Setting up a donation counter for a nonprofit (tactical guide)

Nonprofit development teams run on campaign cycles. End-of-year, giving Tuesday, capital campaigns, annual fund. Each has its own rhythm, and each benefits from the same piece of equipment: a thermometer the whole team can see.

Here’s how to set one up in under two hours.

Step 1: Decide the campaign and goal

Pick one campaign and one headline number. Common options:

Dollar total (most common, most universal)
Donor count (for volunteer-driven organizations valuing breadth)
Gift count (if the same donors give multiple times)
Major-gift total (gifts over $1,000 as a separate counter)

Most organizations run two: dollar total (primary) and donor count (secondary).

Set the goal. Be ambitious but reachable. Thermometers that never fill past 40% demoralize the team. Goals that are easy to exceed feel uninspiring. Aim for 80-120% of what you think the team can actually hit.

Step 2: Connect the donation platform

Major platforms and their integration paths:

Tithe.ly / Pushpay / Breeze / Realm: Zapier triggers for new gifts
Planning Center Giving: OAuth, direct webhook
Donorbox / Classy / GiveButter / Raisely / Funraise: Zapier triggers
Stripe Checkout or Stripe-powered custom forms: Stripe OAuth, charge.succeeded webhook
PayPal Giving Fund: PayPal webhook
Every.org: Zapier trigger
Network for Good: manual-file-import or Zapier

For fastest real-time updates, platforms with direct webhooks (Planning Center, Stripe, PayPal) beat Zapier-based integrations. If you can choose your platform, pick one with direct webhook support.

Step 3: Decide what’s public vs. private

Critical decision, especially for faith-based organizations:

Public (lobby TV): Aggregate total, goal progress, maybe donor count
Private (pastor/ED’s phone): Individual gift amounts, donor names

Keep donor privacy in mind. Aggregate totals are generally safe to display publicly. Individual gift amounts and donor names should stay private unless donors have explicitly consented to be recognized publicly.

Step 4: Set up the thermometer

In your broadcasting tool, create a counter with:

Display type: Thermometer
Goal: Your campaign target
Reset period: “Never” for the campaign window (don’t reset daily)
Currency: USD (or your local currency)

Configure the visual:

Colors: Match your organization’s brand
Text: “Annual Fund 2026” or similar
Milestones: Set checkpoints at 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% for visible progress moments

Step 5: Add a stretch goal (optional)

If you’re confident you’ll hit the primary goal, add a stretch. The thermometer fills to 100% at primary, then continues to stretch with a different color. Psychologically, stretch goals extend engagement past the main milestone.

Step 6: Install the TV

Lobby placement is classic for development purposes. Fire Stick, Apple TV, or Android TV plugged into the lobby TV. Install the PingBell TV app, pair with the counter code.

Alternative placements:

Development office: Team-only visibility, no donor-facing
Volunteer coordination area: Keeps volunteers energized
Board member phones: Mobile app for every board member to see real-time

Step 7: Configure notifications

On the mobile app, decide who gets push notifications and what they see:

ED/Pastor: Full details (donor name, amount, message)
Development team: Aggregate milestone crossings
Major gifts officer: Gifts above a threshold
Board members: End-of-day summaries rather than real-time (configurable)

Respect donor privacy in the notification templates.

Step 8: Pre-launch test

Before the campaign goes live:

Make a $1 test donation
Watch the counter move on the TV within 5 seconds
Confirm the relevant team members get their expected push notifications
Refund the test donation; confirm the counter decrements
Verify the thermometer renders correctly on the actual TV (sometimes TVs have weird aspect ratios)

Step 9: Launch the campaign with the TV live

When the campaign formally launches, the TV should be live from the first gift. Watching the thermometer fill from $0 through the first $10K is part of the team’s emotional experience of the campaign.

Step 10: Post-campaign archive

When the campaign ends, archive the counter. This preserves the history (you can look back at the curve). Clone the counter for next year’s version, starting fresh.

Nonprofit-specific features

Things that matter for nonprofits specifically:

Match campaigns: If you have a matching donor covering 1:1 up to some amount, configure the counter to display matched-to-date alongside total. The match is a strong urgency driver.
Dollar-for-dollar countdown: “Every $1 raised today is matched by Donor X until we hit $50K”. Separate counter counts against the match cap.
Peer-to-peer: Some platforms (GiveButter, Classy) support peer-to-peer fundraising. Per-fundraiser counters create friendly competition.
Memorial / honor gifts: Tag these and celebrate appropriately. Many gifts are given in memory or honor; surface this respectfully.

The pricing

For nonprofits on PingBell: the Plus plan is $25/mo with 30% off for registered 501(c)(3)s, so $343/yr. Many nonprofits only run the tool during active campaign windows, which makes it $49 for a 30-day campaign.

Start here

Start a free trial. Email support with your 501(c)(3) tax ID for the nonprofit discount. Your next campaign will have a thermometer the whole team can feel.