In this article:

1. Adding a donor name snippet
2. Adding other custom snippets

You can customize contribution forms to display personalized content, like a donor’s name, to try and engage more directly with potential donors. "Snippets" allow you to do this in the form editor by editing the title and text code to show content that varies depending on the donor or specific link parameters.

Adding a Donor Name Snippet

The most popular snippet is the donor name snippet. Head to the “Title, ask, and URL” tab of the form editor, where you can use a snippet in either the “Title” or “Donation ask” sections (or both). Wherever you’d like to include a donor’s name, type out:

{first_name | friend} or {last_name | friend}

The form will now show the first or last name of any donor our system recognizes.

If someone is a first-time donor or doesn’t have their browser’s cookies enabled, the form uses the default value in the second half of the snippet — in this case, “friend.”

Adding Other Custom Snippets

The name snippet is the only one that works by entering code into your form’s title or text and is the only snippet that pulls data from ActBlue. To use snippets for anything besides names, you need to insert the code in the text and attach a URL parameter to specify what content donors see.
For any custom snippet, you can label the first half whatever you would like. However, you must match the URL parameter to the snippet’s first half. Keep this in mind, and you can create any snippet you want.

For example, if you want to engage more supporters by specifying their ZIP code, you might use a snippet like this in your form’s ask:

{zip_code | area}

The corresponding parameter you attach to your form’s URL would be:

“?zip_code=12345”

In that parameter, “zip_code” matches the label in the first half of the snippet, and “12345” is the custom content you want donors to see.
Add this parameter in the URL after your form's name (“edupdateform” in this example). With this URL parameter, the form will look like this:

Without the URL parameter, the form shows the default specified in the second half of your snippet (“your area").

Other useful snippets specify city and state. You can also customize things like the donation amount or number of donors still needed in the donor’s area to reach your fundraising goal.

If you have any questions, please contact our support team using the email address you use to access your ActBlue account.