Status: In Production
Release date: April 20th

In this release, we are adding the ability for Organizers to create QR codes for their Experience Page URLs, Donation Page URLs, and Auction Item URLs. This is a highly requested feature from customers. QR codes gained widespread popularity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many customers want to leverage them for their Experience links. For example, a common request we receive for QR codes is that organizers want to print out QR codes for their Auction items, then place them next to the physical items at an in-person event. This would allow bidders to scan them with their phones, be taken directly to the Auction item, and bid online extremely easily.  

From now on, users will find a new “Create QR code” button while creating an Experience, Donation Page, or an Auction item. The user can press a new button to generate a QR code for the Experience Page URL (see screenshot). When this button is clicked, it opens a new modal with the generated QR code and a call-to-action to download it (see the image above). The organizer can then download and digitally share the QR code with their users or use it in printed materials. Organizers can similarly create QR codes for their Donation Page URLs (see screenshot) and Auction item URLs (see screenshot).   

In addition to creating one-off QR codes for their Experience Page, Donation Page, and Auction items, organizers can also bulk-download QR codes for their Auction items (see gif above).   

Downloading QR codes for Auction items in bulk is easily done by bulk-selecting multiple Auction items, pressing the ‘Actions’ button, then selecting “Download QR codes.” Once that button is pressed, the app will email the organizer’s email address a zip file containing all the QR codes the organizer requested.  

Status: In Production 

Release date: April 13th 

Currently, non-US customers can create raffles and sweepstakes experiences freely. At the request of our legal team and to reduce support overhead, we’re locking down raffles and sweepstakes for non-US customers so that they are only available to those who contact us, are reviewed, and are approved to use those Activities.  

The essential requirement here is that non-US Organizations that want to run a raffle or sweepstakes will need to contact support to discuss their Organization and needs and then manually be approved to run these types of Experiences. We’ll add a new setting in Administration, so it is possible to enable and disable raffles and sweepstakes separately at the Organization-level.  

In the “Manage” menu on each row in the “Organizations” section of Administration, RallyUp administrators and Partner administrators will find a new option titled “Experience settings” (see screenshot). When that button is clicked, it will open the new modal shown at the top of this changelog post.  

Administrators can use this modal to control if a specific Organization can run raffles or sweepstakes. When the checkboxes are checked on, the Organization can run a raffle or sweepstakes. By default, they are checked off for non-US organizations so that these Activities will be disabled in Experience Setup for these users. This modal can be used for all Organizations, not only non-US organizations. This gives administrators greater flexibility in case raffles and sweepstakes need to be disabled for any Organization for any reason in the future.  

The Organizations with raffles or sweepstakes disabled in the “Experience settings” modal will still be able to see both the Raffle and Sweepstakes activities in Experience Setup. However, when the Organizer tries to select either of them, they will be met with a new modal (see screenshot below). This modal will help the Organizer start the communication process to determine if raffles and sweepstakes should be enabled for their Organization. Or the Organizer can select a different Activity type and continue setting up their fundraiser.

Status: In Production 

Release date: April 10th 

This release allows Organizers to disable anonymous donations in Experience Setup. From now on, Organizers can visit the Options > Checkout Options section in Experience Setup and find a new card where they can control all of the existing donor anonymity options shown in the "Donation preferences card during Checkout (see screenshot).

Using the checkboxes on this card, the Organizer can control whether their donors can make anonymous donations. By turning off all the different options, the Organizer can hide the "Donation preferences" card in Checkout, making it an even shorter and more straightforward process for donors.  

Below we will discuss each of the options that can show in the "Customize donor privacy options" card in Experience Setup:  

• Allow anonymous donations (donor information will be hidden from you and other donors) 
  • When turned on, this option will allow donors to hide their names from the Experience Page and Organizer reports. The Organization cannot see the user's name if the donor keeps it hidden.
  • This checkbox only shows for Experiences that do not have items or prizes.  
• Allow donors to hide their name from the Experience Page 
  • This option shows in place of the "Allow anonymous donations (donor information will be hidden from you and other donors)" option when the Experience has prizes and items.  
  • When turned on, this option will allow donors to hide their name from the Experience Page. The Organizer will be able to see the donor's information normally. 
  • This option will only show when the Activity Feed is enabled. 
• Allow donors to hide their donation amount from the Experience Page 
  • When this option is turned on, donors will be able to hide the amount of their donation from the Experience Page.  
  • This option will only show when the Activity Feed is enabled. 
• Allow donors to display their donations under a different name 
  • When this option is turned on, donors can display their donation under a different name on the Experience Page.
  • This option will only show when the Activity feed is enabled. 
• Allow donors to hide their email address from your organization 
  • When this option is turned on, donors can hide their email addresses from the Organization. If the donor chooses not to share their email address, it will not appear in Organizer reports. 
  • This checkbox only shows for Experiences that do not have items or prizes.

Donation Pages

We've also added the same functionality for Donation Pages. Here is a screenshot of the new card in Donation Page Setup's "Options" section. Here the Organizer can control all the existing donor anonymity options shown on the Donation Page (see screenshot).

Below we will discuss each of the options that can show in the "Customize donor privacy options" card in Donation Page Setup:  

• Allow anonymous donations (donor information will be hidden from you)
  • This option is the same for Donation Pages as described for Experiences. Donors can hide their names from the user's Organization when enabled.
• Allow donors to hide their email address from your Organization
  • This option is the same for Donation Pages as described for Experiences. Donors can hide their email addresses from the Organization when enabled. If the donor chooses not to share their email address, it will not appear in Organizer reports.

Status: In Production 

Expected Release: April 6th, 2023 

In this User Story, we are adding a highly-requested feature that allows Organizers to bulk import items into Experience Setup for the Auction Activity type.   

Users that run Auctions with many items feel that uploading more than 25 items with our current processes is time-consuming. Therefore, we are adding bulk import functionality for Auction items to support more enterprise customers and help alleviate this burden from Organizations.   

This functionality will work similarly to other import processes in the application, where users will fill out a templated CSV file, then upload the completed file in Experience Setup. 

Users will find a new “Import multiple items” button during the Auction setup process. When this button is clicked, it will open a new modal (see screenshot below) that explains how the user can utilize our new import functionality for Auction items. In that modal, users will download a new CSV template that they can use to bulk import their Auction items. We will discuss the CSV template in detail later. If the user needs help filling out the template, the user can click the “Learn more” button to view a new help article explaining how the CSV file works. 

Once the user fills out the template, they will use the “Upload spreadsheet” button to upload their completed Auction items CSV file to the platform. Before the platform uploads the Auction items, the user will receive an overview of what the platform will upload (see screenshot below). This overview tells the user how many items will be uploaded, how many images were successfully matched to items, and how many categories were created in the CSV file (described later). It also alerts the user of any errors that may be present. By clicking the “see errors” button, the user will download a new CSV file that details where the errors exist in their uploaded CSV file. From there, the user can choose to continue uploading the CSV file with the mistakes or cancel and fix them before proceeding. 

Once the “Start import” button is clicked, the Auction items will be imported. The user can leave the page, and the platform will send the user a notification email when the import process is complete.  

CSV File Details 

In this section, we will describe the CSV file template in detail. Each CSV file column represents each setting for an Auction item in Experience Setup. We will discuss each setting below. For your convenience, here is a link to the CSV file template.  

• Title  

  • This is the title of the Auction item. It is the same as if you were filling out the “Item title” option in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Image URL (optional) 

  • Here the user can add the URL of a hosted image. It is the same as if you were adding an image in Experience Setup, except since CSV files can only contain text, this column will take an image URL. See screenshot. 

• Starting Bid 

  • This is the starting bid of the Auction item. It is the same as if you were filling out the “Starting bid” option in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Bid Increment 

  • This is the bid increment for the Auction item. It is the same as if you were filling out the “Bid increment” option in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Category 

  • This is the category for the Auction item. It is the same as if you were selecting a category from the dropdown in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 
  • If the user enters a category here that does not exist in Experience Setup, then the system will automatically create a new category on behalf of the user. 
  • This column will only show if Categories are enabled for the Auction items in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Buy it now price (optional) 

  • This is the buy-it-now price for the Auction item. This is an optional field. It is the same as the “Buy it now” option in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 
  • If the user adds a value to this column, the buy it now option will be automatically enabled and offered at the price entered in the column.  
  • This column should be left blank if the user does not want to enable buy it now for a specific item.  

• Item description (optional) 

  • This is the description for the Auction item. It is the same as adding a description in Experience Setup. See screenshot.  
  • Please note that a CSV file can only contain text values. Therefore only text is accepted here. 

• Custom sharing link (optional) 

  • This is the custom-sharing link for the Auction item. It is the same as if you were adding a custom link for the Auction item in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Fair market value (optional) 

  • This is the fair market value of the Auction item. It is the same as if you were adding a fair market value in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Quantity available (optional) 

  • This is the quantity available for the Auction item. It is the same as if you were telling the system there was more than one item available in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 
  • If this option is left blank, then the application will assume there is only one item available. 

• Hide this item from the Experience Page 

  • This option takes a “Yes” or “No” value. If set to “Yes,” then the Auction item will be hidden from the Experience Page. It is the same as if you checked the “Hide this item from the Auction Page” checkbox in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Item donated by (optional) 

  • This is the same as adding an “Item donated by” value in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

• Item reference number (optional) 

  • This is the same as adding an item reference number for the Auction item in Experience Setup. See screenshot. 

Additionally, the very first row of the CSV file is an example row that will help the user learn how to use the template. It contains example information. However, the user can use the example row to test the import process by uploading it to their Experience. If the user does not want to upload the example item, they must delete it before uploading the CSV file to the platform. 

Current Status: In Prod
Prod Deploy Date: March 21st, 2023

• The Customer Success team can create a bunch of popular templates (based on what we know our customers want), therefore making it easier to assist customers with building their Experiences
• Our Marketing team can create landing pages, advertisements, and email marketing campaigns for specific types of Experiences (e.g., 50/50 Raffles, Read-a-Thons, Raffles with Livestreaming). When customers convert from the landing page, they will see Templates matching that landing page or potentially others they are interested in.
• Our Sales teams can use templates to more quickly onboard customers in their sales pipeline
• Customers will be more likely to convert (publish a campaign) because the Setup process will be reduced thanks to the Template pre-filling many settings for them

Here are the components of the Template system:

Customer-side

When Customers click to create a new Experience, they’ll see a new pop-up asking if they want to create a blank Experience from scratch (no Template) OR if they want to browse and use a template.

If they choose to Browse Templates, they’ll be taken to the Template Gallery where they can browse all Templates. Templates can be organized by Category, and there’s a Search function to make it easy to find a specific Template.

Once they click into a specific Template, they can view its full details and choose to use it when they’re ready. The Template Title, Image, Category, and Description are customizable when you create Templates on the Admin-side.

• Create new Templates
• Create Categories for Templates and manage their display order for the Template Gallery
• Enable or Disable the Template Gallery
• View a list of all Templates you’ve created
• See how many times each Template has been “Used” by a customer
• Copy and delete templates
• Customize how each Template appears in the Template Gallery: set the Template’s Name, Image, Description, and Category(s)
• Control whether a specific Template should be “Shown” or “Hidden” from the Template Gallery
• Enter Experience Setup for a specific Template to modify its settings

How to get started

You can start creating Templates now, even though this feature has not yet been released. Since Templates are just Draft Campaigns, you can start creating Templates just by creating any Draft campaign. When this feature is released, a new "Mark as Template" function will be available on the Admin > Campaigns view. You can use this to make your Templates appear on the Admin > Templates page described above, and then launch them to customers when you're ready. 

In this release, we are adding the ability for RallyUp/Partner administrators to ‘flag’ Organizations and Campaigns in Administration. This functionality works very similarly to an email system where you can flag specific emails as a method to let yourself know that the email still needs to be handled or looked at further.  

When at least one Campaign or Organization is flagged, there is a new navigational element that shows in Administration (see image above). Administrators can use this navigation element to toggle between viewing “All” Campaigns and Organizations (depending on which tab in Administration you’re on) or only the flagged rows. This functionality allows the administrator to easily view all Campaigns or Organizations that have been flagged.  

In the ‘Campaigns’ and ‘Organizations’ tabs in Administration, you can select the “Manage” menu in any row to find a new button that says: “Add notes.” When this button is clicked, it opens a new modal that allows the administrator to leave notes that might be helpful for their internal teams.  

Status: In Production

Release date: February 16, 2023

In this release, we are adding a new “Auction Gift” feature which lets Organizers capture more donations on auctions by allowing bidders to still donate at the end of the auction if they don’t win any of their bids. This feature works by adding a card to donor Checkout that asks the bidder if they would like to support the Organization even if they do not win any of their Auction items at the end of the auction.   

If the donor elects to add an Auction Gift while bidding, then one of two things happens once the Auction ends:  

• If the bidder wins at least one of their Bids, they pay only their winning bid amount(s). The Auction Gift is not charged. 
• If the bidder loses all their Bids, they are charged the amount they specified for their Auction Gift instead. 

The bidder can decline to leave an Auction Gift and continue with only their bid as normal, and they will not be charged anything when the Auction ends even if they lose all their bids. 

Auction Gifts are an optional feature that can be turned on by the Organizer in Experience Setup. This feature will be enabled for new Auctions by default so that we can try to increase the amount raised on average for all auctions. Existing auctions will not have the feature enabled automatically when it releases, but they can manually enable it if they want.  

The Organizer can also customize the wording displayed on the checkbox in Checkout here. This is useful for customers to add their own unique donation appeal to the checkbox, such as explaining what impact donors can have for the cause even by making a small donation if they don’t win items.  

Auction Gifts are displayed in reports to make them easy to reconcile for Organizers. On the View Payments report, Auction Gifts are displayed as their own rows in the table with a “Pending” status before the auction ends. When the auction ends, charged Auction Gifts will update to “Paid” status while uncharged ones will update to “Voided”. The View Auction Bidders report will also include a new “Paid for Auction Gift” column to denote which bidders paid for an Auction Gift.   

On the Donor side, Donors can also edit their Auction Gift in My Account by going to the "Bids" tab, pressing the 3-dot menu, and selecting the "Auction Gift settings" button. When clicked, the "Auction Gift settings" button opens the "Auction Gift Settings" modal (refer to the image below). This modal allows the user to edit the amount of their Auction Gift, including the ability to opt out of leaving an Auction Gift. 

In this release, we're attacking four known pain points for the auction bidding process: 

1. Bidder dropoff between Cart and Bid Checkout because Bidders don't know that they must complete Checkout to confirm their bids (they need to submit their Bids after just adding them to the Cart)
2. Bidders don't understand why we ask for their payment information upfront when they make their first bid
3. Bidders don't understand that their cards aren't charged if they don't win any items at the end of the auction
4. Bidders don't know what a "Maximum Bid" is and how Proxy Bidding works

Here are the changes we're making to address all of the pain points above: 

New "Place Bid" modal

A new modal makes it easier for bidders to enter their bid amount with explanations of how bidding works, what happens when they're outbid, and what the minimum bid and bid increments are for the item they're viewing. 

New "Bidding Guidance" modal

After a bidder adds their first bid to their Cart, a new modal explains the next steps of bid checkout better and eliminates dropoff between Cart and bid submission.

Cart changes

Cart Toast element and new Cart icon in the header

After adding a bid to the Cart, a new toast message appears in the upper right. Cart toast messages are a familiar UX pattern from other eCommerce sites and help users learn the pattern of where the Cart is and where they need to go to initiate Checkout.

New "Charged Later" cart section

The Cart now puts Bids and Pledges into a separate "Charged Later" section which explains when donors can expect the system to charge them for items in that section. See screenshot.

Conditional cart buttons

The buttons at the bottom of the Cart now dynamically change depending on what's in the Cart. If only Bids are in the Cart, they'll switch to "Submit bid now." If other items are in the Cart, they'll say, "Check out now." 

The new button text improves the bidder experience with more specific CTAs and addresses the confusion Bidders had when they didn't understand why they had to "check out" their bids. 

Better workflow for users who are outbid while in Cart

Bidders outbid by other bidders before they even get to Checkout will now see a new guided experience explaining what happened and giving them easy controls to take action. 

Checkout changes

New "Bids" section

The Bids section of Checkout is redesigned with two main improvements: 

• An easier way to edit your bid while in the middle of Checkout: see screenshot
• Clearer communication of Outbid status for when the user is outbid by someone else while they're still checking out or when they return to Checkout after being outbid: see screenshot

Review & Pay section changes

The Payment Method section now clearly explains why we ask for payment information upfront from bidders and that they won't be charged if they don't win anything.