Set up donations
Accept donations directly on your site - one-off or monthly - without a third-party donation platform taking a cut of the relationship.
Before you start
Donations are part of the paid plans. If your project is on Free, the module is visible but switched off until you upgrade.
Turn donations on
- Open Donations → Settings in the sidebar.
- Switch donations on.
If you applied a fundraising template, the module is already on and a donation block is already on your page - but it will not take money yet. That is deliberate: nothing can be charged until Stripe is connected.
Connect Stripe
Donations are charged through Stripe, using the same connected account as the shop. Connect it once in Settings → Payments and both work.
Until Stripe is connected, the donation block on your site shows as not accepting donations rather than failing at the moment someone tries to give - which is the failure that costs you the donor.
Your currency
Donations use your project's base currency, set once in Settings → Payments. It is deliberately not a separate donations setting: one site, one currency, across shop orders, bookings and gifts alike.
Choose your amounts
In Donations → Settings:
- Suggested amounts - the buttons donors see. Three or four work best; too many turns a decision into a survey.
- Default amount - the one pre-selected. Most people take the default, so it is the single most important number on the page.
- Allow a custom amount - let donors type their own, for the ones who want to give more than your top button.
- Minimum amount - guards against 1-unit test gifts, which cost you a card fee to receive.
Monthly giving
Turn on recurring donations to offer a monthly option alongside one-off gifts. A monthly donor is worth many times a single gift, and asking costs you nothing.
Cover the fees
With cover fees on, donors are offered the option of adding the card processing fee to their gift so you receive the full amount. Many take it when asked.