

• Save the form first, then add its codes. The codes are kept separately from the form, so they have their own Save codes button.

Setting	What it does
Heading	Shown above the box (optional)
Box label	The wording above the box. Gift card or discount code if left blank
+ Add a code	Adds one code to fill in
Add many codes	Paste a list of codes (one per line, or separated by commas) and give them all the same settings. You can change any one afterwards. Codes already listed are skipped

A long list can be searched; the first 50 matching codes are shown.

Each code

Setting	What it does
Code	What the donor types. Not case-sensitive, and each code can be on a form once
Percentage off / Amount off	How much it takes off
Off each ticket or membership / Once off the booking	For an amount off: whether it comes off every ticket or membership chosen (as the old widgets did, per attendee) or once
Applies to	Everything that can be discounted, or Selected tickets and memberships ticked from this form's own
Starts / Ends	The dates it can be used between (optional)
Usage limit	How many times it can be used. The code switches off once it's reached. Blank for no limit
On	Untick to stop a code being used without removing it

The list shows how many times each code has been used. Removing a code that has been used switches it off instead, so its record stays with the payments that used it.

What the donor sees

The donor types a code and clicks Apply. Vega checks it and shows what it takes off; the Payment section shows a Discount line and the new total. A code that brings the total to nothing needs no card.

If the code can't be used, they're told why: it isn't valid, has expired, can't be used yet, has been used up, or can't be used for what they've chosen. If they change their tickets or membership after applying a code, it's checked again.

A discount never takes off more than the tickets and memberships it applies to. Vega works it out itself on every payment, so it can't be changed in the browser. A use is counted once the payment goes through, not for a failed payment or a test.

In Vega

As with the old widgets, the payment records the discount (a negative amount on the first discounted item's campaign and GL code) and the Discount Code attribute with the code that was used.

Codes set up on an old widget are copied to the form it was migrated to, with their uses so far and their limits.

Progress

A Progress section shows a target and what's been received so far, for example for an appeal, an event, or a petition's signatures. Nothing in it is submitted. You can add as many as you like, anywhere on the form.

On the Content tab

Setting	What it does
Heading	Shown above it (optional)
Show as	A progress bar, A thermometer, A ring or The numbers alone. The bar, thermometer and ring fill towards the target. With no target, they show the amount received alone
What it shows	Tick the figures to show: Amount raised (or Signatures), The target, Percentage of the target, Number of gifts (for money) and Amount still needed (or Signatures still needed)
Wording	Optional words with the figures. Type #Raised#, #Target#, #Count#, #Percent# and #Remaining# where the figures go, e.g. #Raised# raised of our #Target# goal, or #Count# people have signed - help us reach #Target#
When the target is reached	Keep showing the figures, or Show a message too, e.g. We did it - thank you!

On the Vega setup tab: what it measures

What it measures	What it adds up
One campaign	The Payment section's campaign, or another you choose
Several campaigns, added up	The campaigns you add to its list
What the donor chose (event or designation)	The campaign of the event or designation the donor has chosen, with its own target and total, changing as they choose. A designation counts when it's a campaign, or an attribute with a campaign of its own. Until they choose, or when their choice has no campaign of its own, the Payment section's campaign
This form's submissions (a petition's signatures)	How many times this form has been submitted, not counting tests

Until you choose, a form with a Payment section measures its campaign, and a form without one (a petition, say) counts its submissions.

Setting	What it does
Target (or Signatures wanted)	The target. For money, leave it blank to use the campaign's target in Vega. For signatures, set how many you want, or there's no target to show
Raised elsewhere (or Signatures elsewhere)	Anything received that isn't in Vega against the campaign, or signatures gathered elsewhere, added to the total

How the amount received is worked out

The amount is the campaign's total in Vega's warehouse, plus what's been processed since, plus gifts still waiting to be processed, so a new gift shows straight away. Refunds are taken off. Tests, failed payments, pledges, RSVP declines and regular gifts that haven't started yet aren't counted. The figures are refreshed every few minutes.

In the builder, the canvas shows the section in the chosen style. Until there's a target, it uses example figures so you can see how it will look.

The checklist lists, under Worth checking, a Progress section with no campaign to measure (so it shows nothing), and one counting signatures with no number wanted.