Release date: September 12, 2022

In this release, we are adding a new 'Test Mode' to Experiences and Donation Pages. Test Mode allows customers to test the full donor experience on their Experiences. Currently, we have a "preview" function while an Experience is in Draft status, but Organizers can't submit any test transactions on it unless they publish and use a real credit card. Because of this limitation, Organizers also can't see or test everything that comes after submitting a transaction, including receipts, reports, and test other management functions.  

With Test Mode, Organizers can submit test transactions using automatically-filled test card numbers on any “Draft” status Experience or Donation Page. Additionally, all backend functions are open for testing including actions like exporting reports, importing Teams/Participants, adding physical raffle tickets, etc. If the Organizer has linked a Stripe account before using Test Mode, they can even see the test transactions in their Stripe account. Test Mode allows Organizers to fully test and evaluate the product to get a feel for what their donors will experience before they publish and go live.  

Test Mode is not something customers need to “enable” or “turn on” – it’s just automatically built-in for any “Draft” status Experience or Donation Page. Whenever an Organizer previews their Experience while in Draft Status, Test Mode is automatically enabled and Organizers can submit test transactions, see their receipts, see their test data in reports, and perform management functions related to those transactions. The Experience Page, Checkout, and Management backend have on-screen banners to inform the user that they’re in Test Mode. 

When a user publishes their Experience live, all test mode transaction data is conveniently deleted so that everything is clean before it goes live to their donors.   

Here's a quick video of the checkout process while in Experience Test Mode: 

https://www.loom.com/share/70f64110afa5456dac7da24060fefa64

We are adding functionality to the Partner API so partners can create webhooks through a new 'Webhooks' page in the Partner Administration dashboard and select the events they'd like to be notified of when they occur. This functionality allows partners to integrate with systems such as a CRM to send their users related emails when they go through specific workflows in the application. 

You can find the complete documentation for Webhooks here: https://partnerapi.rallyup.com/#webhooks.

In this release, we are adding the ability for organizers to define who receives the 'Contact Organizer' emails. In Options -> Experience Options, there's a new card that lists who gets the 'Contact Organizer' emails. By default, it lists the organizer's email and any emails of Experience Admins, which is the system's current functionality. However, from now on, users will be able to remove the email addresses they no longer wish to use to handle inquiries from the 'Contact Organizer' button and can also input any email address they'd like, including completely external addresses such as help@organization.com. This new functionality provides more flexibility for how organizations choose to serve their supporters.

In this User Story, we are expanding the functionality for custom fields within the application. Currently, we only allow responses in the form of one line of text in a text input field. In efforts to provide more enterprise-level flexibility, organizers will now be able to set up custom field types that accept the following responses:  

• Short text (current custom field functionality) 
• Paragraph text 
• Multiple choice  
• Checkboxes 
• Dropdown 
• Phone number 
• Date 
• Time 
• Numbers-only 

These new custom field types will be added everywhere in the application where custom fields are currently accepted, including Ticketing Registrations, Checkout, Donation Page, and Peer-to-Peer Team and Participant Registrations. Additionally, all custom fields will continue showing in reports and the View Transaction Details modal with added functionality to support the new types added in this user story. All custom fields will continue to be editable by the organizer in the 'Edit Donation' modal on the View Donations page. 

In this User Story, we are adding the ability for donors to save payment information to their accounts. 

This new functionality allows a donor to donate to one Experience, save their card information, and return to contribute to a different experience without re-entering their payment information a second time. The platform will save their card information, making checkout more effortless and streamlined for returning users across any Experience they donate to.  

We have provided two easy ways for donors to save their payment information: right from Checkout when making transactions, or at any time from the “My Account” area. Here they will be able to add, manage, or remove their saved payment information quickly whenever they'd like.  

We have also added logic in the application to send emails to users when their card is about to expire. These notifications help ensure donors update their saved payment info before it expires.  

Lastly, we are implementing a minor design refresh of the 'My Account' section to have a more modern look in this user story. 

In compliance with the request of the New Zealand government, the Raffle and Sweepstakes Activities are now unavailable in Experience setup for Organizations in New Zealand.  

We've added a new Start and End date for Flat Donations in the application based on customer feedback and requests. This new functionality will allow any Experience with Flat Donations to specify any timeframe in which their supporters can make Flat Donations to their Experience - before or after their other Activities end. This functionality covers many use-cases, one precisely where users wanted to continue accepting donations on their Experience for a specified amount of time after their other Activities ended. 
 

The 'Start Date' will appear if the organizer decides to set different dates for all activities in the Basics section. Alternatively, if the organizer indicates that all Activities will start at the same time, then the Start Date will not appear as General Donations will begin in tandem with the other Activities. Alternatively, to account for use-cases like the one explained above, the End Date always shows for Flat Donations.
 

Note: The Flat Donation option and its Start/End Date fields will still not appear for Solo Crowdfunding Experiences without Perks, and the user will indicate when the Experience should end in the Basics Section. 

In this improvement, we will be adding functionality to our Facebook Pixel Integration to include transaction values. This addition will allow our customers to start using transaction values to track marketing spending and the value of donations generated from their Facebook ads. Overall, this will enhance our customers' ability to track how well their marketing and advertising are performing and how effectively they convert their audience into donors.

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This User Story tackles the first step in the user workflow in Experience Setup: the 'Basics' section. We have completely redesigned the "Basics" section to improve UX and align with customer expectations. The end goal of all the changes outlined below is to improve conversion rates for new customers, increasing the number of customers who publish campaigns.  

In summary, this release contains: 

1. A new modern design for the “Basics” step of Experience Setup that better aligns with all the goals mentioned above 
2. Updating UI and UX throughout Experience Setup to align this section better with this marketing and product strategy 
3. Allowing each Activity (Raffle, Auction, Crowdfunding, etc.) to have individual start dates 
4. Completing the transition from "Campaign" to "Experience" terminology app-wide 
5. Various improvements to the Setup experience across every section

Terminology Clarification 

To fully understand the context of this upcoming change, we must clarify some terminology used across the platform moving forward. Here are the terms that have been redefined to summarize functionality on the platform better. 

• Experience - We use this term to refer to users' overall fundraiser in the platform. Previously, we used a combination of "Campaign" and "Experience." Now we're standardizing everything around "Experience." You'll sometimes see this referred to as "Fundraising Experience" in marketing or some copy, too. This is primarily used at the beginning of Experience Setup and in the left-side navigation menu of the app.  
• Fundraising Activities – This refers to the individual fundraiser types that users can add to an Experience (e.g., Raffle, Sale, Auction). Previously this was called "Components" or “campaign types,” now, they’re called "Fundraising Activities" or "Activities" for short.  
• Features - This term refers to optional add-ons users can add to any Experience. These are separate from Fundraising Activities and include existing Features like Peer-to-Peer, Livestreaming, and Crowdfunding Perks.  
• “Event” and “Campaign” - these terms are used in the new Setup experience but with a different meaning. Events and Campaigns are now a higher-level grouping that refers to the type of Experience the user selects before their Fundraising Activities. This will be explained in more detail below.  

We’ll use this new terminology throughout this changelog post and in the app with this update. 

New "Basics" Section Workflow 

We’ve redesigned the “Basics” step of Experience Setup from the ground up in this upcoming release. To bring you up to speed, here are some of the significant changes we’ve made on this step:  

• Updated the UI design on the 'Basics' Step 
• 'Event’ is no longer positioned as a Fundraising Activity. We’ve renamed it ’Ticketing,' which is enabled via a new setting on Basics that is separate from the Fundraising Activities: see screenshot. The functionality of Event Tickets is unchanged from before, so this is purely a mental model and positioning change that better aligns with customer expectations. 
• Added a new Checkout step in Experience Setup 

Here is a Loom video walkthrough of the concept of the new Basics section:  https://www.loom.com/share/ef5869eb573b4484a89a36c7177f49f5  

Event vs. Campaign Choice 

On the Basics step of Experience Setup, Organizers will have to choose between running their Experience as an “Event” or a “Campaign”: see screenshot.  This decision reflects a new approach we’ve implemented to better group and serve Experiences on the platform.  

Here is how we are defining the initial 'Event' and 'Campaign' choice within Setup:  

• Event - A user should select this option if their fundraiser has an attendance-based component hosted at a specific date and time. Examples would be galas with an in-person or virtual event, raffles with a livestreamed drawing on a particular day, or a jog-a-thon with an in-person running day. 
• Campaign - This is the exact opposite of the 'Event' choice. Users would select this option if their fundraiser does not have an attendance-based component and only has ad-hoc participation. So, this option would be for any fundraiser that has no date and time-based gathering or event. 

To clarify, 'Event' no longer refers to the Fundraising Activity we had for it before. The primary reason for this change is that Organizers often refer to their entire fundraising experience as an “Event.” This customer expectation and approach has been validated through customer interviews, UX research sessions, and customer feedback.  

The old Setup did not handle this well because these types of customers would end up selecting the “Event” fundraising Activity in Experience Setup even if they didn’t need the ticketing functionality offered under that fundraising Activity. For example, we have observed customers consider their solo Raffle fundraiser an “Event” if they have a live drawing that can be viewed publicly because individuals can “attend” and watch the drawing. So, although they consider this an “Event” in their terms, it would not necessarily be the same as our “Event” fundraising activity we had on the old Setup. 

By breaking “Event” out as a higher-level grouping separate from fundraising activities and making “Ticketing” an option tied to the “Event” choice, this helps customers choose the right options to run the type of experience they want.  

We made slight changes to the Experience Setup flow depending on which option (Event vs. Campaign) Organizers select. For example, if an Organizer selects 'Event,' we immediately ask them for their event date and time. This workflow reinforces the differences of the initial 'Event' vs. 'Campaign' choice. It provides fields that can be displayed on the Experience Page that indicate the time and place of the event.  

Even though there is not much difference in the rest of Experience Setup depending on these two choices, they are still critical to customer onboarding. It makes the Setup process easier to follow and easier for our customers to create exactly the kind of Experience they have in mind. Our old Setup does not do this well because it assumes everyone is creating just a “Campaign” (per our definition above) and does not make it easy for people with an “Event” to know how to set up their Experience correctly for what they want. This new Setup aims to solve all these problems. 

Partner Note: For Partners with the “Event” (Ticketing) feature disabled, none of the above applies for your use case, and you will not see the Event/Campaign choice UI in Setup at all. In this case, Users will begin Setup by selecting their Fundraising Activities just as they did in the old Setup.  

New 'Ticketing' Option (Rename of 'Event' Activity) 

As stated previously, we’ve renamed the “Event” Fundraising Activity to “Ticketing.” This change allows the name of the Activity to be more representative of its actual functionality on the platform (creating and selling “event tickets”). Additionally, 'Ticketing' will no longer be positioned as an activity type alongside Raffles, Sweepstakes, etc. Instead, it will now be shown as an optional feature only available when Organizers have chosen to run their Experience as an 'Event' (a time and attendance-based component) on the platform.  

Note: It will be possible for users to select 'Ticketing' only with no other fundraising types to account for use cases where an organization might only want to sell Event Tickets.  

Allow Each Activity to Have Unique Start Dates 

One highly requested feature we've added to this release is the ability for each Activity to have a unique start date. This new feature provides excellent flexibility for Organizers who want to start each fundraising Activity at different dates and times. For example, you could start selling raffle tickets on 4/1 but wait to start auction bidding until your event begins on 4/15.  

New “Checkout” Section of Experience Setup 

We've added a new 'Checkout' step in Experience Setup to organize better and consolidate all checkout-related settings that the user can change on their Experience. Over time, the 'Basics' section has grown quite large, and some of the cards are not applicable to ask the user there. Therefore, we've created a new Checkout step of Experience Setup.  

The sections we've moved to this new Checkout section are as follows: 

• Primary Currency 
• Delivery 
• Thank You Receipt Customization 
• Flat Donation options from Advanced Options 
• Preset Donation options from Advanced Options 
• Marketing Opt-In Checkbox setting 

Crowdfunding Section Changes 

• Crowdfunding Perks On/Off Selection has been moved to the 'Basics' section. 
• If the Crowdfunding Activity is enabled, Perks are disabled, and it's a solo-Activity Experience; it works the same as now. However, we are hiding the 'Crowdfunding' Step in Experience Setup since it only had two options before that have both been moved to the 'Basics' section.  
• If the Crowdfunding Activity is enabled, Perks are disabled, and it's a multi-Activity Experience, we automatically enable the 'Flat Donations' option and hide it from Setup. This workflow allows users to run a multi-activity Experience with Crowdfunding without Perks.  
• The primary reason for this change is that when Organizers enable Crowdfunding but do not want Perks, that’s the same as allowing Flat and Recurring Donation functionality. The application now handles this use case more elegantly and enables those features automatically in this case.  

Additional Updates to the Basics Section 

• Time Zone setting moved to "Choose when your Experience should start/end" card. 
• Fundraising Goal moved to Page Design section 
• EIN Card moved to Raffle/Sweepstakes sections 

Auction 

• We've removed the location field in the Auction Step because we now have one “Event Location” field on the Basics section. We previously let users set different Locations for different fundraising activities, which was rare because the Event is held at one location for most cases.  
• For any Campaign currently using the “Auction Location” field, we will automatically migrate it to the location field to the 'Basics' section. No data will be lost, and the Location will still be displayed on the Experience Page. 

A-Thon 

• The setting for single or multiple-participant A-Thon has been moved to the 'Basics' section: see screenshot. This setting works the same as before – turning Peer-to-Peer “On” or “Off” depending on their choice. 
• The A-Thon location and date fields have been deprecated for the same reasons mentioned above for the Auction Location field. Users using this field will be automatically migrated to the event location field in the 'Basics' section.  

Livestreaming  

• Livestreaming will now be enabled/disabled on the 'Basics' section in the “Features” area: see screenshot. 

Ticketing (Previously the 'Event' Step) 

• Renamed to 'Ticketing' 
• The Event location and Event Date fields have been moved to the Basics section: see screenshot.  

Peer-to-Peer (Previously 'Team Fundraising') Section Changes 

• “Team Fundraising” has been renamed the industry-standard term for this feature: Peer-to-Peer. Users can enable it in the new Features section on “Basics”: see screenshot.  
• When the only Activity selected is 'Auction,' then Peer-to-Peer will be unavailable for that Experience because it is not available or applicable to solo Auctions.  

Page Design Section Changes 

• The 'Recurring Goal' setting will only be available for Solo-Crowdfunding Experiences moving forward.  
• The Text-to-Give card has been moved to this section.
• Several settings have moved out of Advanced Options and into the Page Design section, including CTA Button Customization, Left Navigation Tab Customization, and Section Ordering. 

Review Section Changes 

• The 'Review' button is being replaced with the 'Options' button to encourage users to visit their Experience Options. This improvement was added because the 'Review' button only takes the user back to the 'Basics' section, which is not intuitive and does not contribute to converting and learning more about the platform.  

Advanced Options Renamed to Just 'Options' 

• We’ve renamed this to ' Options' to make extra options seem less intimidating and daunting to new customers. 

Experience Page Changes 

• The “Flat Donation” option for donors is now displayed in the same visual style as the other fundraising activities: see screenshot. This positions the option equally to donors and the fundraising activities instead of a secondary choice like before. 
• Since we now allow users to define individual Start Dates for each Fundraising Activity, these Start Dates will be displayed on the Experience Page for donors: see screenshot.  
• The Event Date and Event Location will now be displayed on the "Home" tab of the Experience Page: see screenshot. These will only display for Event-type Experiences. 

When supporters purchase entries on a Raffle where entries are eligible to win any prize, we've added a collage item view in Checkout to show an image of each prize available. We've added this functionality for Raffles and Sweepstakes to improve the User Experience by accurately representing what the user can win for purchasing entries. 

Before this improvement, when a user purchased entries on an Experience where entries can win any of the prizes, we only showed the image of one prize for the image in Checkout. It confused users and made them believe they were purchasing entries for only the prize corresponding with that image.

Note: When Raffles are set up so that supporters can purchase entries for each prize individually, only the image for that specific prize will show.