Charitable Documentation

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

Charitable Zapier Field Reference

Want to know exactly what data lands in your Zap when a Charitable trigger fires? Each trigger sends a structured payload of donation, donor, recurring-subscription, or campaign fields, and this reference lists every field by trigger type so you can map them confidently into the next step.

This guide will walk you through the fields available in every Charitable Zapier trigger.

Note: Charitable’s Zapier integration requires Charitable Pro 1.8.14+ and the Automation Connect addon 2.1.0+ (Pro plan or higher).

Before you get started, make sure you’ve already Connected Charitable to Zapier.

Donation Trigger Fields

These fields are sent by New DonationDonation CompletedDonation Refunded, and First-Time Donor. The exact same payload shape is used across all four, so a Zap built for one is easy to adapt to the others.

FieldDescriptionExample
donation_idThe internal WordPress post ID for the donation.123
eventThe trigger event slug.donation_completed
titleDonor’s title prefix, when collected on the form.Ms
first_nameDonor’s first name.Wanda
last_nameDonor’s last name.Maximoff
emailDonor’s email address.[email protected]
addressStreet address line.Unit 2b
cityCity.Novi Grad
stateState or region.Novi Grad State
postcodePostal or ZIP code.12345
countryCountry code or full name, depending on form configuration.Sokovia
phoneDonor’s phone number, when collected.987654321
subtotalThe base donation amount, before fees.25
totalThe final donation amount the donor is charged, including any fee they covered.26.50
dateDonation timestamp in ISO 8601 format.2026-05-08T14:20:27+00:00
statusInternal Charitable status with the charitable-prefix. See the status reference below.charitable-completed
donation_gatewaySlug of the payment gateway used.stripepaypalmanual
gateway_transaction_idThe gateway’s transaction reference, useful for reconciliation.ch_abc123def
test_mode1 if the donation was made in the gateway’s test mode, otherwise 0.0
campaign_idThe campaign the donation was made to. When a donation is split across multiple campaigns, this is a comma-separated list of IDs.8
contact_consent1 if the donor opted into being contacted, otherwise 0.1
cover_fees1 if the donor chose to cover the processing fee.1
fee_amountThe portion of total that covers gateway fees.1.50
consent_to_track1 if the donor opted into tracking pixels and analytics.0
newsletter_opt_in1 if the donor opted into the newsletter.1
giftaid1 if the donor claimed Gift Aid (UK donors).0
anonymous_donation1 if the donor chose to display as anonymous publicly.1
donor_commentFree-text message left by the donor with the donation.In memory of Maria

Donation Status Values

The status field uses Charitable’s internal slugs, all prefixed with charitable-. Filter rules and conditional logic should match against these exact values.

  • charitable-completed – payment received and confirmed by the gateway. Use this when you only want to act on real donations.
  • charitable-pending – donation row created but payment not yet confirmed. Common for offline gateways and bank transfers.
  • charitable-failed – gateway reported a failure. The donor was not charged.
  • charitable-cancelled – donor or admin abandoned the transaction.
  • charitable-refunded – the donation was refunded after being completed.

Recurring Subscription Trigger Fields

These fields are sent by New Recurring SubscriptionRecurring Donation RenewedRecurring Subscription Cancelled, and Recurring Payment Failed. The payload describes the recurring plan itself, not a single charge.

FieldDescriptionExample
recurring_donation_idThe post ID of the recurring plan.122
eventThe trigger event slug.subscription_renewed
first_donation_idThe donation ID of the first charge that started this plan.123
recurring_subtotalThe recurring base amount before fees.50
recurring_totalThe recurring charged amount including fees.53
recurring_periodThe unit of recurrence.dayweekmonthyear
recurring_intervalHow many recurring_period units between charges. 1 = every month, 3 = every three months, etc.1
recurring_lengthTotal number of charges. 0means no fixed end.6
recurring_expiration_dateDate the plan ends, ISO 8601. Empty if open-ended.2026-09-08T00:00:00+00:00
recurring_renewal_dateDate of the next scheduled charge, ISO 8601.2026-06-01T00:00:00+00:00
gateway_subscription_idThe gateway’s subscription reference. Useful when reconciling with Stripe or PayPal directly.sub_xyz987
first_nameDonor’s first name.Wanda
last_nameDonor’s last name.Maximoff
emailDonor’s email address.[email protected]
addressaddress_2citystatepostcodecountryphoneDonor’s address and phone, when collected on the form.
subtotalThe base amount of the most recent individual charge.25
totalThe final amount of the most recent individual charge.26.50
dateWhen the plan was created, ISO 8601.2026-05-08T14:20:27+00:00
statusThe plan’s current status. See below.charitable-active
donation_gatewayGateway slug.stripe
test_mode1 if created in test mode.0
campaign_idThe campaign the plan supports. Comma-separated when split.8
contact_consentcover_feesfee_amountconsent_to_tracknewsletter_opt_ingiftaid_claimedanonymous_donationdonor_commentSame meanings as the donation payload above.
gocardless_customer_idGoCardless customer reference, when applicable.goc123123
gocardless_mandate_idGoCardless mandate reference, when applicable.goc987987

Recurring Subscription Status Values

  • charitable-active – the plan is live and renewing on schedule.
  • charitable-cancelled – the donor or admin cancelled the plan.
  • charitable-expired – the plan reached its end date.
  • charitable-failed – a renewal attempt failed and the plan is suspended.

Campaign Trigger Fields

These fields are sent by Campaign Goal Reached and Campaign Ended. The payload describes the campaign itself.

FieldDescriptionExample
campaign_idThe post ID of the campaign.123
eventThe trigger event slug.campaign_goal_reached
titleCampaign title.Year-End Appeal
descriptionShort description text from the campaign.Help us hit our matching goal
goalFundraising goal in your store’s currency.2000
donated_amountTotal raised at the moment the event fired.2045
donor_countTotal number of unique donors.38
end_dateCampaign end date, ISO 8601. Empty if the campaign has no end date.2026-12-31T23:59:59+00:00
dateWhen the campaign was first published, ISO 8601.2026-05-01T10:00:00+00:00
statusWordPress post status.publish
permalinkPublic URL of the campaign.https://example.org/campaigns/year-end/
campaign_creator_idWordPress user ID of the campaign owner.4
campaign_creator_nameDisplay name of the campaign owner.Bruce Banner
campaign_creator_emailEmail address of the campaign owner.[email protected]
recipientWhere the funds go – typically fundraiser for peer-to-peer or parent for child campaigns.fundraiser
post_parentIf the campaign is a peer-to-peer child, the parent campaign’s ID. 0for standalone campaigns.99
fundraiser_typeFor peer-to-peer campaigns, the fundraiser type.individualteam
team_idteam_nameteam_captain_idTeam metadata for peer-to-peer team fundraisers.

Note: For Campaign Goal Reached, the event includes amount_raisedgoal, and percent_funded as additional fields beyond the standard campaign payload. These are calculated at the moment the goal was crossed and won’t update afterward.

Action and Search Inputs

The two action steps and two search steps each have their own input fields visible in the Zap editor. Because input fields evolve more often than trigger payloads, this section is a quick summary rather than an exhaustive table – open the step in the Zap editor for the current full list with help text.

  • Create Donor – accepts donor profile fields (first name, last name, email, address fields, phone, contact consent, newsletter opt-in). Returns the created or matched donor’s full record.
  • Update Donor – takes a lookup field (email or donor ID) plus any of the same donor profile fields. Only fields you provide are changed.
  • Find Donor by Email – takes one input, the email address. Returns the donor’s full record, or no match.
  • Find Campaign – takes either a campaign slug or campaign ID. Returns the campaign payload described in the Campaign Trigger Fields section above.

That’s it! You now know what every Charitable Zapier trigger sends, which means field mapping in any downstream Zap step should be straightforward. Next, see Filtering Charitable Zaps by Campaign to scope a Zap to specific campaigns or conditions, and Connecting Charitable to Zapier for the main getting-started guide.

FAQ

What’s the difference between subtotal and total?

subtotal is the base donation amount the donor selected. total is what was actually charged, which can be higher if the donor opted to cover the gateway’s processing fee. The difference shows up in the fee_amount field.

Why does status always start with charitable-?

Charitable registers its own WordPress post statuses to keep them separate from built-in WordPress statuses like publish and draft. The charitable- prefix is internal but required when filtering – (Text) Exactly matches rules need the full prefixed value, not just completed or refunded.

Are there any fields not in this list?

Yes. Charitable lets developers add custom donation, donor, and campaign fields, and any field marked show_in_webhook in the Donation Fields API is automatically included in the payload alongside the defaults. Check the trigger sample data in the Zap editor to see custom fields added by your specific install or by other Charitable extensions.

Can I send only a subset of fields to my downstream action?

Yes. The Zap editor’s action step lets you map any subset of the trigger’s fields into the action’s inputs. Fields you don’t map are simply ignored. This is the cleanest way to keep CRM contact records uncluttered.

How do I know which campaign a peer-to-peer fundraiser belongs to?

Look at post_parent on a campaign-trigger payload. For child campaigns, post_parent holds the parent campaign’s ID. For standalone campaigns it’s 0.

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

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Integration New

🎉 New Built-in PushEngage Integration

Struggling with falling email open rates and rising ad costs just to keep your supporters engaged? Charitable’s built-in PushEngage integration features:

🔔 Zero-Fee Direct Messaging: Deliver crisp, instant pop-up notifications straight to your donors’ desktops and mobile devices.

⏱️ Four Smart Automated Triggers: Automatically send updates for immediate donation thank yous, full-list campaign launches, urgent “ending soon” alerts, and goal milestone celebrations.

📈 Group Momentum Broadcasts: Turn private milestones into public wins by automatically broadcasting alerts to your entire subscriber list the moment a campaign hits 50%, 75%, or 100% of its goal.

📊 Automatic Analytics Tracking: Monitor exactly where your incoming notification traffic is coming from with built-in attribution that requires zero complex configuration.

Visit this page to learn more.

New Security

💂‍♂️ New DonationGuard 🛡️ Automatically Protects Your Donations!

Worried about card testing attacks or spam bots flooding your donation forms, but don’t want to ruin the giving experience for your real supporters? Charitable’s DonationGuard features:

🛡️ Real-Time Bot Detection: Actively monitors every donation submission for five distinct attack signals without slowing down your human donors.

📊 Smart Traffic Scoring: Instantly evaluates activity against a learned baseline of your site’s normal donation rhythms to catch sneaky, slow-drip card testing.

🚨 Severity-Tiered Alerts: Immediately opens structured “Attack Records” and notifies you via email and admin alerts the moment a campaign starts taking fire.

🎯 Single-Click Defense: Deploy instant security using the “Recommended Settings” preset to turn on Honeypot, Time Trap, and Rate Limit modules all at once.

🚫 Automated Blocklists: Permanently stop repeat offenders by automatically blocking suspicious email addresses based on your customized rules.

Visit this page to learn more.

GiveWP Migrations New

🧤 White Glove Migration Service for GiveWP

Thinking about switching your fundraising platform from GiveWP to Charitable, but don’t want to risk losing your data or handle a complex technical setup yourself? Charitable’s White Glove Migration Service features:

👥 Flawless Donor Mapping: Safely transfer your entire supporter database with zero data loss.

📊 Complete Financial History: Meticulously preserve every historical transaction for continuous, accurate reporting.

🔄 Seamless Recurring Giving: Safely transfer active sustaining subscriptions without disrupting your incoming revenue or requiring your donors to update their information.

💳 Zero Gateway Disruptions: Keep using Stripe, PayPal, or any other GiveWP-compatible processor you already love.

🚀 Expert Technical Setup: Relax while our team handles the heavy lifting to install and configure your forms—plus, qualifying users get a full year of Charitable Pro completely free.

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automation Improvement

📢 New Feature Alert: Automation Connect 2.0 Is Here! 🚀

Thinking about connecting your fundraising data to tools like Mailchimp, Slack, or Google Sheets, but don’t want to hire a developer or write custom code? Charitalbe’s new automation addon has:

⚡ 17 Event Triggers: Instantly fire webhooks for a donor’s first gift, renewal payments, or reached campaign milestones.

🎯 Smart Conditional Logic: Use powerful AND/OR logic across 11 fields to only send data when it meets your exact criteria, like newsletter opt-ins.

📊 Custom Payload Control: Select from 80+ clean data fields across donor, donation, and campaign metadata so your apps get exactly what they need.

🚀 Pre-Built Platform Templates: Skip the setup from scratch with ready-to-go templates for Zapier, Make.com, n8n, HubSpot, and Slack.

🛡️ Reliable Developer Tools: Power your workflows with signed HMAC-SHA256 payloads, complete WordPress filters, and automatic retry logs.

automation Improvement

🔌 Charitable Meets Zapier: Connect to 7,000+ Apps and Automate Your Fundraising

Tired of manually copying donation data into accounting sheets or tracking down new donor signups? Put your administrative tasks on autopilot. Charitable is now officially on Zapier, giving you a powerful, no-code way to plug your fundraising directly into the rest of your favorite tools.

Every donation, donor signup, and campaign milestone can now trigger an automated workflow seamlessly.

What’s New:

♾️ Connect to 7,000+ Apps: Bridge your Charitable campaigns with everyday software like Google Sheets, QuickBooks, Slack, Mailchimp, HubSpot, Notion, Airtable, and thousands more.

⚡ 12 Powerful Triggers: Build deep workflows using smart automation triggers covering the entire donation lifecycle—including New Donation, New Donor, Subscription Cancelled, and Campaign Goal Reached.

📋 Pre-Built Action Templates: Get started in three minutes or less with our pre-made template combinations, like automatically logging new donations straight into a Google Sheet or firing custom donor welcome emails through Gmail.

🚫 Zero Code Needed: No complex webhooks or custom PHP scripts required. Just pick your trigger, choose your app, map your fields, and let Zapier handle the heavy lifting.

Ready to save hours of admin time? Grab Charitable Pro with the Automation Connect addon today and launch your first Zap!