Create and Configure an Outreach Form
Outreach Forms enable you to gather supporter information and send it directly to DonorDock. Based on the form setup, a submission can create or update a Contact, populate Contact Custom Fields, record responses as Form Response Custom Fields, add the Contact to Marketing Lists, assign Badges, and generate a Form Response that retains the submitted data.
Each Outreach Form can be configured independently, so you can build different forms for newsletter signups, volunteer interest, event registration, surveys, program inquiries, RSVPs, or other information your organization wants to collect.
Create a New Outreach Form
Log in to DonorDock
Open the Outreach menu from the navigation menu
Select "Forms"
Select the button on the top right to "+ Create Form"
Give the form a name so you can identify it within DonorDock
Configure the fields and other settings you want to use
Save your changes as you build the form
The form name primarily helps your team identify and manage the form within DonorDock. Use a name that makes the form's purpose easy to recognize, such as Volunteer Interest Form, 2026 Gala RSVP, or Newsletter Signup.
Choose the Information You Want to Collect
Outreach Forms can collect several different types of information. Before adding fields, it is helpful to decide whether each answer should become part of the Contact's ongoing record or remain connected only to that individual submission.
Field Type | Best Used For | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Standard Contact Fields | Information that already has a standard place on the Contact record. | Name, email address, phone number, mailing address |
Contact Custom Fields | Additional information you want to save and maintain on the Contact record for future use. | Volunteer skills, communication preferences, program interests, alumni year |
Form Response Custom Fields | Information that belongs specifically to this individual form submission rather than permanently to the Contact. | Event RSVP, guest count, meal choice, survey response |
Choosing the correct field type is especially important when someone may submit more than one form over time. Contact fields describe the person and may be updated by future submissions, while Form Response Custom Fields preserve what the person answered on that specific form.
Outreach Forms Settings
Each section on the left side of the form builder controls a different part of the Outreach Form. Click a section heading on the left to open its settings, make your changes, and use the preview on the right to see how the form will appear.
Form Setup
The "Form Setup" section controls the overall appearance and basic behavior of the Outreach Form. These settings determine how the form is identified within DonorDock, how the submission button is labeled and styled, which font is used throughout the form, and what message supporters see after successfully submitting their response.
Form Name
The "Form Name" is the internal name used to identify the Outreach Form in DonorDock. It is not the main donor-facing headline displayed at the top of the form.
Use a name that makes the form's purpose easy for your team to recognize, such as 2026 Gala RSVP, Volunteer Interest Form, or Newsletter Signup.
When creating automations triggered by a form response, this is the name that will show up during the setup of the automation workflow.
Button Text
The "Button Text" controls the wording displayed on the form's submission button.
You can customize the wording to better match the form's purpose. For example, instead of a generic submit button, an event form might use Register, a newsletter form might use Sign Me Up, or an interest form might use Send My Response.
Button Color
The "Button Color" controls the color of the primary submission button displayed on the Outreach Form. Use this setting to match the form more closely to your organization's branding or to make the main action stand out clearly for supporters.
Select the color square to open the color picker. From there, use the color slider to choose the general color family, then click within the larger color area to fine-tune the exact shade, brightness, and saturation. You can also use the eyedropper tool to sample a color already visible on your screen.
If you already know the exact brand color you want to use, you can enter the color value directly using RGB, HSL, or HEX. Use the small two-arrow icon in the color picker to cycle between the available color formats.
As you make changes, use the preview on the right side of the form builder to see how the selected button color looks with the rest of the form before saving.
Font Family
The "Font Family" setting controls the primary typeface used throughout the Outreach Form.
Changing the font updates the overall appearance of the form, including the headline, message, field labels, and other displayed text.
Success Message
The "Success Message" is displayed after someone successfully submits the Outreach Form.
Use this message to confirm that the response was received and provide any helpful next steps. For example, you might thank someone for registering, let them know your team will follow up, or explain what they should expect next.
Because this message appears immediately after submission, it is a useful place to provide information that applies to everyone who completes the form.
Content
The "Content" section controls the main introductory information supporters see at the top of the Outreach Form before they begin completing the fields. This is where you can clearly explain the purpose of the form, provide any helpful instructions or context, and set the tone for the experience.
Form Headline
The "Form Headline" is the primary heading displayed at the top of the Outreach Form.
Use the headline to make the purpose of the form immediately clear. Examples might include Join Our Newsletter, Volunteer With Us, Register for the 2026 Gala, or Tell Us About Your Interests.
Form Message
The "Form Message" provides the main body content displayed with the form. This area can be used to explain why you are collecting the information, provide instructions, share event details, or add other context before the supporter begins completing the fields.
Use the message area for information that supports the form without making the actual questions or field labels unnecessarily long.
Form Fields
The "Form Fields" section controls which standard Contact fields are displayed on the Outreach Form. Standard Contact fields correspond directly to information already available on a Contact record in DonorDock. Add the fields you want supporters to provide, such as their name, email address, phone number, or mailing information.
When the form is submitted, these values can be used when creating or updating the associated Contact. After fields have been added, use the double-line drag handle beside a field to move it higher or lower in the form. The order shown in the settings determines the order in which fields appear to the person completing the form.
Custom Fields
The "Custom Fields" section allows you to add Custom Fields to the Outreach Form when you need to collect information beyond DonorDock's standard Contact fields.
Custom Fields must first be created in your organization's settings before they can be selected for an Outreach Form. Once created, available Custom Fields can be added to the form and used to collect information specific to your organization's needs.
Depending on the type of Custom Field, the submitted information may be saved to the Contact or retained as part of the individual Form Response.
After Custom Fields are added, use the double-line drag handle to change their display order on the form. If a settings wheel is available for the field, open it to review any additional options available for that field, including whether a response should be required.
Contact Tracking
The "Contact Tracking" section allows you to automatically apply Badges to Contacts who submit the Outreach Form.
The Badges selected under "Contact Tracking" are applied to every Contact who submits the Outreach Form. For more targeted follow-up, you can create an Automation that begins when a Form Response is received, add filters based on the response information, and then use an "Add Badge" step for Contacts who meet those conditions.
For example, a volunteer interest form could ask which programs someone is interested in. An Automation could then apply a different Badge based on the response, such as Food Pantry Volunteer, Event Volunteer, or Mentor Interest. This lets the form collect the response once, while Automations handle more specific Contact tracking afterward.
Marketing Lists
The "Marketing Lists" section allows you to offer one or more existing Marketing Lists as subscription choices on the Outreach Form.
Unlike Badges, Marketing Lists can be presented as choices for the person completing the form. After adding a Marketing List, select the settings wheel beside it to control whether that list should be prechecked when the form first loads.
If the list is prechecked, the supporter will see it already selected but can choose to clear the selection. If it isn't prechecked, the supporter can select it themselves.
This makes Marketing Lists useful when you want someone to choose the types of communication they would like to receive. For example, the same form could offer options for a general newsletter, volunteer updates, event announcements, or other communications.
If multiple Marketing Lists are added, use the double-line drag handle to rearrange the order in which the options appear.
Success Settings
The Success Settings section controls what happens after a donor submits their form. You can choose to display a custom Thank You Message directly on the form or redirect the donor to another webpage, and you can also enable an automatic Thank You or Receipt email using a Marketing Template.
Thank You Message or Redirect
The Success Settings determine what the donor sees immediately after submitting the form. The Form can either display a message that is set in the settings or redirect the donor to another webpage. These are mutually exclusive completion experiences, so the page will use whichever option is selected in the Success Settings.
When "Display a Thank You Message" is selected, a message editor becomes available for creating the content that appears after the donor submits their form response. This message appears directly on the outreach form and can confirm a successful submission, thank the contact, provide next steps, or share other information. The message editor supports text formatting and images, allowing you to customize the completion screen for the individual Form.
When you choose "Redirect to a Webpage," the contact is directed to the URL you specify in the redirect field after submitting their information. This feature makes it easy to guide contacts to a personalized thank-you page, a campaign landing page, details about an event, downloadable resources, or any other page your organization maintains.
Automatic Thank You Email
The "Send Automatic Thank You Email" toggle controls whether DonorDock sends an email acknowledgment automatically after a submittal. This setting is separate from the on-page Thank You Message or redirect, so an organization can display a completion message or send the donor to another webpage while still sending an automatic email acknowledgment.
When you enable this setting, you'll see extra fields for the "Email Template for Thank You Email" and "Send Thank You Email From." You will be selecting a Marketing Template, as opposed to Giving Pages, which use Transactional templates. You can elect to add the Form Responses merge tag {{signup_form_response.responses_block}} in the template to include the contact's answers.
The same Template is used for all submissions that come through the Outreach Form. Because the template is assigned at the Form level, this setting is best suited for situations where all submissions through the page should receive the same acknowledgment
If you need to send different emails based on information submitted on the form, you can use Automations instead of relying on a single form template. An Automation can use the "Form Response Received" trigger for the specific outreach form.
Contact Tracking
The "Contact Tracking" section allows you to automatically apply Badges to Contacts who submit the Outreach Form.
The Badges selected under "Contact Tracking" are applied to every Contact who submits the Outreach Form. For more targeted follow-up, you can create an Automation that begins when a Form Response is received, add filters based on the response information, and then use an "Add Badge" step for Contacts who meet those conditions.
For example, a volunteer interest form could ask which programs someone is interested in. An Automation could then apply a different Badge based on the response, such as Food Pantry Volunteer, Event Volunteer, or Mentor Interest. This lets the form collect the response once, while Automations handle more specific Contact tracking afterward.
Preview and Review the Form
As you configure the Outreach Form, use the preview on the right side of the page to review how the form will appear to supporters.
Before publishing, check the form and confirm that the headline and introductory message are clear, the fields appear in a logical order, required information is configured appropriately, and the correct Badges and Marketing Lists are selected.
Publish the Outreach Form
Once you are satisfied with the form's settings and preview, publish the form to make it available for use.
Publishing makes the donor-facing form active and also adds the "Sharing" section to the form settings. You can continue to update the form after it has been published. Save your changes so the published form reflects the updated configuration.
Sharing
The "Sharing" section becomes available after the Outreach Form has been published.
From this section, you can access the different ways to share the form with supporters.
Direct Link
The direct form link can be copied and shared via email, text message, social media, your organization's website, or other channels. Anyone who opens the link can fill out the Outreach Form directly.
Anyone who opens the link can complete the published Outreach Form directly.
QR Code
A QR code for the Outreach Form can be downloaded and utilized on printed materials, signs, event programs, mailings, or any other location where supporters might access it with a mobile device. Scanning the QR code will open the published form.
Scanning the QR code opens the published form.
Website Embed
Outreach Forms can also be embedded directly into your organization’s website so supporters can complete the form without first navigating to a separate DonorDock page.
The "Sharing" section provides two different embed options:
"Script Embed Code" uses JavaScript to load the Outreach Form directly into the area of your webpage where the code is placed. This is generally the preferred option when your website platform allows custom scripts.
"Iframe Embed Code" displays the Outreach Form inside a framed section of your webpage. This option is useful for website builders that do not allow custom JavaScript but do support iframe or embed blocks.
To add the form to your website, copy the appropriate embed code from the "Sharing" section and paste it into the custom HTML, script, iframe, or embed area provided by your website platform. The exact steps will depend on the website builder or content management system your organization uses.
After embedding the form, review the page on both desktop and mobile devices to make sure the form fits properly within the available space. Depending on your website platform, an iframe may require additional adjustments to the width, height, or surrounding page layout.
The embed code remains connected to the published Outreach Form in DonorDock. If you later update the form’s message, fields, styling, Badges, Marketing Lists, or other settings, those changes will appear in the embedded form after you save them. You don't need to replace the embed code each time you update the form.
What Happens When Someone Submits the Form
Each Outreach Form submission creates a Form Response in DonorDock.
Information collected through standard Contact fields and Contact Custom Fields can be used to create or update the corresponding Contact record. Information collected through Form Response Custom Fields remains associated with that individual Form Response.
Any Marketing Lists or Badges configured on the form are also applied as part of the submission.
View Outreach Form Responses
Once supporters begin submitting the form, you can review all responses connected to that specific Outreach Form directly from the Forms page.
Navigate to "Forms" in DonorDock.
Open the "Outreach" section.
Locate the Outreach Form you want to review.
Select "View Responses" to the right of the form name.
DonorDock will open a report containing the responses submitted through that form.
This report provides a centralized location to review submissions linked to the Outreach Form, including any Form Response Custom Fields gathered through it. If a response cannot be associated with a contact due to multiple matches for the submitted email, you can use the link to contact link on the report to correctly connect the response to the appropriate contact record.
You can also review individual Form Responses from the associated Contact record, giving you additional context on when the supporter submitted the form and what information they provided.