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Appeals & Funds

Appeals & Funds

As your fundraising grows, you need ways to organize where gifts come from and what they support. Nonprofitable. provides two tools for this: appeals track fundraising efforts, and funds categorize what gifts are used for.

Fundraising Appeals

An appeal is a time-bound fundraising effort with a specific goal. Examples include:

  • "Year-End Appeal 2026" with a $50,000 goal
  • "Spring Gala Fundraiser" tied to an upcoming event
  • "Building Renovation Fund" for a capital project

Creating an Appeal

  1. Go to Fundraising in the sidebar.
  2. Navigate to the Appeals section.
  3. Click + New Appeal.
  4. Enter the appeal name, goal amount, and optional start/end dates.
  5. Add a description to explain what the appeal supports.
  6. Click Save.

Tracking Progress

Each appeal shows its progress toward the goal:

  • Total raised -- Sum of all gifts attributed to this appeal
  • Goal progress -- A visual progress bar showing percentage to goal
  • Donor count -- How many people have contributed
  • Average gift -- The mean gift amount

This makes it easy to see at a glance whether an appeal is on track or needs a boost.

Funds

While appeals track how you raise money, funds track what the money is for. Funds represent ongoing categories or designations for gifts. Examples include:

  • "General Operating" -- Unrestricted funds for day-to-day operations
  • "Scholarship Fund" -- Designated for student scholarships
  • "Program Services" -- Supporting specific programs

Managing Funds

  1. Go to the Funds section within Fundraising.
  2. Click + New Fund to create a fund.
  3. Enter the fund name and description.
  4. Save.

Every organization needs at least one fund. A default fund is required so that any gift not explicitly assigned to a fund still has a proper designation. Typically this is your "General Operating" or "Unrestricted" fund.

Linking Gifts to Appeals and Funds

When a gift is received, it can be attributed to both an appeal and a fund:

  • Appeal -- Which fundraising effort brought in this gift? This helps you measure appeal effectiveness.
  • Fund -- What purpose does this gift serve? This helps with accounting and reporting.

A single gift can belong to one appeal and one fund. If no specific appeal applies, the gift is simply attributed to the fund. If no fund is specified, it goes to the default fund.

How Attribution Works

  • Giving pages can be pre-configured with an appeal and fund, so gifts through that page are automatically attributed.
  • Email attribution -- When a donor clicks a link in an email appeal and completes a gift, the system tracks that connection. This tells you which emails drive giving.
  • Manual entry -- When recording a gift manually, you can select the appeal and fund from dropdowns.

Using Appeals and Funds Together

A practical example: Your organization runs a "Year-End Appeal." Gifts from that appeal might go to different funds -- some to "General Operating" and some to "Scholarship Fund" -- depending on what the donor designates. The appeal tells you the source; the fund tells you the purpose.

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