CharityEngine GTM Event Listener

Track CharityEngine donation form interactions in GTM. Monitor donation started, payment step, and successful gift events with ce_event_name and donationAmount variables.

charityenginedonationsnonprofitfundraisinggtmga4giving

Event fired

ce_quick_action_form_event

Key variable

ce_event_name

CharityEngine

Overview

CharityEngine is an all-in-one nonprofit CRM and fundraising platform with embeddable donation forms. This listener tracks the full donation funnel, from form view through completed gift, using CharityEngine's native JavaScript event API.

Event fired: ce_quick_action_form_event Variable: ce_event_name

Common Use Cases

Track completed donations as GA4 purchase events with donation amount
Measure donation funnel drop-off at each step
Fire Google Ads conversion tags on successful gift
Build remarketing audiences from donors vs. form viewers

Tracked Events

ce_event_name	Description
`donation form viewed`	Embedded form loaded and visible
`donation started`	Donor begins filling out form
`payment step reached`	Payment details section opened
`donation completed`	Gift successfully processed
`donation failed`	Payment attempt failed
`recurring selected`	Donor opts into recurring giving

Installation

html

<!-- GTM Custom HTML Tag: CharityEngine Donation Listener -->
<script>
(function() {
  function cePush(action, extra) {
    window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
    window.dataLayer.push(Object.assign({
      'event': 'ce_quick_action_form_event',
      'ce_event_name': action
    }, extra || {}));
  }

  // CharityEngine fires events on the window object
  window.addEventListener('message', function(e) {
    if (!e.data || typeof e.data !== 'object') return;
    if (!e.data.type || e.data.type.indexOf('ce_') !== 0) return;

    var data = e.data;

    switch (data.type) {
      case 'ce_form_loaded':
        cePush('donation form viewed', {
          ceFormId: data.formId,
          ceCampaign: data.campaign
        });
        break;

      case 'ce_gift_started':
        cePush('donation started', {
          ceFormId: data.formId,
          ceDonationAmount: data.amount,
          ceFrequency: data.frequency || 'one-time'
        });
        break;

      case 'ce_payment_step':
        cePush('payment step reached', {
          ceFormId: data.formId,
          ceDonationAmount: data.amount
        });
        break;

      case 'ce_gift_complete':
        cePush('donation completed', {
          ceFormId: data.formId,
          ceTransactionId: data.transactionId,
          ceDonationAmount: data.amount,
          ceDonorEmail: data.email,
          ceFrequency: data.frequency || 'one-time',
          ceCampaign: data.campaign,
          ceFund: data.fund
        });
        break;

      case 'ce_gift_failed':
        cePush('donation failed', {
          ceFormId: data.formId,
          ceErrorCode: data.errorCode
        });
        break;

      case 'ce_recurring_selected':
        cePush('recurring selected', {
          ceFormId: data.formId,
          ceFrequency: data.frequency,
          ceDonationAmount: data.amount
        });
        break;
    }
  });
})();
</script>

Data Layer Output

Donation Completed

json

{
  "event": "ce_quick_action_form_event",
  "ce_event_name": "donation completed",
  "ceFormId": "form_abc123",
  "ceTransactionId": "txn_987654",
  "ceDonationAmount": "50.00",
  "ceDonorEmail": "donor@example.com",
  "ceFrequency": "monthly",
  "ceCampaign": "spring-fundraiser-2024",
  "ceFund": "general-fund"
}

Donation Started

json

{
  "event": "ce_quick_action_form_event",
  "ce_event_name": "donation started",
  "ceFormId": "form_abc123",
  "ceDonationAmount": "25.00",
  "ceFrequency": "one-time"
}

Triggers to Create

Trigger	Event	Condition
CE – Donation Completed	`ce_quick_action_form_event`	`ce_event_name = donation completed`
CE – Donation Started	`ce_quick_action_form_event`	`ce_event_name = donation started`
CE – Donation Failed	`ce_quick_action_form_event`	`ce_event_name = donation failed`
CE – Recurring Selected	`ce_quick_action_form_event`	`ce_event_name = recurring selected`

Variables to Capture

Variable Name	DL Key	Example
DLV – CE Event	`ce_event_name`	`"donation completed"`
DLV – CE Amount	`ceDonationAmount`	`"50.00"`
DLV – CE Transaction ID	`ceTransactionId`	`"txn_987654"`
DLV – CE Frequency	`ceFrequency`	`"monthly"`
DLV – CE Campaign	`ceCampaign`	`"spring-fundraiser-2024"`
DLV – CE Email	`ceDonorEmail`	`"donor@example.com"`

GA4 Mapping

GA4 Event	Trigger	Parameters
`purchase`	donation completed	transaction_id, value, currency, items
`begin_checkout`	payment step reached	value
`add_to_cart`	donation started	value (donation amount)
`sign_up`	recurring selected	method: "recurring_donation"

GA4 Purchase Tag Configuration

javascript

// GA4 Configuration tag, Donation as Purchase
// Trigger: CE – Donation Completed
{
  transaction_id: {{DLV - CE Transaction ID}},
  value: {{DLV - CE Amount}},
  currency: "USD",
  items: [{
    item_name: "Donation - " + {{DLV - CE Campaign}},
    item_category: {{DLV - CE Frequency}},
    price: {{DLV - CE Amount}},
    quantity: 1
  }]
}

Google Ads Conversion

For Google Ads, create a conversion action for "Donation" and fire it on the CE – Donation Completed trigger:

Conversion Value: {{DLV - CE Amount}}
Currency: USD
Transaction ID: {{DLV - CE Transaction ID}}

Debugging

Problem	Cause	Fix
No events in dataLayer	Form in iframe, wrong origin filter	Check `e.origin` matches CharityEngine domain
`ce_event_name` undefined	Wrong event key	Log `e.data.type` to confirm event format
Amount shows as undefined	API version difference	Add console.log to inspect `e.data` structure
Events fire twice	Listener added twice	Wrap in a guard: `if (window._ceListenerAttached) return;`

Best Practices

Track recurring vs. one-time separately, recurring donors have 3-5x higher lifetime value; segment them in GA4 from day one
Pass transaction ID to avoid duplicate conversions, CharityEngine may send confirmation on multiple page loads
Use Enhanced Conversions, hash ceDonorEmail for better Google Ads attribution on donation completions
Create a GA4 custom dimension for ceFrequency, enables recurring vs. one-time analysis in Explore reports

Related Listeners

Calendly, for tracking fundraising calls scheduled via Calendly
HubSpot Form, for capturing donation interest forms before the gift

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