What is the memorial tribute donation form template?
Tribute gifts — donations made in memory of someone who has died, or in honour of a birthday, wedding or retirement — are some of the most personal gifts a charity or church receives. They almost always come with a request: please let the family know. Getting that right means recording the name of the person honoured, who should receive the card, how to reach them and what the donor would like it to say.
This template handles both kinds of tribute. A gift in memory can record the date the person passed away; a gift in honour asks for the occasion. If the donor wants a card sent, the form asks for the recipient, the relationship, email or postal address depending on how it should be sent, a short personal message, and whether the amount should be mentioned. The form never asks for card numbers — it records the gift and how the donor will pay.
Each tribute gift is saved as a PDF in your FileIt vault, so whoever writes the acknowledgement cards has everything in front of them.
- Best for
- Charities, hospices, churches and schools receiving memorial or honour gifts
- Filled in by
- The donor, with no account needed
- Time to complete
- About 4 minutes
- Includes
- Memory or honour, fund choice, acknowledgement card details, receipt and listing preferences
Who uses a memorial tribute donation form?
- A hospice collecting memorial gifts after a funeral, with cards sent to the family
- A church receiving gifts in memory of a long-serving member for a memorial fund
- A charity offering 'in honour of' gifts for birthdays and weddings instead of presents
- A school gathering gifts toward a named bursary in memory of a former teacher
- A funeral notice pointing mourners to a single link instead of flowers
Questions on this memorial tribute donation form
24 questions over 4 pages · includes conditional questions, multiple pages, consent checkbox.
1 About you
- Your name*
- Email*
- Phone
- Address
- Would you like a receipt for your gift?*
- May we list your gift in our tribute listing?* Yes, with my name · Yes, but anonymously · Please don't list it
2 The tribute
- This gift is* In memory of someone · In honour of someone
- Their name*
- Date they passed away asked only when it applies
- Occasion asked only when it applies Birthday · Anniversary · Wedding · Birth or baptism · Graduation · Retirement · Recovery · Holiday gift · Other
3 Your gift
- Gift amount*
- Where should your gift go?* Where it's needed most · A particular fund or memorial fund
- Which fund?* asked only when it applies
- How would you like to pay?* Our secure online giving page · Bank transfer · Cheque · Please call me to arrange it
4 Acknowledgement card
- Should we send an acknowledgement card to let someone know about your gift?*
- Send the card to* asked only when it applies
- Their relationship to the person honoured asked only when it applies
- Send it by* asked only when it applies Email · Post
- Their email* asked only when it applies
- Their postal address* asked only when it applies
- Personal message for the card asked only when it applies
- Sign the card as asked only when it applies
- Mention the amount on the card?* asked only when it applies No, just that a gift was made · Yes, include the amount
- Your gift*
The memorial tribute donation form, page by page
1 About you
The form starts with the donor: name, email, phone and an optional address for the receipt. They say whether they want a receipt and whether the gift may appear in your tribute listing with their name, anonymously or not at all.
2 The tribute
The donor chooses whether the gift is in memory or in honour of someone and gives their name. A memorial gift offers an optional date they passed away; an honour gift offers an occasion — birthday, anniversary, wedding, birth or baptism, graduation, retirement, recovery or a holiday gift.
3 Your gift
The amount, whether it should go where it's needed most or to a particular fund (which asks which one), and how the donor will pay — the online giving page, bank transfer, cheque or a call back. The help text tells donors not to enter card numbers.
4 Acknowledgement card
A yes/no asks whether to send a card. Yes reveals who to send it to, their relationship to the person honoured, and whether to send it by email or post — each choice asking for the matching email or postal address. An optional personal message (300 characters), how the card should be signed, and a choice about mentioning the amount complete the card details; the default option is not to. The form ends with a statement confirming the donor's intention to give by the payment method they chose.
Make the template yours
- Add a dropdown of your memorial funds in place of the free-text fund name
- Set the currency on the gift amount
- Edit the payment methods to match how you actually take gifts
- Create a copy of the form for a particular person's memorial and put their name in the cover text
- Point the vault folder at a memorial giving folder so cards can be written from one place
Tips for a better memorial tribute donation form
- Send cards promptly — for memorial gifts, families often notice who gave in the weeks after a funeral
- Never include the amount on the card unless the donor ticked yes
- Double-check spelling of the honoured person's name before cards go out
- Keep a running list per person honoured so you can send the family a single summary if they ask
- Thank the donor as well as notifying the family
Every response becomes a PDF in your vault
Each tribute gift is saved as a PDF in the vault folder you choose, and you're notified by email. The donor can receive a copy of their answers straight away.
Filter the Responses table by the honoured person's name to see every gift made in their memory, or by card delivery to batch your postal and email cards. Export to CSV for your fundraising records.
- Start from this template. It opens in the FileIt Forms designer — change any question, add pages, set the rules for when questions appear.
- Share it. Turn on a public link, or send it to people by email, each with their own link. They don’t need a FileIt account.
- Get the answers as PDFs. Each response is saved as a PDF in the vault folder you choose, with uploaded files attached — and listed in a Responses table you can export to CSV.
Memorial tribute donation form: frequently asked questions
Is this memorial donation form template free?
Yes. It's one of the ready-made templates in the Forms app on every FileIt account, including the free plan. Use it as it is or change any question in the designer.
Do people need a FileIt account to fill it in?
No. Anyone with the public link, or a personal invitation you send by email, can fill it in without signing up.
Does the form take payment?
No. It records the tribute gift and how the donor wants to pay. You follow up with your own online giving page, bank details or cheque instructions.
Will the family see how much was given?
Only if the donor chooses to include the amount. The default choice is that the card just says a gift was made.
Can I use it for honour gifts as well as memorial gifts?
Yes. The first question switches between 'in memory of' and 'in honour of', and asks for the date of passing or the occasion to match.
Can the card go by email?
Yes. The donor chooses email or post, and the form asks for the matching address.