Charitable Documentation

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

Charitable Newsletter Connect

With Charitable Newsletter Connect, your donors can opt-in to join your newsletter when they make their donation. Compatible with MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, MailerLite, Mailster and MailPoet (including MailPoet 3).

Installation

Installing Charitable Newsletter Connect is the same as installing any other Charitable extension. If you’re not sure how to do that, we recommend first reading our guide to installing Charitable extensions.

General Setup

After activating Newsletter Connect, you can click on the Settings link to set up the plugin. (Note: You can also get to the plugin settings by going to Charitable > Settings > Extensions.

plugin-setup

On the settings page you will see a list of all available providers.

If you’re using a WordPress newsletter plugin like MailPoet or Mailster, all you need to do is make sure that MailPoet/Mailster is activated. No further configuration is required.

Providers like MailChimp, MailerLite and Campaign Monitor need an API key or other settings in order to be connected.

Screenshot showing how providers are activated & configured.

Set up MailChimp

On the Extensions settings page, click the “Configure” button for MailChimp.

Screenshot of MailChimp configuration

There are two settings you can configure:

  • Your API Key: Find this in your MailChimp account by going to your account page > ExtrasAPI keys. (For more information about MailChimp API keys, read this).
  • Double Opt-in: Set this to “Yes” if you want subscribers to confirm their email address before being added to your newsletter list.

Configure Campaign Monitor

On the Extensions settings page, click the “Configure” button for Campaign Monitor.

Configure Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor requires an API key and a Client ID. You can find both of these by logging into your Campaign Monitor account and going to Account settings > API keys.

Set up MailerLite

On the Extensions settings page, click the “Configure” button for MailerLite.

MailerLite just needs an API key, which you can find in your MailerLite dashboard. Once you have this, copy it into the API key field in the Charitable settings.

Set default settings

After activating or configuring the newsletter providers you want to use, you should configure the default settings for your website. These will be applied to all campaigns, but you can override them on a per-campaign basis.

  • Default List: This is the list that donors will be subscribed to when they opt-in. It will show any available lists from your providers.
  • Default Opt-in Mode: There are three opt-in modes to choose from:
    1. An opt-in checkbox in the donation form which isn’t checked by default.
    2. An opt-in checkbox in the donation form which is checked by default.
    3. Automatic opt-in means that donors do not see a checkbox but are automatically subscribed when they donate.
  • Default Label: The label that will be shown alongside the opt-in checkbox in your donation form.

 

Screenshot showing the default settings for Newsletter Connect.

Sync lists from a provider

Charitable avoids checking for new lists with providers like MailChimp, MailerLite and Campaign Monitor. This improves performance, but it does mean that new lists you create in your provider’s account will not automatically appear as an option in your WordPress dashboard.

To fetch all your lists from a provider, you can use the Sync Lists button.

Screenshot showing how lists can be fetched from a provider like MailChimp or Campaign Monitor in WordPress with Charitable Newsletter Connect.

Setting up per-campaign configurations

You can also configure newsletter signup options on a per-campaign basis. When you edit a campaign, open the Newsletter tab.

Screenshot showing campaign newsletter settings for MailChimp, Campaign Monitor and MailPoet in WordPress.

There are three settings to configure:

  • Disable newsletter signup: Tick this to remove the opt-in for this campaign.
  • Mode: Choose how donors will opt in to your newsletter.
  • Label: Change this to a label you’d prefer instead of the default label you provided.
  • List(s): Select all the lists that you would like your donors to be subscribed to if they opt-in.

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.