Fundraising (Donations) is a gated beta feature — it does not appear as a self-serve toggle on the Beta page (/beta) and must be enabled for your org by Blackthorn. Contact your Blackthorn representative to request access. Beta features may change before general availability.
A fundraising event combines standard event registration with a donation component — letting attendees make a gift at the time of registration, alongside or instead of purchasing a ticket. Forge uses the bt_fundraising__ namespace for donation records, keeping them separate from payment transactions.
🖼️ In the Forge app: Fundraising event checkout — attendees can select a ticket tier and add a donation in a single transaction.
Before you start
- Fundraising (beta) must be enabled for your org by Blackthorn — it is gated and does not appear as a self-serve toggle on the Beta page.
- Your org must have the Blackthorn Fundraising managed package installed (
bt_fundraising__namespace). - A Payment Gateway must be configured for processing donations.
- Have a donation designation ready (the fund or program the donation supports) — this maps to a
bt_fundraising__Designation__crecord in Salesforce.
Steps
- Create your event and open the Tickets & Items tab.
- Click + New Item and set Type to Donation. Name it clearly (e.g., Donate to the Scholarship Fund). Set a suggested Price (attendees can override this amount at checkout). Click Save.
- Optionally, create standard Ticket items alongside the Donation item. Attendees can purchase a ticket and make a donation in the same checkout flow.
- Go to the Donations beta tab (visible once Fundraising has been enabled for your org). Link the donation item to a
bt_fundraising__Designation__cin Salesforce to ensure the gift is allocated to the correct fund. - On the Page Designer tab, ensure the donation prompt is enabled in the checkout section. You can add a fundraising appeal paragraph in the event description explaining what the donation supports.
- Set Status to Active and share the registration link. Attendees will see the donation option at checkout.
Donations made through this flow are recorded as bt_fundraising__Donation__c records in Salesforce — separate from the bt_stripe__Transaction__c that covers the ticket purchase. This separation supports proper gift accounting, gift aid processing, and donor reporting.
What this creates in Salesforce
| Forge | Salesforce Object | Salesforce Field |
|---|---|---|
| Donation item on event | conference360__Event_Item__c | conference360__Type__c = Donation / conference360__Price__c |
| Donation record | bt_fundraising__Donation__c | amount, designation, recurring |
| Designation (fund) | bt_fundraising__Designation__c | Name |
| Ticket purchase transaction | bt_stripe__Transaction__c | amount, status |
| Attendee | conference360__Attendee__c | conference360__Registration_Status__c |
Donor names, email addresses, and gift details are stored in Salesforce objects (bt_fundraising__Donation__c linked to a Contact). Forge never persists this information in its own database. Always handle donor data in compliance with your organization's data privacy policy.
Verify
- Fundraising has been enabled for your org (confirm with your Blackthorn representative if the Donations tab is not visible).
- A Donation item appears in Tickets & Items with Type = Donation.
- The donation amount field is editable by the attendee at checkout (they can increase or decrease the suggested amount).
- After a test registration with a donation, a
bt_fundraising__Donation__crecord exists in Salesforce linked to the correct Designation. - A separate
bt_stripe__Transaction__cexists for the ticket portion (if a paid ticket was also purchased). - The attendee receives a confirmation email that includes both the ticket confirmation and the donation receipt.