To customize a Bloomerang CRM form, create a custom self-hosted form. Bloomerang CRM provides the base code for the form, which you can edit. To host the form, you copy the code and embed it on your organization's website.
Make sure you understand CSS, HTML, and JavaScript before you change the form code. Bloomerang Support does not include direct support for your organization's website. To troubleshoot a custom self-hosted form, contact your web developer or IT agency.
If you prefer to embed a standard form on your website, view Create Online Giving Forms, Create Event Registration Forms, Create an Email Sign-up Form, and Create Constituent Information Forms.
Note: Membership forms are always standard forms. You cannot create custom self-hosted membership forms in Bloomerang CRM. For more information, view Create and Manage Membership Forms.
Before You Begin
Before you can create custom self-hosted forms, you must:
Sign up for CAPTCHA, a free Google service that helps protect your website
Enable CAPTCHA in Bloomerang CRM
For instructions, view Increase Form Security with reCAPTCHA.
Payment Methods
Online giving forms accept credit, debit, EFT payments, and digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo).
PayPal and Venmo
PayPal and Venmo are available exclusively for customers who use Bloomerang Payments.
To accept PayPal and Venmo on a self-hosted online giving form, you must:
Enable the PayPal and Venmo add-on. To understand how the add-on works, view About PayPal and Venmo. For setup instructions, view Enable the PayPal & Venmo Add-On.
In the settings for your online giving form, select Bloomerang Payments as the transaction processor. For instructions, view Create Online Giving Forms.
When the PayPal verification status changes to Connected, PayPal and Venmo payment buttons appear automatically on:
New and existing online giving forms hosted by Bloomerang CRM
New and existing online giving forms hosted by Bloomerang CRM that you embed on your website. To embed the form, you copy a short JavaScript snippet from Bloomerang CRM and paste it to your web server.
If you have existing custom self-hosted forms embedded on your website, you must complete an additional step after PayPal verifies your information: Regenerate the form code and copy the code to your website.
When the buttons appear on your forms, donors can now pay for one-time donations with PayPal or Venmo.
Apple Pay and Google Pay
Apple Pay and Google Pay are available exclusively for customers who use Bloomerang Payments.
To accept Apple Pay on a custom self-hosted online giving form, Apple must verify your domain. We recommend that you start this process after you create your custom self-hosted online giving form. For information about domain verification, see Apple Pay on Online Giving Forms. After Apple verifies your domain, donors who have Apple Pay and Apple Wallet enabled and use a supported web browser automatically see Apple Pay on online giving forms.
Donors who have Google Pay enabled and use a supported web browser automatically see Google Pay on online giving forms. You do not have to complete any steps to enable Google Pay on your online giving forms. Domain verification isn't required for Google Pay.
This table explains which payment button donors see on your forms.
Device Settings | Payment Button |
Safari with Apple Pay and Apple Wallet enabled | Apple Pay |
Chrome on iOS 16 with Apple Pay and Apple Wallet enabled | Apple Pay |
Chrome with Google Pay enabled | Google Pay |
For detailed information about device requirements, view the Apple Pay documentation and Google Pay documentation.
After a constituent creates a recurring donation on your online giving form, Bloomerang CRM saves Apple Pay or Google Pay as a payment method in the constituent’s account. You can add a new one-time donation, recurring donation, or pledge for the constituent and process the payment in Bloomerang CRM. For more information, view Process Credit Cards and EFT in Bloomerang CRM.
Create a Custom Self-Hosted Form
You can create a new custom self-hosted form or change an existing standard form to a custom self-hosted form. If you change an existing standard form to custom self-hosted, the standard form is deactivated. You can always change the form back to a standard form.
To create a custom self-hosted form:
Click Communications.
Click Forms.
Select the type of form: Online Giving, Event Registration, Email Sign-up, or Constituent Info.
To open an existing form, select it.
To create a new form, select New.
Enter the Form Name.
Select a Transaction Processor.
To accept Apple Pay and Google Pay on online giving forms, you must select Bloomerang Payments. For information about Bloomerang Payments, view Connect to Bloomerang Payments.Select a Confirmation Email.
Choose any other settings you need for the form and success page. After you change the form to be self-hosted, you must edit the code directly to make changes.
Click Save and Preview.
On the Preview Form page, scroll down to the Still Not Right section.
Click Self-Host Form. The code appears.
Copy the code and make any changes outside of Bloomerang CRM. Code changes made in Bloomerang CRM are not saved.
Test the form.
Copy the form code to your website.
Edit a Custom Self-Hosted Form and Regenerate the Code
To change the basic form options, you can edit your custom self-hosted form. After you click Publish, the form code regenerates to include your changes. You can then copy the code to your website.
Warning: Regenerated form code does not include any prior customizations you made to the code outside of Bloomerang CRM.
To edit your form and regenerate the form code:
Click Communications.
Click Forms. The Self-hosted label appears next to custom self-hosted forms.
Click the form name.
Make any desired changes to the form or success page.
Click Publish.
On the Publish Form page, copy the code and make any changes outside of Bloomerang CRM.
Test the form.
Copy the form code to your website.
Deactivate or Activate a Custom Self-Hosted Form
To deactivate a custom self-hosted form, remove the form from your website first. If the form is not removed, people can continue using it.
You can also activate a custom self-hosted form, and then add it to your website. Remember, though, that the code in Bloomerang CRM does not have any prior customizations you made outside of Bloomerang CRM.
To mark the form as inactive or active in Bloomerang CRM:
Click Communications.
Click Forms.
Click the down arrow next to the form’s name and click Deactivate or Activate.
Revert to a Standard Form
If you are having trouble getting your customizations to work, revert to the standard uncustomized form instead.
Click Communications.
Click Forms.
Click the down arrow next to the self-hosted form you want to revert.
Click Get Code.
On the Publish Form page, click Stop Self-Hosting.
Preview the form and success page. The form is using the original settings and does not contain any customizations you made outside of Bloomerang CRM. Click Edit to make changes.
Click Publish.
Copy and paste the snippet into your website.