Donation choices define how much a recipient donates and how many points they receive to allocate to products in the shop.
Donation choices are the core of the points-based selection system. Each donation choice maps a donation amount to a number of points that can be used to select products. When a recipient starts an order, they select a donation choice. The points from that choice become their budget for shopping.
Donation choices are managed under Settings > Donation Choices in the sidebar.
This feature applies when your food bank uses the Points Only or Both pricing modes. Food banks set to Currency Only do not use donation choices.
Every product in a points-based food bank has a points value set by the admin. This value is an arbitrary number — it does not have to correspond to the product's monetary value. Admins can use points to reflect scarcity, cost, utility, healthiness, or any combination. For example, items you want to distribute quickly can be set at 0 points, while less healthy options can be set higher to discourage selection. When a recipient selects a donation choice, they receive that choice's points allowance — which may also be influenced by family size or other criteria configured by the food bank — and can browse and allocate points to products in their cart until their allowance is used.
For example, if a recipient selects the $40 donation choice and receives 40 points, and a product is set at 2 points, they can add up to 20 of that product (subject to stock and quantity limits).
When a recipient visits the shop, they select their donation choice before browsing products. The selection step shows all available donation choices for your food bank, displayed as options (e.g. "$20 for 20 points", "$40 for 40 points").
Once selected, the donation choice is saved to the recipient's current order. The recipient can then browse products and allocate their points to items.
Administrators can set item limits per product category for each donation choice. This is managed through the DonationChoiceTaxon relationship.
For example, you might allow recipients who chose the $20 donation to pick up to 3 items from the "Meat" category, while recipients who chose the $40 donation can pick up to 6 items from the same category.
These limits are configured on the category edit page, not on the donation choice page. When editing a category, a section shows each donation choice with an optional item limit field.
Sub-categories count toward the parent's limit. A limit set on a category applies to that whole category branch -- items in any of its sub-categories count toward the same total. For example, a limit of 5 on "Meat" caps the combined items across "Meat" and its sub-categories ("Chicken", "Beef", "Lamb", ...), not 5 per sub-category. This applies to both the per-donation-choice limits above and the category's own Max items in cart field; where both are set, the most restrictive wins. To cap a sub-category independently, set a limit on that sub-category as well.
Each food bank defines its own set of donation tiers. The donation choice grid in the admin panel only shows choices for your food bank.
The new choice appears in the grid and becomes available to recipients immediately.
Changes apply to new orders only. Existing orders keep the donation choice that was selected at the time of ordering.
To restrict how many items a recipient can take from a particular category based on their donation tier:
The system creates a DonationChoiceTaxon record for each combination of donation choice and category. The record stores the item limit.
Donation choices can be edited but not deleted through the admin grid. To remove a choice, contact your platform administrator. Removing a choice that has been used in past orders may affect reporting.
What donation choices are created by default? When a new food bank is set up, two default donation choices are created: $20 for 30 points and $30 for 40 points. You can edit or add to these at any time.
Can I set the same number of points for different donation amounts? Yes. You might offer $20 for 30 points and $30 for 30 points if you want to give recipients the option to donate more without receiving extra points.
What happens if a recipient changes their donation choice? The recipient can change their donation choice before finalising their order. Their cart is updated to reflect the new points budget. If their cart exceeds the new budget, they will need to remove items.
Do donation choices affect currency-mode recipients? No. Donation choices only apply when your food bank's pricing mode is set to "Points Only" or "Both". Recipients using currency mode pay the dollar price of each product directly.
How do category limits work with the points budget? Category limits and points budgets are enforced independently. A recipient must stay within both their total points budget and any per-category item limits. For example, even if they have enough points for 10 meat items, a category limit of 5 will cap them at 5.
Can I set different limits for different categories? Yes. Each category has its own set of limits, one per donation choice. You can set strict limits on high-value categories (like meat) while leaving other categories unlimited.
Does a category limit include its sub-categories? Yes. A limit on a category covers its whole branch -- items in its sub-categories count toward the same total. A limit of 5 on "Meat" means at most 5 items across "Meat" and all of its sub-categories (Chicken, Beef, ...) combined. If you want a sub-category capped on its own as well, set a separate limit on that sub-category; the recipient must then stay within both.