Recipe: Ask for Donations

# Fundraising

# Recipes for success

Makes: Target donation asks to customers purchasing items on your website

In 2024, Spektrix users processed an average of 78% of donations under $500/£500 online. Most of those were made during the purchase path — when donors are most engaged.

This recipe shows you how to set up targeted donation asks that appear during checkout, making it easy for customers to support your work. You can tailor these asks by event, customer type, or default donation amounts.

What you need

One or more Funds set up in Spektrix

Defined Event Criteria and Customer Criteria

Configured Default Donation Ask Amounts

Access to the Donation Conversion Analysis Report

Time required

Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 10 minutes

What will this help me achieve?

Increase the number of donations made during the ticket purchase process

Personalize asks based on what customers are buying

Improve average donation values with smart defaults

Concepts we’ll be using

Funds: Donation accounts visible on your website and linked to specific asks

Event & Customer Criteria: Used to define when and to whom the ask appears

Default Amounts: Pre-filled donation suggestions based on customer behavior

Donation Conversion Analysis Report: To assess trends and optimize donation prompts

Prep

Review your funds. Are they clearly named and include a mix of restricted and unrestricted options?

Assess your events on sale. Could a fund be more relevant to certain genres or shows?

For example: Link your Education Fund to children’s theatre events

Define customer targeting. Should members be included or excluded from donation prompts?

Analyze past donation behavior.

Run the Donation Conversion Analysis Report

Use the average or most frequent donation amounts to inform your Default Amount setup

Remember: You should always have at least one donation ask in place for every event.

Activate

Select an existing Fund or create a new one in Spektrix.

In Event Criteria, choose one of the following:

“Always”

“Never”

“For specific events” — then select the event(s)

In Customer Criteria, select:

“Always”

“For specific customers” — then define criteria (e.g. non-members)

Set a Default Amount, ideally based on cart value and your donation report insights

Test the flow on your website to ensure the ask appears in the right context

Try this twist

Spektrix offers a facilitated workshop to help box office and phone sales teams feel more confident asking for donations directly. ➡️ Asking for Donations - Consultancy Request to book or learn more.