To shorten a donation link, copy it from your GoFundMe, Zeffy, Enthuse or other fundraising page, paste it into a link shortener and choose the ending yourself, for example linx.ly/winter-appeal. It takes about a minute, and the link still opens the same donation page.
Look, a long link works fine behind a button. The trouble starts when it has to fit on a flyer, in a text message or in a sentence someone says out loud. This guide covers the steps, how to keep one link when the campaign changes, and what the click numbers can and cannot tell you.
How to shorten a donation link
- Open your donation page on GoFundMe, Zeffy, Enthuse or any other platform and copy the full link.
- Paste the whole link into a URL shortener.
- Replace the random ending with words people can read, such as
linx.ly/winter-appealorlinx.ly/shelter-fund. If an ending is taken, add a word. - Save it and share the short link instead of the long one.
A donor who taps the short link lands on the same page as the long link. The donation still goes through your fundraising platform, exactly as before. The short link only gets people to the page, and it gives you a readable name, a QR code and a click count along the way.
Why shorten your donation link?
Because an appeal has to travel further than a button on your website.
Start with the message itself. Paste a full campaign URL into a text and it can take up more room than your request. Compare that with one clean line: "Help keep the shelter open this winter: linx.ly/winter-appeal". The second one reads like a person asking.
It also survives being spoken. Nobody can read a platform URL from a stage or on a local radio slot and expect people to catch it. linx.ly/shelter-fund they can repeat, and they may still remember it when they get home.
The other two reasons only show up later. You can change where a short link goes after you share it, which matters a lot for anything printed. And you can see how many people opened it, which a bare donation URL will not tell you.
Honestly, if the link only ever sits behind a Donate button on your own site, leave it alone. Nobody sees it there.
Keep the same link when the campaign changes
A printed flyer has no edit button.
Say you print 2,000 flyers for a winter appeal in November. In March the appeal closes and a new one opens at a new address. The flyers are still on noticeboards and in shop windows, and they still send people to the old page.
With a short link, you open its settings, paste the new donation page as the destination and save. linx.ly/shelter-fund now opens the new appeal, and every flyer, poster and email signature that carries it follows along. Nobody has to be told. You can do this as often as you like, on every Linxly plan, and the new destination can be any URL, including a page on a different fundraising platform.
Two small habits make this work better. If a link will outlive one appeal, leave the season out of the ending: linx.ly/shelter-fund still makes sense in June, and linx.ly/winter-appeal does not. And when a campaign ends with nothing to replace it, point the link at your general donation page, so people holding an old flyer do not reach a closed campaign.
Put it on a flyer, then count the clicks
Linxly creates a QR code automatically for every short link. Put it on a flyer, a collection tin or an event banner, and people reach the donation page from their phone camera without typing anything. The code points to your short link, so it keeps working after you change the destination. Adding your logo and brand colors takes the Pro plan. For print sizes, see how to make a QR code for a link.
To compare channels, give each one its own short link to the same donation page: linx.ly/shelter-email for the newsletter, linx.ly/shelter-flyer for print. Every plan shows the clicks, click versus scan, country and device type for each link. On Starter, stats are kept for 30 days and you get 5 short links a month, so a long appeal with many channels may need Pro, which keeps two years of stats and adds the referrer and UTM breakdowns. The link click tracking guide explains what each click records.
Now the honest part. A click is not a donation.
A click means someone opened the page. Linxly does not know whether they gave, or how much. Your fundraising platform holds the donation figures, so what you get here is which channel sends people to the page, not which channel raised the money. Linxly also filters most automated traffic, but no filter catches every bot, so treat a sudden burst of clicks from one place with some suspicion.
Make sure donors trust the link
People are right to be careful with a link that asks for money. Help them out.
Use an ending that says what it is. linx.ly/shelter-fund tells a donor something before they tap, and a random string tells them nothing. Match it to the campaign name people already see on your flyer or post, so the words on the link and the words on the page agree.
Then say who is asking, right next to the link. Your charity's name plus "winter appeal: linx.ly/winter-appeal" gives people far more to go on than a link alone. Once they tap, they land on the fundraising page they would have reached anyway, with your charity's name and the campaign on it.
Open the short link in a private browser window before you share it. Check that the page loads without signing in, that it is the right campaign, and that the campaign is published. You do not need to make a donation to test it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a short link change where the donation goes?
No. It opens the donation page you pasted, and the donation is made on your fundraising platform as usual. Linxly never handles the money.
Can I change the link after I share it?
You can change where it goes, as often as you like, on every plan. Paste a new donation page as the destination and save, and the printed flyers and QR codes follow.
Why won't my shortened donation link work?
Usually part of the link was cut off when you copied it, or the campaign was closed, unpublished or moved on the platform. Try the long link: if that fails too, copy the current address of your donation page and paste it as the destination.
What happens to my short links if I cancel?
They keep working, and so do their QR codes. Changing the destination and collecting new click stats need an active plan.
How much does it cost?
Linxly starts at $0.99 a month, with 5 short links a month, custom endings, click stats and QR codes. There is a 7-day free trial, and you can cancel anytime.