Charitable Documentation

Learn how to make the most of Charitable with clear, step-by-step instructions.

Setting Up PayPal

PayPal is available out of the box as a payment gateway option. You can enable it via your WordPress dashboard:

  1. Go to Charitable > Settings > Payment Gateways.
  2. In the PayPal box, click on Enable Gateway.

Next, you will need to configure some settings by clicking on Gateway Settings.

Settings

General Settings

Gateway Label

The label that will be displayed in the WordPress dashboard for donations made through PayPal. This label will also be shown in the donation form to donors when you have multiple payment gateways enabled.

PayPal Email Address

This is the email address of the PayPal account that should receive all donations.

To avoid problems with having donations remain stuck as pending, ensure that this account is fully set up and approved by PayPal, and also that it is in the same currency as you have set in your Charitable settings.

Sandbox PayPal Email Address

If you would like to test out the donation process without making real transactions, you can use PayPal’s sandbox environment. This is automatically used when you have Charitable’s Test Mode setting enabled (on the Payment Gateways settings page).

If you are not sure how to create a sandbox account, read this guide about how to set up a PayPal sandbox account.

PayPal Transaction Type

PayPal offers discounted fees to registered non-profit organisations. If you have registered as a non-profit organisation, you can select “Donations” for the transaction type; otherwise select “Standard Transaction”.

Click here for more information about registering as a non-profit with PayPal.

Disable IPN Verification

If you are having problems with donations not getting marked as Paid, disabling IPN verification can sometimes fix the issue. However, it is important to be aware that this is a less secure method for verifying donations.

Find out more about how to diagnose problems with donations not getting marked as Paid: PayPal IPN Troubleshooting.

API Settings

As of Charitable 1.6, you are able to automatically refund donations in PayPal via your Charitable donation management page. This feature requires API keys.

If you use our Recurring Donations extension, API keys are also required for automatically cancelling subscriptions.

Live API Username, Password and Signature

You can find your live API details at https://www.paypal.com/businessprofile/mytools/apiaccess/firstparty/signature. You will need to log in to your PayPal account before being able to access this page.

For each setting, click on Show to reveal the setting value.

Sandbox API Username, Password and Signature

To find your sandbox API details, go to https://developer.paypal.com and click on Log into Dashboard. On the following screen, log in with your regular PayPal account details.

Next, click on Account under the Sandbox menu in the sidebar.

On the following page you will see your list of sandbox accounts. Find the Seller account (the one you are using for the Sandbox PayPal Address setting), click on Profile and then click on the API keys tab.

Looking to set up PayPal Commerce. Head to our guide on Getting Started with PayPal Commerce »

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

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Improvement Payments

💰 Accept Recurring Donations with Windcave and Charitable

A donor sets their gift up once on Windcave’s secure payment page, and Charitable bills every renewal after that on schedule. Why this is important:

🏦 Organizations banked in New Zealand or Australia: monthly giving on the gateway your bank already set you up with, with no second processor to onboard.
⛪ Churches taking regular tithes and offerings: congregants set their own schedule once, which is the simplest way to launch recurring church giving without a separate platform.
🌏 Groups with donors in several currencies: Windcave handles more than 20, so a supporter can give in the currency they actually hold.
📅 Operating funds rather than one-time campaigns: switch on Recurring Only mode and the one-off option disappears, so every gift to that campaign is a subscription.
🧾 Teams with no developer on staff: 3 sets of credentials pasted into a settings page, and no code anywhere.

Check out our announcement here.

automation update

⚡ Visual Automation Builder: Drag and Drop With No Code!

Charitable Automation Connect 2.3.0 introduces the Visual Automation Builder, a full-screen canvas that lays each automation out as a flow of connected cards: a trigger, optional conditions, and a list of actions that run in order.

🧩 Many actions, one trigger: Tag a donor, send an email, add a note, and fire a webhook from a single event, dragged into any order.

✉️ Act inside Charitable: New Send Email, Tag Donor, and Add Donor Note actions run with no external service required.

🔤 Merge tags: Personalize emails and notes with live fields like {first_name}, {total}, and {campaign_name}.

🔁 Apply to existing donors: Run Tag Donor and Add Donor Note against the donors you already have.

🖥️ Canvas or Simple: Switch views anytime, and automations built before 2.3.0 keep working unchanged.

Read more here.

Integration updated

📬 Introducing Brevo for Charitable: Turn Donors into Subscribers Automatically

The moment a supporter makes a gift is when they are most engaged. With the new Brevo integration for Charitable, you can automatically turn those one-time donors into long-term subscribers without touching a single spreadsheet.

Simply collect donor consent right on your donation form and start your welcome series immediately.

What’s New:

🔄 Automated Subscriber Sync: New donors who opt in are added straight to your Brevo contact list as soon as their payment clears—no manual exports or CSV imports required.

🎯 Granular Consent & Opt-In Control: Customize your checkbox label, choose whether it defaults to checked or unchecked, or turn on Brevo double opt-in to keep your list clean and compliant.

📋 Per-Campaign List Mapping: Route supporters to your global email list or map specific campaigns to targeted Brevo lists to tailor your follow-up messaging.

⚡ 5-Minute Setup: Connect instantly by pasting your Brevo API key into the Newsletter settings, map your contact fields, and start building your email list on autopilot.

Ready to grow your mailing list? Brevo is available now starting on the Charitable Plus plan—connect your account today!

recurring donations updated

💳 Introducing Card Updates: Fix Expired Cards Without Losing Subscriptions!

newExpired or updated credit cards are one of the biggest silent leaks in recurring fundraising. With Card Updates in the Recurring Donations extension, donors can now refresh their payment details directly—keeping their subscription, schedule, and giving history completely intact.

No canceled plans, no lost history, and zero administrative headache for your team.

What’s New:

⚡ 30-Second Self-Service: Donors get a dedicated “Update Card” button in their dashboard that opens Stripe’s secure, PCI-compliant Customer Portal to update card details instantly.

🔒 Scoped & Safe Access: Scoped exclusively to card updates by default, donors can’t accidentally cancel or alter their plans from inside the portal, keeping your webhooks and data in sync.

🤝 Admin-Assisted Support: Helping a donor on the phone? Open their secure Stripe portal in one click from your admin screen or generate a single-use update link to email them.

📋 Automatic Audit Trail: Every payment method update is recorded automatically with a timestamp in both system-wide logs and the individual donor’s profile.

Ready to protect your recurring revenue? Get the Plus or Pro plan and update Recurring Donations to 2.3.0+ and enable “Update Payment Method” under your Settings today!

Integration page builder

Divi Fans Rejoice! Native Divi 5 Campaign Progress Bar Module!

With our new native Divi 5 module, you can anchor your microsites with real-time fundraising stats directly on the visual canvas. Here’s how it works, and why it’s worth turning on today.

Create campaign updates that are VISUAL AND LIVE. You can also:

📊 Campaign Progress Bar: Drop a live progress bar into any Divi 5 layout and show goal progress in real time.

🎨 Deep styling controls: Easily customize the bar and track color, height, and radius to match your brand perfectly.

👁️ Visual Builder ready: Configure and preview everything directly on the Divi canvas as a first-class module.

🔁 Identical rendering: The same exact engine powers this module, meaning consistent design without legacy shims.

✅ Faster launches: Never leave the Divi 5 interface to configure shortcodes or guess how your goal labels will look.

Learn more here.