Fundraising · free template

Capital Appeal Enquiry Form

Open a major gift conversation about a building or equipment appeal without pitching a number too early.

A ready-to-use fundraising & alumni form for small teams who need a reliable intake process: 15 questions, 3 pages, 4 conditional rules.

Questions
15
Pages
3
Layouts
classic
Conditional rules
4
Typical time
7 min
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Live preview and test console

This is the real form. Answer it to test the 3 conditional rules — nothing is sent or stored.

Page 1 of 3Who you are

Capital appeal enquiry

Include your country code.

Every question on this page is currently visible.

What happens after submit: nothing is stored in this preview. On your own copy, every response triggers an instant email notification and lands in your response dashboard, ready to export or forward.

Happy with it? Take a copy into your workspace — every question, rule and setting comes with it.

Who this template is for

Capital Appeal Enquiry Form is built for small teams who need a reliable intake process who need to collect the same complete information from everyone.

  • Small teams who need a reliable intake process working in fundraising & alumni.
  • Teams who need to collect the same complete information from everyone without writing code or paying for a custom build.
  • Anyone replacing chasing missing details over email with one structured record per enquiry.
  • Respondents are the people you send it to — the form asks them 15 questions across 3 screens.

Why this form is useful

It removes the cost of chasing missing details over email and turns each submission into a record your team can act on immediately.

  • 8 questions are required, so submissions arrive complete instead of needing a follow-up email.
  • It collects a verified email address so replies and confirmations land.
  • It captures a phone number for urgent follow-up.
  • It pins the request to a specific date.
  • Conditional logic hides 4 questions until they are relevant — shorter forms convert better than long ones.
  • Splitting the form across 3 pages keeps each screen short and shows respondents how much is left.
  • Every response is stored, searchable and exportable, so nothing depends on one person's inbox.

How to use this template

From copy to live form is a few minutes of work, and every step is reversible.

  1. 1Press “Use this template” — a fresh copy of Capital Appeal Enquiry Form lands in your workspace, ready to edit.
  2. 2Rename or delete any question, and change what is required. Nothing here is fixed.
  3. 3Open Notifications and add the email addresses that should be alerted on each submission; add an auto-reply to the respondent if the form collects an email address.
  4. 4Publish it, then either share the link directly or paste the embed snippet into your site — the embedded form resizes to fit and loads no marketing or advertising trackers.
  5. 5Watch responses land in Submissions, where you can filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF.

Logic and conditions blueprint

Exactly how this form behaves as it is answered — 4 conditional rules ship with it.

  • Features advanced show logic: if “Who is making this enquiry?” is one of Grant-making foundation, Family trust, the form dynamically exposes “When do your trustees next meet?”. Otherwise that question never appears.
  • Features advanced show logic: if “Who is making this enquiry?” is Individual, the form dynamically exposes “Would you like to visit the project?”. Otherwise that question never appears.
  • Features advanced show logic: if “Are you interested in a naming opportunity?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “What kind of recognition appeals to you?”. Otherwise that question never appears.
  • Features conditional validation: if “Would you like to visit the project?” is Yes, “Best times for a visit” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
  • All 4 rules are editable in the Logic tab, and the built-in checker warns about rules that contradict each other.

About this template

Major gifts are won in conversations, and the job of an enquiry form is to make the first conversation better rather than to close the gift. This one asks who is enquiring — an individual, a family trust, a grant-making foundation or a company foundation — and the answer changes what follows, because a foundation is asked when its trustees meet and what its funding priorities are, while an individual is asked how they would prefer to be contacted and whether they want to visit the site. The project element is chosen from a list rather than left open, so the enquirer self-selects into the part of the appeal they care about and receives only that section of the case for support. Naming opportunities are raised early and gently, with an explicit option to remain anonymous, because retrofitting anonymity after a donor board has been designed is expensive. The timescale question asks when a decision would realistically be made rather than pressing for one, and a single free-text field invites the enquirer to say what they would want the gift to achieve — which is usually the most useful sentence the development team will read all week.

What this form asks

Every question is editable — rename it, make it optional, or delete it entirely.

Page 1 — Who you are

  • Who is making this enquiry?required
  • Contact namerequired
  • Organisation or trust name
  • Email addressrequired
  • Phone number

Page 2 — The project

  • Which part of the appeal interests you?required
  • What would you want your gift to achieve?required
  • Indicative level of giftrequired
  • When do your trustees next meet?
  • Your funding priorities

Page 3 — Recognition & next steps

  • Are you interested in a naming opportunity?required
  • What kind of recognition appeals to you?
  • Would you like to visit the project?
  • Best times for a visit
  • How would you prefer we respond?required

15 questions in total.

How the form changes as it's filled in

This template ships with 4 conditional rules, grouped into 4 behaviours driven by 3 questions. Everything below is already set up — edit or delete any rule once the template is in your workspace.

Driven by “Who is making this enquiry?

  • Reveals questions

    If “Who is making this enquiry?” is one of Grant-making foundation, Family trust, the form reveals “When do your trustees next meet?”.

  • Reveals questions

    If “Who is making this enquiry?” is Individual, the form reveals “Would you like to visit the project?”.

Driven by “Are you interested in a naming opportunity?

  • Reveals questions

    If “Are you interested in a naming opportunity?” is Yes, the form reveals “What kind of recognition appeals to you?”.

Driven by “Would you like to visit the project?

  • Makes answers required

    If “Would you like to visit the project?” is Yes, “Best times for a visit” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Set it up step by step

  1. 1

    Break the project up

    List the fundable elements of the appeal so enquirers pick the part they care about.

  2. 2

    Ask about trustee dates

    For trusts, the meeting date is more useful than a decision deadline.

  3. 3

    Raise naming early

    Keep the recognition question — it is far cheaper to plan for anonymity than to unpick it.

  4. 4

    Assign an owner

    Route every submission to a named fundraiser within two working days.

  5. 5

    Send only what was asked for

    Reply with the relevant section of the case for support, not the whole document.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Sending a full case for support to an enquirer before knowing which part of the project interests them.
  • Ignoring naming preferences until the plaque is being ordered.
  • Asking a trust for a decision date instead of asking when their trustees next meet.

What it pairs with

Most teams don't run this form on its own. These are the forms and systems it sits next to.

What to do with the responses

Assign a named relationship holder within two days, send only the part of the case for support the enquirer asked about, and diarise the trustee meeting date.

Works in this layout

These pages cover the same subject ground as the capital appeal enquiry form, matched on the words people actually search for.

Frequently asked questions

Should we ask for an amount here?

Only as an optional indication. The purpose of this form is to earn the first meeting, not to close the gift.

How are trusts handled differently?

Trust and foundation enquiries open questions about trustee meeting dates and funding priorities.

What if the donor wants anonymity?

Declining the naming question keeps them off donor boards and out of published lists from the start.

Can enquirers visit?

Individuals are asked directly, and a yes makes the availability question mandatory so a visit can be arranged.

Is the Capital Appeal Enquiry Form template free to use?

Yes. You can preview and test Capital Appeal Enquiry Form on this page without an account, and take a copy into your own HelloForms workspace on the free plan. There is nothing to install and no card required to publish it.

What does the Capital Appeal Enquiry Form template ask for?

It asks 15 questions across 3 pages, 8 of which are required. Every question is listed in full further down this page, and each one can be renamed, reordered, made optional or deleted after you copy the template.

Can I edit the Capital Appeal Enquiry Form form after copying it?

Yes — the copy is entirely yours. Change wording, add or remove questions, switch between the classic layout, restyle it to match your brand, and set who gets notified on each submission.

How does the conditional logic in this fundraising & alumni form work?

4 conditional rules ship with the template: Features advanced show logic: if “Who is making this enquiry?” is one of Grant-making foundation, Family trust, the form dynamically exposes “When do your trustees next meet?”. Otherwise that question never appears. Features advanced show logic: if “Who is making this enquiry?” is Individual, the form dynamically exposes “Would you like to visit the project?”. Otherwise that question never appears. Features advanced show logic: if “Are you interested in a naming opportunity?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “What kind of recognition appeals to you?”. Otherwise that question never appears. All rules are editable in the Logic tab.

Where do responses to the Capital Appeal Enquiry Form form go?

Submissions land in your workspace under Submissions, where you can search, filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF. You can also email a notification to your team on every submission and send the respondent an auto-reply.

Can I embed the Capital Appeal Enquiry Form form on my own website?

Yes. Publish the form and paste the embed snippet into any page or share the direct link. The embedded form resizes to fit its container and loads no advertising or marketing trackers inside the iframe.

More forms teams pair with the capital appeal enquiry form.

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