If you've used an email marketing tool in the past, you might be familiar with the idea of creating a simple form to capture names and email addresses of visitors to your website, and having the submissions from that form "feed" directly into your larger email list.

You have the ability to create a similar "mailing list sign-up" form using the Forms functionality in Donor Management. We've outlined the steps on how to create that type of form below!

You'll first want to click on the "Communications" tab from the left-hand navigation options, then select the option for "Forms" from the drop-down menu.

Next, you'll want to click on the "Add Form" button, and fill out the corresponding fields (such as "Name," "Email Submissions To, etc.).

You'll want to scroll down to the section labeled "Do you want to automatically add submissions to a group?", and select "Yes." You'll then be prompted to select a group from a drop-down menu; if you haven't created a designated group titled "Mailing List", you'll also have the option to do so here.

Once you've customized the settings for this form, click on "Save & Exit."

You should then be returned to the "Forms" tab, and the form you just created should be listed at the top of the screen. You'll then want to locate and click the "Add Field" button.

You'll want to make your first field "Name", or make the first two fields "First Name" and "Last Name." You'll want to be sure to select "textbox" as the field type, and make the field required.

You'll then want to click on the "Save & Add Another" button.

For your second field, you'll want to name that field "Email" or "Email Address." You'll want to be sure to select "email address" as the field type, and make the field required.

It's crucial that you set up those two fields as "textbox" and "email address" fields, respectively. If you choose any other type of field for those two fields, the information inputted into the form won't automatically be added into Donor Management.

You can also add other fields to this form - but please keep in mind that the only information that will sync automatically to Donor Management are names and email addresses. (You can, however, add in additional responses by utilizing a self-import once you've collected the form's responses!)

Now that you've configured the form, you'll want to preview and test it, to make sure it's working successfully.

You'll first want to click on the "Communications" tab from the left-hand navigation options, then select the option for "Forms" from the drop-down menu.

From the "Forms" screen, you'll want to click on the name of the form you're looking to preview - it will open up in a new tab on your browser.

You can then review the form and even test it by filling it out yourself - or send the link (URL) to the form to a friend or colleague to have them test it, too.

Once you've reviewed your form and you've confirmed it looks great, you'll want to share it widely among your community! You've got two options to share the form - by sharing the link directly, or by embedding the form into a website.

To share the link directly, you'll just want to take that link at the top of your browser when previewing the form and share that with your audience. You can hyperlink that URL on your website, include it in your email blasts and social media posts, or even include it in your email signature!

To embed the form into a website, you can click on the "Actions" button next to the specific form you're looking to share - then select the "Embed" option from the drop-down menu. A pop-up will appear with a "code snippet" that you can copy, and then paste into the coding for your organization's website - it'll then appear directly on that webpage.