Charitable Blog

Everything you need to know about Charitable and our team.

Charitable 1.8.2 Update

Introducing Charitable 1.8.2 – Checklist, Enhanced Tour, Donation Button and More!

Last updated on

  • By

We are proud to announce Charitable 1.8.2, the newest version of the go-to tool for non-profits and organizations to run campaigns and get donations!

We’ve been diligently enhancing the Charitable plugin to make it more user-friendly for new WordPress users while integrating powerful updates for experienced users and developers alike. Among our updates have been requests that our customers – many that are running very busy charities this time of year – have been asking for.

Let’s take a closer look at these new features.

Charitable Checklist

To assist new Charitable campaign creators, we’ve developed a comprehensive checklist to guide them through the plugin, enabling them to set up their first donation campaign swiftly. This checklist provides an overview of Charitable’s features, helping anyone configure general settings, activate email notifications for donors, and connect a payment gateway—such as Stripe—right from the checklist page.

For those managing a charity or involved in fundraising, understanding Charitable’s capabilities will help you launch your first campaign effortlessly. I urge you to give a try! Our aim for this feature – and other like it – is to improve your experience and reduce as much time as possible with tasks. Most those using Charitable – especially non-profits – already have their hands full with fundraising and tracking donations. So anything to get them up to speed faster is a plus.

Your feedback and questions on this feature are more than welcome!

(Improved) Guided Tour of Visual Campaign Builder

In a previous version of Charitable, we introduced a guided tour of the visual campaign builder. In our latest version we refined it a bit based on user feedback and testing, transforming it into a more interactive and informative experience. The tour, designed especially aid those running non-profit organizations and fundraising groups, highlights critical areas and now offers improved compatibility across various browsers and screen sizes.

Donation Button Shortcode

There are quite a few reasons why you might need a simple donation button: perhaps you are writing a blog post about your current campaign for your charity… or you want to include a way for people to donate anywhere on your WordPress site.

If you work with shortcodes then we are happy to bring you a direct and easy solution: the new[charitable_donate_button] shortcode allows you to display a button or link to a campaign. You can read up on the parameters you can pass into it.

We plan on turning this into a block (for the WordPress block editor) in the future, so stay tuned!

Other Updates

Outside of what was mentioned above, here’s a list of items that have been addressed and included in Charitable 1.8.2.

  • NEW: Warning messages for admin users – in the gateway settings page and viewing donation forms (as admins) – if Stripe is enabled, but no keys are detected.
  • NEW: Dashboard notifications for important messages and notices.
  • NEW: Added ‘charitable_email_fields_donation_field_value’ filter which can help with the output of custom field values in emails.
  • NEW: Campaigns shortcode now has a new “description_limit” parameter that limits words displayed from the campaign description.
  • NEW: Added both a filter and an option (in beta) in the general setting tab to disable showing a login form or registration reminder on donation forms. We have a new doc page that covers the details.
  • UPDATED: Improved tour guide for visual campaign builder with more interactivity and showing more elements.
  • UPDATED: Campaigns shortcode now displays a photo and campaign description from campaigns built with the visual builder.
  • UPDATED: Moved “Categories”, “Tags”, and “Customize” menus from the main menu. Now found in the Charitable -> “Tools” page.
  • FIX: Adjusted appearance of the donation button in Youth Sports campaign theme when modal button setting was on.
  • FIX: Resolved an issue with the donation summary field for the visual campaign builder involving showing/hiding items.
  • FIX: Resolved several instances where donation amounts were not being formatted currently in non-English languages in the reporting screens.
  • FIX: Improved loading for the WordPress dashboard widget.
  • FIX: Adjustments to CSS on the Dashboard page.
  • FIX: Minor translation, misc CSS, UI, and PHP coding updates.

And There You Have It!

Eager to leverage the newest Charitable features for your non-profit? Update Charitable to the latest version on your WordPress site today to maximize your fundraising and streamline donations.

If you haven’t started using Charitable yet, now is the perfect time to begin! Enhance your WordPress site with Charitable Pro and take your non-profit’s fundraising to the next level using the best plugin for donations and donor management in the market.

Of course, we can’t end this without thanking our awesome community – made up of so many varieties of charitable organizations -for making this update possible. We’re truly grateful for your continued support and feedback. Your dedication to fundraising inspires us.

Remember to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter/X for the latest news and updates.

(Hint: We’ve got more updates and surprises coming up for you, so stay tuned!)

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.

Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that we believe will add value to our readers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get free tips and resources right in your inbox, along with 60,000+ others

Join our Newsletter

We won’t spam you. We only send an email when we think it will genuinely help you. Unsubscribe at any time!

Featured Video:

Watch more videos on our YouTube channel.

What's New In Charitable

View The Latest Updates
🔔 Subscribe to get our latest updates
📧 Subscribe to Emails

Email Subscription

Join our Newsletter

We won’t spam you. We only send an email when we think it will genuinely help you. Unsubscribe at any time!

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.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
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!

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
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!

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
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.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
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.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.