Charitable Documentation

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How to Connect your Square Test Account in Charitable

Testing your Square payment gateway before going live ensures donations work smoothly when you launch. This guide walks you through connecting your Square sandbox (test) account to Charitable.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • A Square account
  • Charitable plugin installed and activated
  • WordPress admin access

In this Guide

Quick answers

I clicked “Connect to Square (Sandbox)” and got a blank white screen. What happened?

This is a Square requirement, not a Charitable bug. Before clicking Connect, open your Square Sandbox Dashboard in another tab of the same browser and leave it open. Then return to Charitable and click Connect again. The full steps are in Step 1 below.

Do my WordPress email and Square email need to match?

No. Your WordPress admin email, your live Square account email, and your Square Sandbox test account email can all be different. That is normal and expected. Charitable connects to Square through a secure authorization flow (OAuth), not by matching email addresses.

What is the Square sandbox?

The Square sandbox is a testing environment that mirrors live Square without processing real money. You can test the full donation flow, error handling, and confirmation emails using Square’s test card numbers. Sandbox transactions never hit a real bank account.

Step 1: Create your Square sandbox account

Sign up for Square if you haven’t already, then log in to your Square Developer Console.

Note: The Developer Console is for managing applications and API access. The Square Dashboard is for general business operations. They are two different places.

You should see a page like this:

Square application tab

From the left-hand navigation, open the Sandbox test accounts page. You’ll see a default test account along with a Square Dashboard link.

Sandbox test tab with Square dashboard link

Click the Square Dashboard link. A new tab opens with your Sandbox Square dashboard. You’ll see a Sandbox indicator at the top, confirming this isn’t your live dashboard.

Square sandbox dashboard

Important: Keep this Sandbox dashboard tab open and active throughout the entire connection process. This is a requirement from Square (not Charitable) and is necessary for the connection to work properly. If you close the tab, you’ll see a blank white screen when you try to connect.

Step 2: Connect Charitable to Square

With the Sandbox dashboard tab still open, switch to your WordPress admin. From the menu on the left, go to Charitable > Settings > Payment Gateways.

Click Enable Gateway next to Square if you haven’t already done so:

Charitable Square enable gateway

On the same page, turn on Test Mode – this is what tells Charitable to connect to the sandbox instead of live Square. Click Save Changes.

Turn on test mode

Now click Gateway Settings to open Square’s configuration. Find the Connection Status section and click Connect to Square Account (Sandbox).

Square connection status sandbox

Square will ask you to authorize the connection. Click Allow, then return to Charitable and click Save Changes to finalize.

Reminder: The Square sandbox dashboard tab must remain open in another browser tab while you connect. Keep it open for any future Square testing too – not just the initial setup.

Step 3: Test your connection

Make a test donation on one of your campaigns using one of Square’s test card numbers (for example, 4111 1111 1111 1111 for a successful Visa charge). Then verify:

  • The donation appears in Charitable > Donations
  • The transaction shows up in your Square Sandbox Dashboard under Transactions
  • The donor receipt email is sent and looks right

If all three match, your connection is working.

Step 4: Switch to live payments

Once you’re confident the sandbox connection works, switch Charitable to live mode:

  1. Go to Charitable > Settings > Payment Gateways and click Gateway Settings next to Square.
  2. Turn off Test Mode and click Save Changes.
  3. In the Connection Status section, click Connect to Square Account (no sandbox label this time) and authorize your live Square account.

Your live donations will now be processed by your real Square account.

More questions

How do I turn off Test Mode in Charitable?

Go to Charitable > Settings > Payment Gateways, click Gateway Settings next to Square, turn off Test Mode, and click Save Changes.

I want to test with a different country’s currency. How?

In the Square Developer Dashboard, go to Sandbox test accounts and click New sandbox test account. Choose the country whose currency you want to test, then connect Charitable to that account using the same steps above.

Where can I find more tips and nonprofit advice from Charitable?

We regularly share practical guides, proven strategies, and insider tips to help you raise more funds and build stronger donor relationships:

Need help with other Charitable features? Check out our other documentation guides or contact support.

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

Submit a Support Ticket
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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.

Integration page builder

👉🏻 New in Charitable: Native Elementor Widgets for Seamless Campaign Building

With native Elementor widgets, you design donation campaigns right alongside the rest of your page without touching code. Here’s how it works, and why it’s worth turning on today.

Create fundraising pages that are VISUAL, NATIVE, AND SHORTCODE-FREE. You can also:

⚡ Mini Donation: Add a compact, high-converting donation widget with preset amounts and full color control.

⏳ Campaign Countdown: Build urgency for a deadline-driven appeal, complete with optional confetti when the goal is hit.

📣 Donation Feed: Prove momentum by showing visitors the social proof of real people giving right now.

🏆 Donor Leaderboard: Celebrate top supporters with gold, silver, and bronze styling to spark friendly giving.

🖼️ Campaign Showcase: Feature multiple campaigns in a landing page grid or carousel, with search, filters, and badges.

Learn more here.

Addon New

🗒️ Custom Receipts… New Addon!

With Custom Receipts, you decide which page your donors see, on every campaign. Here’s how it works, and why it’s worth turning on today.

Left side shows a donation receipt with donation number, date, total, and payment method for a gift to Anywhere, titled 'One Family Gets Clean Water For A Week.'

Create receipts that are CUSTOM TO THE DONOR OR CAMPAIGN. You can also:

📅 Year-end appeal: Reinforce the goal and invite donors to share while momentum is high.

🎗️ Memorial or tribute campaign: Give a gentle, respectful thank-you that fits the moment.

💎 Major gifts: Show a special message only to donors who give above a threshold.

🔁 Recurring growth: Invite one-time donors to become monthly supporters right on the receipt.

🌍 Global campaigns: Surface a country-specific note, like a Gift Aid reminder, only where it applies.

Learn more here.

New templates

🤩 New Beacon Campaign Templates w/ “Hero” Block!

With the new Beacon Campaign Templates for Charitable Pro, you can launch a stunning, full-width fundraising page that instantly captures visitor attention above the fold.

Fundraising page header for Save Maple Grove Park with a donation widget and a small square photo of a sunlit tree thumbnail on the left.

🔦 Above-the-Fold Impact: Lead with a full-width hero image, your logo, and your goal with a donation widget locked right on top of the banner so your ask and momentum register instantly without scrolling.

📐 Two Flexible Layouts: Choose between a structured two-column layout for side-by-side storytelling and supporting details, or a clean one-column view designed for uninterrupted long-form narratives.

⚡ All-in-One Hero Field: Powered by the new Campaign Hero field, bringing background media, live progress bars, custom donation amounts, and recurring giving tabs together into a single cohesive block that can be dropped into any layout.

🎨 Automatic Theme Matching: The hero banner and donation widget automatically inherit your campaign theme’s button and accent colors, ensuring your entire presentation stays beautifully on-brand without touching a line of CSS.

Learn more here.

donation form Feature New

📝 Donation Form Block: Embed a Working Donation Form Anywhere

With the new Donation Form Block for Charitable Pro, you can drop a fully working donation form directly onto any page or post in the WordPress block editor. No redirects, no page reloads, and zero friction between reading your story and making a contribution.

📝 Drop Forms Anywhere: Place a working form directly onto your homepage, inside a story-driven blog post, on a dedicated landing page, or within a campaign announcement.

🎯 Dynamic Campaign Binding: Easily choose a specific campaign from the block sidebar or set it to automatically bind to whichever campaign is currently being viewed.

📐 Full vs. Minimal Form Views: Switch between a full layout or a compact minimal view to perfectly fit sidebars, narrow columns, or wide landing pages.

🎨 Scoped No-Code Styling: Customize typography, container spacing, border radius, amount buttons, and accent colors independently for every form instance without touching a line of CSS.

Learn more here.

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