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NGP VAN News
May 2025
Welcome to the May 2025 edition of NGP VAN News for Fundraising & Compliance customers!
Read on to learn about new features, updates, and trainings.
WHAT'S NEW
Bulk exporting signatures
You can now bulk export waiver signatures as PDFs using the Online Activity Report.
This will download all signatures in accordance with the report parameters as a ZIP file with an individual PDF for each signature.
Default optimized contribution form
We’ve released a new default optimized contribution form! This form streamlines the form creation process as well as the donor experience, allowing you to achieve quicker, easier form set up and better overall fundraising results.
This form is tightly integrated with NGP VAN Payments, so you can get started fundraising faster, raise more money with less effort by leveraging best practice default settings and insights from our ongoing optimizations, and spend less time managing data across tools. To begin using this new contribution form, set up an NGP VAN Payments gateway.
Learn more [[link removed]]
Accept contributions with NGP VAN Payments
Need a way to collect contributions to support your organizing work? NGP VAN Payments is a secure, fully integrated donation platform powered by Stripe — and it’s available to all NGP VAN clients.
If you already use NGP, you can sign up right from your account by navigating to Payment Gateways. If you don’t have NGP yet, you can sign up for a free account here [[link removed]] to start accepting contributions.
With simple 3.25% pricing, fast setup, and built-in donation forms optimized to help you raise more, NGP VAN Payments is a great option for organizing teams looking to bring in funds — without extra overhead.
CSV exports for reports
You can now export comma-separated value (.csv) documents of your data for all reports available in the Report Manager!
Navigate to the report you wish to export, select Export As… , then select Comma-separated value (.csv) from the dropdown menu.
COMING SOON
Phone data model update
We’re releasing some changes to our phone model, which will improve your ability to categorize your contacts' phone numbers. Read our FAQ doc below!
Phone update FAQ [[link removed]]
Optimized Ask and Left to Give options
Soon, you’ll be able to use the Optimized Ask feature on Mobile Messaging and Targeted Email. This will present a donor with optimized ask amounts based on their giving history when they load a contribution form.
If you have disclosure, the Optimized Ask amounts will not exceed your contribution limit — that is, if an Optimized Ask option would put you over your contribution limit (set using the Cycles and Limits feature), then that option will not be displayed to the donor.
You will also have access to a new merge field, "Left to Give" — this field will adjust the Optimized Ask logic so that it will not exceed a customer’s left to give amount for a configured cycle period.
Defending Digital Campaigns partnership
As a NGP VAN customer, we want to connect you with an invaluable resource: Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC). DDC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit providing free cybersecurity products and resources to eligible federal campaigns, thanks to an FEC Opinion that requires no in-kind reporting. In addition, DDC can also provide free products to eligible down-ballot campaigns in Ohio, Michigan, Virginia, and Georgia.
At NGP VAN, we're committed to your success and online safety. We encourage you to explore how you may take advantage of DDC's services to protect your campaign from potential cyber threats or attacks.
DDC offers a variety of free products crucial for campaign security including security keys, website, social media, email protection, and more. These tools address the prime targets for bad actors: accounts and websites. If you're facing other issues, such as significant malicious activity on social media, DDC can help with that too.
There are some specific requirements at the federal and state levels — learn more at DDC Offerings for Eligible Campaigns [[link removed]] . If your campaign is not eligible, there are a whole host of free products you can take advantage of. Check out DDC's list of free offerings for any organization. To get started or if you have questions you can email [email protected].
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NEW: Improvements to the check-in experience via QR code
We’ve rolled out few updates to the QR code check-in experience!
These updates include:
* Easier QR code access in event shift details, via QR code icon
* Better placement of the QR code self check-in toggle during event creation
* Added a QR code check-in option for volunteer host forms
* Attendees can now complete self check-in in Spanish
This feature is still in Beta, by request only. You can request access via this form. [[link removed]]
COMING SOON: The ability to close events in advance
Soon, organizers will be able to close shifts in advance on Mobilize, giving you more control and predictability when planning events.
With this new feature, you can set a cut-off time for each shift. After the cut-off:
* The shift stops accepting new signups
* It’s hidden from event feeds
Closing shifts ahead of time helps you confirm your volunteer list early, so you can:
* Allocate resources more efficiently
* Communicate with attendees in advance
* Avoid last-minute signups or no-shows
This feature is optional, customizable per shift, and very easy to set up! It will be available in Beta (by request only).
If you're interested in getting access, let us know by filling out this form [[link removed]] and be the first to try it out!
COMING SOON: We’re encouraging supporters to share their phone numbers
To continue streamlining the supporter experience, we are improving the signup form to encourage users to share their phone numbers.
The field will now be marked as recommended, rather than optional, and we’ve added a brief sentence below the field to explain why supporters might consider sharing their number.
With this change, we aim to increase phone number collection while keeping the experience simple and flexible for supporters!
COMING SOON: We’re expanding Custom Field Sync to VAN
We’re expanding the custom field sync with VAN to support syncing a checkbox as a survey response, as well syncing dropdown, short and long text fields.
Why it matters:
* More flexibility for organizers: Use a wider range of custom fields for organizing work.
* Stronger data sync: Reduce manual data entry between Mobilize and VAN.
* Better reporting: Capture richer data for analysis and follow-up.
* Less overhead: Automate more of the sync process and save time.
COMING SOON: Updating Mobilize signup form privacy
To improve transparency and align with privacy best practices, we’re updating the Mobilize signup form with clearer and better placement of the privacy disclaimers.
These updates improve clarity for supporters and help build trust during the signup process.
Why it matters:
* Better placement and language for privacy disclaimers
* A clearer and more intuitive SMS opt-in experience
* Reinforces supporter trust
TRAININGS
📚 Level up with NGP VAN training!
Looking to sharpen your skills and stay ahead in the world of political fundraising, compliance, fieldwork, organizing, and digital strategy? Our new NGP VAN training hub is your go-to resource for live webinars, key guides, and feature updates — all in one place!
🔷 Learn new tools & strategies
🔷 Stay updated on the latest features
🔷 Access expert-led live training sessions
🚀 Get started today! Sign up for Advocacy 101 or explore other training opportunities at ngpvan.com/feature/training [ngpvan.com/feature/training] .
IMPORTANT DATES
Office closures:
* Thursday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth
* Friday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day
Office closures will be staffed with on-call support coverage.
Scheduled maintenance:
* Saturday, June 21 (6-7AM ET)
* Sunday, June 22 (6-7AM ET)
* Monday, June 23 (6-7AM ET)
* Saturday, July 19 (6-7AM ET)
* Sunday, July 20 (6-7AM ET)
* Monday, July 21 (6-7AM ET)
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