Frequently asked questions about LGL Forms
In this article:
General questions and answers about LGL Forms
Q. What is LGL Forms?
LGL Forms is an HTML form builder that lets you create web forms to accept online donations (one-time and recurring), event RSVPs, or ticket sales; collect membership information or dues; and a whole lot more.
LGL form submissions automatically appear in your Little Green Light CRM database, saving you valuable time.
Setting up an LGL Forms account is free of charge to LGL CRM customers. To learn more about this service and how it works, read the LGL Forms section of the Knowledge Base.
Q. What are the main advantages of using LGL Forms?
LGL Forms offers a number of advantages. Here are a few of the big ones:
- The integration between LGL Forms and your LGL database offers a simple and intuitive mapping process.
- You have flexibility in which fields you want to use in your form.
- In the case of recurring donations, LGL Forms automatically pulls in the donation data each time it recurs.
Q. Can I customize the look and feel of my form?
Yes, the forms are customizable in terms of color and styles.
Q. I have a website; can I publish my forms on it?
Yes. Once you have built and published your form, you can link to it from your website or add the snippet of HTML code on your website to embed it. (Note that self-hosted WordPress.com websites [known as Wordpress.org-based websites] can embed forms, but Wordpress-hosted websites [hosted by Wordpress.com] cannot embed forms.)
Q. How do I accept donations using LGL Forms?
Once you have created your LGL Forms account, you can build a form, set it to collect donations, and publish it. The form will be live and ready to accept donations once you make it available to your donors, either by a link you share to it or on a website or by embedding the form directly into a website.
Q. Can I accept recurring donations?
Yes, you can enable your form to accept recurring donations.
Q. Can I set a minimum donation amount for my form?
Yes, you can set a minimum donation amount on a donation/payment form.
Q. Can I accept event registrations using my form?
Yes. Just build the form to collect the information you want about your event registrants, publish the form, and either link to it from or embed it into your website.
Q. Can I set a limit on the number of tickets I have available?
Yes, if you use a payment-enabled form, you can set a limit on the number of tickets (or other items) you have available. You will need to use an "Amount" field and the "Suggested Quantity" option to enable this.
Q. Can I search for donors or registrants who submitted one of my forms?
Assuming you have mapped your form, yes, you can search for these constituents from the Constituents tab, using the search criteria in the Advanced Search box at the top of the page. You'll search on "LGL Forms" and then you can select the form or forms you want to search on.
Q. If I have a PayPal account integrated with LGL directly using the PayPal IPN integration, can I use that PayPal account with LGL Forms?
Yes, and donations made through LGL Forms using that PayPal account will use your form's mapping to sync over to your LGL account via LGL Forms. In other words, those PayPal transactions will no longer use (or need) the PayPal IPN ("instant payment notification") integration.
Q. Can I use Authorize.net or another payment processor?
Stripe and PayPal are the only payment processors LGL is working with.
Q. How do I know my donors’ credit card information will be secure?
Our payment processors, Stripe and PayPal, handle all payment processing for LGL Forms and ensure payment processing is secure. Read more about how Stripe and PayPal handle security.
Q. How will I assure my donors and constituents that the information they submit through LGL Forms is as secure as other information they enter at high-profile (highly trusted) places online?
Credit card information is processed by Stripe or PayPal and is never touched by LGL Forms.
Q. Can I transfer funds to any bank account of my choice?
Yes, as long as it is a valid U.S. bank account that can accept incoming ACH transfers.
Q. Can I take donations from donors outside the U.S.?
Yes. You can process donations from Visa®, MasterCard®, Discover®, and American Express® credit cards. Please note that your donors will be charged in their native currency. All transactions will be submitted to you in the currency you set up for your LGL Forms account.
Q. Can I use LGL Forms as a virtual terminal to enter credit cards on behalf of donors? Will I need the credit card’s security code?
Yes. You can build a form that will enter credit cards on your donors’ behalf. The form will need to capture the card number, expiration date, billing address Zip code, and amount.
The CVV (or security) code is not required.
Q. Can I swipe cards and process them through your service?
No. The ability to swipe a credit card is not available at this time.
Q. Whose name will appear on the donor's credit card statement?
Your organization's name and phone number will appear on the donor's credit card statement. You have a true merchant account with Stripe or PayPal, which is why your name appears. This is different from many other services, like Network for Good, where their name appears on the donor's statement.
Q. Do Stripe or PayPal have transaction limits? How do I raise my transaction limit?
Stripe does not have a transaction limit. You can check with PayPal on whether it uses a transaction limit.
Q. How long will it take to get my Stripe or PayPal account up and running?
In most cases, you can set up a payment account through your LGL Forms account instantly.
Q. Can I have two bank accounts activated in my Stripe or PayPal account, and assign one form to bank account A and one form to bank account B?
Yes. However, to do this, you would need a second payment account.
Questions and answers relevant to ProPay only
Q. How do I know my donors’ credit card information will be secure?
For those using ProPay to process credit card payments through LGL Forms, ProPay handles the payment processing and ensures it is secure. Read about how ProPay handles security.
Q. How will I assure my donors and constituents that the information they submit through LGL Forms is as secure as other information they enter at high-profile (highly trusted) places online?
Credit card information is processed by ProPay and is never touched by LGL Forms.
Q. Whose name will appear on the donor's credit card statement?
Your organization's name and phone number will appear on the donor's credit card statement. You have a true merchant account with ProPay, which is why your name appears. This is different from many other services, like Network for Good, where their name appears on the donor's statement.
Q. Does ProPay have a transaction limit? How do I raise my transaction limit?
ProPay provides immediate access to online credit card processing (compared with many other services that take several days to complete the application). To accomplish that, they start new accounts with transaction limits of $1,500 per transaction and not to exceed $10,000 in a month.
To increase your ProPay transaction limit, send your organization’s last 3 bank statements and your last 3 credit card statements to limits@propay.com, along with the email address you registered with and/or your ProPay account number.
Q. Can I have two bank accounts activated in my ProPay account, and assign one form to bank account A and one form to bank account B?
Please email ProPay Account Management for instructions on setting up additional accounts at accountmanagement@propay.com), you can connect them all to your LGL account.
LGL Forms gives you the option to choose which account to use for any given form, regardless of which payment provider you are using.
Q. ProPay: How do I qualify for ProPay’s nonprofit rates?
You can qualify for the nonprofit rate by emailing a copy of your nonprofit (501c3 or 501c4) designation letter to limits@propay.com, along with the email address you registered with and/or your ProPay account number. Stripe doesn't offer nonprofit rates per se, but their rates are competitive nonetheless. More information about Stripe's nonprofit rates is available here.
Q. ProPay: Is Little Green Light compatible with the Jak ProPay offers, which can directly slide cards when connected to a phone?
ProPay does have a swipe device they call the Jak. Jak transactions occur directly in your ProPay account and don't go through the LGL Forms service. However, you can import Jak transactions into your LGL account by running an export from your ProPay account and then uploading that data into LGL using the LGL Flex Importer.