Test Mode: Test Donation Forms and Payment Methods Without Real Money

How Does it Look for the Donor When the Donation is Made with Klarna, Direct Debit, or PayPal?

Does the newly created donation form work as it should? You can easily find out in test mode without using real money. In this article, we answer the most frequently asked questions about it.

1. What Can I Use Test Mode For?

In test mode, you can test payment methods in the donation form and trace the path your supporters take during the donation process. This is particularly helpful when you have set up a completely new donation form or when you want to activate a new payment method. It is also useful for checking whether everything is working correctly from time to time.

This gives you valuable insights into your donor journey and allows you to make improvements if necessary.

Additionally, a test transaction behaves just like a regular donation, except for the real money aspect. This means you can see it in your FundraisingBox under “Transactions,” and automatic confirmation or thank-you emails are sent. This allows you to easily check if everything is correct and how the overall process appears to donors.

2. Can I Test All Payment Methods?

Unfortunately, test mode is heavily dependent on payment service providers. Currently, test transactions are possible with the following payment methods:

Stripe Credit Card
Apple Pay (via Stripe)
Klarna Sofortüberweisung
PayPal
Amazon Pay

You can also try out direct debits without a dedicated test mode by simply entering “121212” as the IBAN.

3. Can I Also Test Recurring Donations?

Yes! Test recurring donations and all subsequent transactions are clearly displayed in the FundraisingBox transactions.

4. What Happens After the Test Transaction – Can I Delete it from the CRM?

The test transaction behaves exactly like a regular donation. It is displayed in the CRM (clearly marked as a test transaction) and triggers an automatic thank-you email. You can edit, export, and of course delete it like a real donation. In the export, you can recognize the test transaction by the label in parentheses behind the payment method.

We recommend deleting the test transactions later to keep your system and evaluations clean.

You also have the option to view all test transactions together in the cockpit. This way, you won’t miss any when you want to delete them later.

5. Can Donors Donate Normally While Test Mode is Active?

Yes, test mode works independently of your live form. Depending on the payment method, different modes are possible: test mode only (currently only PayPal & Klarna), live only, or both simultaneously. You can configure this in the settings of your payment methods.

6. How Do I Activate Test Mode?

The initial linking of a test account with FundraisingBox depends on the providers of the payment methods and thus cannot be answered uniformly. If you need help with this, you can find assistance in our Help Center: [Activate Test Mode](link-to-help-center).

7. How Do I Access the Test Form?

Once you have activated the test mode for the payment method(s), you can switch your donation form to test mode. To do this, simply copy the parameter displayed under “Test Mode” in the form settings (`?sandbox=PARAMETER`) and append it to the URL of your donation form. You will then access your test donation form, which you can recognize by the yellow notices at the top and bottom of the page.

Testmodus_Spendenformular_FundraisingBox

Designing Perfect Donation Processes

With this test option, you can test all changes to your donation form and create an optimal donation experience for your supporters. You gain insights into the payment process without using real money and can easily check even more complex forms (e.g., using the Form API).