Whether you’ve got one portal or twenty, for every portal we implement, there is a testing phase. Here’s a list of things that should be tested before you expect to go live and accept donations.

Timeline: all items implemented at least one week prior to desired live launch

Platform Test Mode
Platform test mode allows you to see your explore page as if you had live campaigns. This allows you to interact with your portal in advance of donors visiting your site. To enable test mode, navigate to Platform > Tools dropdown, select Enable Test Mode. To disable test mode, follow the same steps.

Payment Processor Testing
Community Funded integrates with many payment processors across a broad spectrum. Some payment processor setups provide testing environments, where both teams can run through transactions to ensure each donation’s details map to the expected destinations.

Other payment processors do not provide testing environments, but not to worry: we will still be able to test transactions and confirm that funds map appropriately.

Please allow ample time for testing payment processors, especially for your first portal, or after any major feature releases.

Styling & CSS
For embedded sites, your portal(s) may need style updates from both your institution or organization and the Community Funded team. Some Community Funded elements can be customized on a portal-by-portal basis, while others are global settings that cannot be customized.

For both, please ensure that you test your sites from a couple of modern browsers (i.e. Chrome, Firefox, Safari) and a mobile device or two. Report any issues for hosted sites to helpdesk@communityfunded.com. For issues with embedded sites, please contact your website team first.

Site behavior and function, from first visit through donor handoff & reporting

Below is a list of things to test in advance of your go-live date.

Punch list:
Submitting an Idea through your portal’s designed form

You can find your idea submission form by going to Platform > Tools dropdown, select “Public Campaign Idea Submission URL”. This link opens in a new tab.

To test:

  1. Compare your customized idea submission form to the list of questions you requested.
  2. Fill out your idea submission form. Make sure the flow of questions makes sense to you and your team, and that you are collecting all of the information you will need.
  3. Inspect submitted ideas, and run through the idea approval process. NOTE: this process may vary from institution to institution. If you have questions, reach out to the help desk.
  4. Check that all information that maps to campaign applications port correctly and display as expected.
  5. Check that downloading your submitted campaigns shows all columns populated with information as expected.

Check custom fields

Custom fields allow your funds to map from individual campaigns all the way through your organization’s reporting. Custom fields appear on the tab of the same name in your individual campaign applications.

To test:

  1. Navigate to the Campaigns tab. Click “Start New” in the upper right corner of your manage area. Click on the Custom Fields tab, and make sure the fields you requested are in place.
  2. Enter test values in these fields. These can be real, active fund designations, appeal codes, or whatever values you wish to track. Click save.
  3. Navigate to your portal preview and click the donate button.
  4. On the checkout form, you should see the values you entered in the custom field under the title of the item in your cart.
  5. Complete a test donation. Then navigate to the Campaign tab, and select ‘Reporting’ from the list. View your successful donation.
  6. From the same reporting tab, click Download Supporters. Open the file and confirm that your custom field values are mapping as expected. NOTE: if you have a separate transactions/reporting/reconciliation department, please ensure that they have what they need from these reports in advance of your go-live date.

Check donor checkout questions
NOTE: this step can be completed at the same time as testing your custom fields.

Your donor experience will vary based on your payment processor. However, the first of two steps will be the same for most portals.

  1. Click a quick donate button from your Giving Event preview page, or the Make a Donation button from any campaign page (with your portal in Test mode.)
  2. View the checkout page. Ensure the donor checkout fields you expect are present.
  3. Click Continue to Next step, and complete your donation.
  4. Navigate to the Reporting tab for the campaign you donated to, and download the report. Ensure the values entered in the donor checkout questions have mapped to the report as expected.