Where to find and change notification settings

Donor Box sends notifications to the email addresses you specify whenever someone makes a donation. You control who gets these messages by editing your notification settings in the Donor Box dashboard — a process that takes about two minutes and requires no technical knowledge.

Log into your Donor Box account and go to Settings in the left sidebar. From there, select Notifications. You will see a list of email addresses currently set to receive donation alerts, along with options to add new addresses or remove existing ones.

The notification settings explore to your entire Donor Box account, so any changes you make affect all forms and donation pages you have created. If you run multiple fundraising campaigns or have different teams handling different causes, you may want to set up separate email addresses to receive notifications for each one — but you do this by adding multiple addresses to the same notification list, not by creating separate accounts.

Key Takeaways

  • Notification recipients are managed in one place: Settings > Notifications in your Donor Box dashboard.
  • You can add as many email addresses as you need, and each will receive a notification for every donation.
  • Removing an address from the notification list stops that person from receiving future donation alerts when ready.
  • Donor Box sends notifications to the addresses you list regardless of whether those people have Donor Box accounts themselves.
  • Changes to your notification list take effect right away and do not require you to update your donation forms or pages.

Adding a new email address to receive notifications

Click the Add Email button on the Notifications page. A text field will appear where you can type the email address you want to add. Type the complete address — for example, finance@myorganization.org — and then click Save or Add (the button label varies slightly depending on your Donor Box version).

The new address will appear in your notification list when ready. That person will start receiving donation notifications with the next donation that comes in. They do not need to have a Donor Box account, and they do not need to take any action on their end — the notifications will straightforward arrive in their inbox.

If you add an address by mistake, you can remove it right away by clicking the delete or remove icon next to that address in the list. There is no confirmation step, so the address will be removed as soon as you click.

Removing someone from the notification list

Find the email address you want to remove in your Notifications list and click the delete icon next to it — usually a trash can or an X. The address will be removed when ready, and that person will not receive any further donation notifications.

If you remove an address and then realize you made a mistake, you can add it back by clicking Add Email again. There is no waiting period or approval process — you can add and remove addresses as often as you need to.

Removing someone from notifications does not delete their account or affect any other part of your Donor Box setup. It only stops them from receiving the automatic email alerts when donations come in.

What information is included in donation notifications

Each notification email includes the donor's name, the donation amount, the date and time of the donation, and any message the donor included when they gave. If the donor provided additional information — such as a phone number or address — that information appears in the notification as well.

The notification also includes a link back to your Donor Box dashboard, where you can view the full donor record, send a thank-you message, or record notes about the donation. This means anyone on your notification list can take action on donations without needing to log into Donor Box themselves, though they will need your dashboard login to make changes to your account settings.

Setting up notifications for different team members

If you have multiple people who need to know about donations — such as a finance manager, a development director, and an executive director — add all of their email addresses to the same notification list. Each person will receive the same notification email for every donation.

There is no way to set up different notifications for different donation forms or pages within Donor Box. Everyone on your notification list receives alerts for all donations, regardless of which form or page the donation came through. If you need to route donations from different campaigns to different people, you will need to use a tool like Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat) to filter notifications based on custom fields or other criteria — but this requires a paid plan with those services and some setup work.

For most organizations, the simplest approach is to add the main person responsible for donations to the notification list, and have them forward relevant information to others as needed.

Troubleshooting notifications that do not arrive

If someone on your notification list is not receiving donation alerts, the most common cause is that the emails are landing in their spam or junk folder. Ask them to check their spam folder and mark Donor Box notifications as "not spam" so future emails go to their inbox.

The second most common cause is a typo in the email address. Go back to Settings > Notifications and verify that the address is spelled correctly. Even a single wrong letter will prevent emails from arriving. If you find a typo, remove the incorrect address and add the correct one.

If the address is correct and the person has checked their spam folder, ask them to confirm that they are checking the right email account. People sometimes have multiple email addresses and forget which one they gave you. Once you confirm the correct address, remove the old one from your notification list and add the correct one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set up notifications to go to a text message instead of email?

Donor Box does not send text message notifications directly. However, you can set up a free service like IFTTT or Zapier to forward your Donor Box notifications to a text message service. This requires connecting your Donor Box account to the third-party service and setting up a rule, which takes about 10 minutes.

What happens if I remove all email addresses from my notification list?

If you remove all addresses, no one will receive donation notifications. Your donations will still be recorded in your Donor Box account and visible in your dashboard — you straightforward will not get an alert when they come in. You can add addresses back at any time.

Do donors see the notification list or know who is receiving alerts about their donation?

No. Donors do not see your notification settings and have no way of knowing who receives alerts about their donation. The notification list is internal to your organization only.

Can I schedule notifications to be sent at a specific time instead of right away?

Donor Box sends notifications when ready when a donation comes in. There is no option to delay or batch notifications. If you need notifications at a specific time of day, you would need to use a third-party automation tool like Zapier to hold and release them on a schedule.

If someone is on the notification list but does not have a Donor Box account, can they click links in the notification email?

Yes. The notification email includes a link to view the donation in your Donor Box dashboard, but clicking that link will prompt them to log in. They will need your account login credentials to access the dashboard. You can share your login with trusted team members, or you can create separate user accounts for them through your Donor Box account settings.