FAQs on Recurring Gifts

How are recurring gifts processed, how to enable them, how to cancel or refund them, and how to sync them from Almabase to RE.

Sweta Kumari avatar
Written by Sweta Kumari
Updated over a week ago

1. How to enable recurring gifts for a campaign?

  • You can enable recurring gifts under Payment Options of the campaign settings page.

  • Currently, we support recurring payments with BBMS and the Stripe Payment Account. Once you've integrated BBMS or Stripe with Almabase, you will find a toggle to Enable monthly pledges and Enable yearly pledges (available only for BBMS) for your Giving Campaign.

2. How can donors choose an end date for their recurring gift?

  • To enable donors to choose an end date, Please toggle on "Enable pledge limits". Go to payment options > Click on the gear icon next to Enable monthly pledge or yearly pledge > Enable pledge limits.

    Donor's view

  • If the donor does not specify a duration while making a recurring gift, it will be set as a lifetime gift by default. This means that the gift will continue indefinitely until the donor decides to cancel it.

  • The duration options for monthly pledges range from 3 months to 36 months. Donors can choose the specific number of months they would like their recurring gift to continue.

  • For yearly pledges, donors can select a duration ranging from 2 to 5 years. This allows them to determine the number of years they want their recurring gift to be active.

  • Please note, the option to enable pledge limit is only available for BBMS and not Stripe.

3. Where to look for Recurring gifts and Recurring gift payments?

  • You can find all the recurring gifts received for the giving campaign under the "Recurring gifts" tab of the campaign.

  • Click on View details next to each gift to see the details of the gifts.

  • Recurring gift payments appear under the Gifts tab of the campaign and are marked with a recurring icon.

4. How are recurring gifts processed?

  • When a donor makes a recurring gift, the payment processor is sent the details of the same from Almabase. The donor details, along with the amount, frequency of donation and duration.

  • Every time a donor is charged for a recurring gift, a notification is sent to Almabase from the payment processor, and the same is listed as a gift on Almabase.

  • As soon as the gift is on Almabase, we send notification emails to the admins and the donor.

5. How are recurring gifts synced to RE?

  • Sync process for Stripe payment gateway

    • The recurring gift sync process for stripe payment gateway is similar to one time gifts sync. You can follow this article to push recurring gift payments to RE.

    • Points to note:

      • You can create a common gift list for one time gifts and recurring gift payments and push it to RE or do it separately, its your call.

      • One time gifts can be differentiated from the recurring gift payments basis the gift type visible on RE.

      • Whenever there is a subsequent recurring gift payment, repeat the same process by creating a gift list.

  • Sync process for BBMS payment gateway

    • The recurring gifts for the BBMS Payment gateway are synced automatically to RE by Almabase without any manual intervention at your end. All you need to ensure is the fund and the constituent is mapped correctly on Almabase.

    • Refer to the below steps to understand how this process works at our end:

    • Step 1- Once the donor makes the recurring gift, Almabase automatically creates a recurring gift placeholder on RE.

    • Step 2 - Almabase then creates a batch on RE for the first recurring gift payment. All first recurring gift payments received for the ongoing campaign are added to the same batch unless it is approved.

    • Step 3 - The first recurring gift payment starts reflecting on RE once the batch is approved by you.

    • Step 4 - For subsequent recurring gift payments, RE automatically creates a batch whenever a payment is received. Once the batch is approved, the subsequent gift payment is synced to RE and also starts reflecting on Almabase within one day.

6. How do I cancel a recurring gift?

  • You cannot stop recurring gifts/payments on Almabase; this can only be done through your Raiser's Edge account or Stripe Account dashboard.

7. How do I refund a recurring gift?

  • You cannot refund recurring gifts/payments on Almabase; this can only be done through your Raiser's Edge account or Stripe Account dashboard.

8. How to increase/decrease the recurring gift amount on RE?

  • Steps to Modify Recurring Gift Amount:

    • On RE, Navigate to the recurring gift you wish to modify.

    • Modify the amount and save the changes to update the recurring gift on RE.

    • The amount will be updated on Almabase in a day's time.

    • Starting from the next month, the adjusted amount will be charged for subsequent recurring gift transactions. You will also see the updated amount displayed on Almabase.

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