Charitable Documentation

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

Charitable Authorize.Net

Installing Charitable Authorize.Net 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.

Getting Started

After the extension is installed, you will need to add your license keys. We assume that you already have an Authorize.Net account activated.

  1. Go to Charitable > Settings.
  2. Click on the Payment Gateways tab.
  3. You will see Authorize.Net listed as one of the gateway options. Click Enable Gateway to activate it.
  4. After the page reloads, you will see a new button called Gateway Settings. Click this.
  5. On the following page, you can add your license keys, as well as setting the gateway label (this is what donors will see when choosing their payment method). If you are not sure where to find your Authorize.Net keys, see the section below.
  6. When you have finished adding your settings, click Save Changes.

Finding Your Authorize.Net Keys

If you want to test out Authorize.Net in test mode, you will need to create a sandbox account on Authorize.Net and add the login ID, transaction key and signature key for the sandbox account in the Charitable settings.

To access your API Login ID, Transaction Key and Signature Key, login to your Authorize.Net account at https://account.authorize.net/ and click Account > API Login ID and Transaction Key in the Merchant Interface.

  • API Login ID: You will see your API Login ID printed in the top section.
  • Transaction Key: Under “Create New Key(s)”, select “New Transaction Key” and click on Submit. Your Transaction Key will be displayed on the next screen.
  • Signature Key: Under “Create New Key(s)”, select “New Signature Key” and click on Submit. Your Signature Key will be displayed on the next screen.

Enable E-check Payments

To get started with E-check payments, you will need to add support for it in your Authorize.Net account:

  1. Log into your Authorize.Net dashboard.
  2. Under “Products & Services”, click on eCheck.Net.
  3. On the next page, fill out the application form for eCheck.Net and submit the application. The application will then go through an approval process.

Once you have E-check enabled in your Authorize.Net account, you can turn it on for your Charitable donation forms from the Charitable Authorize.Net settings page.

Sync Required Fields

In your Authorize.Net account you can configure which fields are required in your donation form. You may choose to make different fields required for internal purposes or to reduce fraudulent donations. This can be set in your Authorize.Net account by going to Account > Payment Form > Form Fields.

After setting your required fields, use the Sync Required Fields button in your Charitable Authorize.Net settings to sync this across to your Charitable donation forms. This will ensure that any fields which you have marked as required in your Authorize.Net account will also be required in your Charitable donation form.

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Improvement receipts

🗓️ Annual Receipts 2.0: Send Year-End Receipts to Every Donor in Minutes

You can now send annual receipts in minutes with a few clicks to all your donors.

📧 One-Click Bulk Send Wizard that guides you to sending to hundreds of donors simultaneously directly from your WordPress dashboard.

🔍 Smart “Dry Run” Mode: See exactly who will receive a receipt and who will be skipped (and why) before a single email leaves your server.

🛡️ SMTP-Aware & Limit Protection: Charitable now detects your email setup and automatically adjusts batch sizes and pauses for daily limits to ensure your emails land in inboxes.

✅ Complete Audit Trail: Dedicated system log and on the individual donor’s profile, giving you a clear history for every fiscal year.

Stop dreading tax season and start spending that time on your mission. Update to Annual Receipts 2.0 and automate your year-end reporting today.

Addon Donations Improvement

🎈Recurring Donations 2.0: Smarter Automation, Better Recovery, and More Control

We’ve completely rebuilt our Recurring Donations system to help you grow your reliable income stream while giving you (and your donors) more powerful tools than ever before.

What’s New:

🔒 Recurring-Only Campaigns: You can toggle “Recurring Only” mode in the campaign builder to hide the one-time option entirely, ensuring your supporters stay focused on long-term commitment.

📧 Automatic Payment Recovery: Our new Payment Failed Email fires automatically the moment a subscription fails.

🛠️ Self-Service Donor Control:The new Cancel Subscription Button appears directly in the donor dashboard, allowing supporters to pause or end their recurring gifts on their own terms—reducing your admin burden and payment disputes.

📊 Real-Time Revenue Insights: Track your growth, monitor active subscriptions, and see exactly how much predictable support is coming in each month at a glance.

Our new Recurring Donations addon gives you the professional-grade tools you need to grow your mission.

Campaigns New

🧡 Modal Donate Button: Turn Any Click into a Contribution

Instead of redirecting users to a new URL, the lightweight Modal Donation Button allows donors to complete their gift in a sleek, focused popup, keeping them engaged with your content while they support your cause.

What’s New:

  • Zero-Friction Giving: Open your donation form in a responsive modal overlay. Donors stay on the same page, reducing drop-off.

  • 🖱️ Place it Anywhere: Use the dedicated WordPress block or a simple shortcode to drop a donate button into sidebars, footers, or even mid-sentence in your storytelling.

  • 🎨 Full Design Control: Match your brand perfectly with customizable background colors, hover effects, border radius, and font sizes—all without touching a single line of CSS.

Whether you need a simple “Donate Now” link or a high-converting popup button, the Modal Donate Button gives you the flexibility to raise more with less effort.

donation form Donations New

💵 Mini Donation Widget: Show The Impact Of Every Dollar!

Not every donor who wants to give will navigate to your campaign page. Meet them exactly where they are by placing a fully functional giving experience directly on any page or post.

💬 Show the impact of every dollar: Attach custom messages to each preset amount so donors understand exactly what their gift provides.
🔄 Monthly and one-time giving: Supports a tabbed interface with independent amounts and impact statements for recurring giving programs.
🎨 Match your brand: Easily set accent colors and control size or alignment to fit the widget naturally into your layout without CSS.
⚡ Reduce donor friction: Open the donation form in a modal overlay to keep donors on the page and reduce drop-off.

Donations Live New

👉🏻 Showcase Real Momentum with the Donations Feed

Give your donors a reason to trust. Our new feed lets you display a living, breathing record of people showing up for your cause.

🤝 Build instant trust: Overcome donor hesitation by showing a proven track record of community support.
💬 Highlight donor stories: Display real donor comments and locations to show the human side of your fundraising.
🛠️ Drop it anywhere: Easily add the block to your homepage, campaign pages, or confirmation screens in seconds.
📈 Curate your feed: Group multiple donations from the same person or sort by highest amounts to encourage larger gifts.