Charitable Documentation

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

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How to Upgrade to the Charitable Pro Plugin

This guide will walk you through the simple steps to upgrade from Charitable “Lite” to a paid license, unlocking even more powerful features to support your non-profit, cause, or fundraising website. The upgrade process is straightforward and will ensure a seamless transition without losing any of your existing donation campaigns and records.

Important Note for Existing Customers: If you are an existing customer with a valid Charitable license, simply download the latest version of the plugin from the Downloads page in your Charitable account, upload it to WordPress, and make sure your license key is verified. See how here » In case you’re still facing issues, deactivate your license key and then reverify it. The rest is taken care of for you. You’re all set to use the new & improved Charitable Pro plugin. You do not need to purchase a new plan. You are eligible to download and use the Charitable Pro plugin if you have subscribed to any of our premium plans, including Basic, Plus, Pro, and Elite.

Table of Contents

Here are the steps to upgrading to Pro:

Purchasing a Charitable Pro License

To begin, visit our Charitable Pro Plans page. This page details all the enhanced features available with our paid license levels, specifically designed to help you achieve your fundraising goals. Take some time to review the options and see which best fits your organization’s needs.

Once you’ve found the right plan, click the Get Started button to proceed to checkout.

Charitable plan features

On the checkout page, we automatically apply a discount for your first year for upgrading to our Pro plugin. You will need to enter your account and payment information.

Auto applied discount on pro checkout

After completing all the required fields, click the Complete Checkout button to finalize your order. Once processed, you will see a receipt of your purchase on screen with a link to go to your Charitable Pro account.

Note: This receipt and the information you need to get started will also be sent to the email address you provided.

Accessing Your Charitable Pro Account

When you complete your purchase, a Charitable Pro account is automatically created for you to access your plugin downloads, license keys, receipts, and customer support any time you need.

In the receipt you see on your screen, click on “in your account” and it will take you to your account dashboard.

Charitable purchase confirmation receipt

When you open your account, the first thing you want to do is visit the Profile tab in your account. Here you’ll see your personal information that you entered in the checkout form.

Charitable profile tab in account dashboard

Scroll down to the password section and set a new password for your account. Keep a note of your credentials safely so that you can log back in when you need.

Change your password in Charitable account dashboard

Now head over to the Downloads tab and you’ll see a license key there. Click on the clipboard icon to copy this key and keep it ready for the next step.

Charitable license key in account

Important Note: Once you’ve purchased your license, you simply need to add the license key to your Charitable plugin settings in WordPress. This will automatically install the paid version of the plugin for you.

Activating The Charitable Pro Plugin

Note: The following steps are for self-hosted WordPress websites.

Make sure you are using the latest version of Charitable “Lite” (1.8.5+). If you are not, it’s best to upgrade to the latest version before you begin. If you have a long standing Charitable “Lite” install you might need to do a manual installation.

Log in to your WordPress website and go to Charitable Pro » Settings. On this page, you will find a field labeled License Key.

Verify charitable license key

Paste the copied key into this field and click the Verify Key button.

The automatic verification process will begin. Once your license key is verified, you will be redirected to a new screen asking for confirmation to proceed.

Charitable_connect

Click the Connect and Install Charitable Pro button to start the installation.

The paid plugin will now be automatically installed. This might take a few moments. Once complete, you will see a success message.

Charitable_connect_success

Note: If the automatic installation fails, it could be due to restrictions set by your hosting provider. In this case, you’ll need to manually install the paid version. The paid version of Charitable Pro is available on your download tab when you view your account on wpcharitable.com, just like any paid addons and extensions. You can refer to this guide here for more information.

After clicking OK on the success message, you will be redirected back to the Charitable Pro settings page. The paid version is now installed and ready to use.

You should see that your license key is verified and your license type is displayed.

Deleting The Old Charitable Plugin

Once Charitable Pro is successfully installed, you can safely delete the old version from your WordPress plugins page.

All your existing donation forms and settings will be automatically managed by the paid plugin, so no data will be lost by deleting the free version.

Navigate to the Plugins » Installed Plugins page in your WordPress admin menu. Now, find the deactivated Charitable plugin and click the Delete option.

Delete Charitable lite

That’s it! You’re all set to use Charitable Pro!

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some common questions about upgrading to Charitable Pro.

Will my existing donation campaigns from Charitable Lite still be available after I upgrade?

Yes! After installing Charitable Pro and deleting the old plugin, all the donation forms and campaigns you created will still be there and fully functional.

What are the different plans available in Charitable Pro?

Charitable Pro offers flexible pricing tiers:

  • Basic ($69/year)- Perfect for small organizations
  • Plus ($99/year) – Ideal for growing nonprofits
  • Pro ($199/year) – Best for peer-to-peer and crowdfunding causes
  • Elite ($299/year) – Best for established charities and agencies

Each tier includes progressively more features and capabilities to match your organization’s needs.

Which plan do I need for Recurring Donations?

The recurring donations feature is available in Plus, Pro, and Elite. 

Is there a money-back guarantee?

Yes! Charitable Pro comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you’re not completely satisfied with your Pro purchase, you can request a full refund within 14 days of your purchase – no questions asked.

Is there customer support available with Pro?

Absolutely! All Pro plans include customer support:

  • Basic and Plus plans get standard support with 48-hour response time
  • Pro and Elite Plans get priority email support with same-day response

Will I lose my data if I upgrade?

No, upgrading from Lite to Pro is seamless and preserves all your:

  • Existing campaigns
  • Donor information
  • Campaign settings
  • Donation history
  • Website customizations

The upgrade simply adds new features without affecting your current data.

I’m an existing customer, how do I get the Pro plugin?

If you are an existing customer, we made it easy to upgrade to the Pro plugin. Go to your Charitable account and open the Downloads tab. Here, download the latest version of the plugin available. Now go to your WordPress site and open the Plugins » Add New » Upload Plugin page. Here you can upload the plugin file. Make sure your license key is verified. That’s it.

Congratulations! You have now successfully upgraded to Charitable Pro and can access a wide range of additional features designed to enhance your fundraising efforts.

We encourage you to explore the new Pro Plugin’s features available to create even more impactful donation forms for your cause.

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

Submit a Support Ticket
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Integration New

👉🏻 New Divi Integration In Charitable Pro

Bring the power of Charitable directly into your favorite page builder and maintain total creative control with our brand-new Divi integration.

The Ultimate Design Experience

No more switching back and forth or relying on complex shortcodes. Use dedicated Divi modules to build, style, and launch high-converting donation pages without ever leaving the Divi Builder.

⚡ Native Divi Modules: Effortlessly drag and drop your donation forms, progress bars, and campaign details exactly where you want them.

⚙️ Visual Customization: Tweak colors, fonts, and spacing using Divi’s familiar design settings to ensure your fundraiser matches your brand perfectly.

🚀 Live Visual Editing: See your changes in real-time. What you see in the builder is exactly what your donors will see, ensuring a seamless giving experience every time.

donation form New

👉🏻 New Campaign Selector For Donation Forms

Take your campaign management to the next level. Find the perfect fundraiser for any page and stay in your creative flow with our new Campaign Selector integration.

The Ultimate Selection Tool

No more hunting for IDs or creating one page for every donation form. Use the new Campaign Selector to allow users to switch to a campaign with no code.

⚡ Instant Search: Quickly find any campaign leaving your page or post.

⚙️ Editor Agnostic: Whether you’re using the Block Editor, Elementor, or WPBakery, selecting your campaigns is now a unified experience.

🚀 Real-Time Previews: See exactly which campaign you’ve selected instantly, ensuring your donors always see the right cause.

Integration New

WordPress Command Palette Integration

Take your fundraising workflow to the next level. Speed up your site management and stay in your creative flow with our new WordPress Command Palette integration.

Supercharge Your Workflow
Navigate your fundraising dashboard faster than ever.

The Ultimate Keyboard Shortcut Hit Cmd + K (or Ctrl + K) to launch the Command Palette and manage your campaigns instantly.

⚡ Instant Navigation: Jump directly to your Campaigns, Donations, or Settings from anywhere in the editor.

➕ Quick Create: Start a new fundraising campaign or add a manual donation with a single command.

Efficiency Redefined
The tools you need, exactly when you need them.

⚙️ Contextual Actions: See relevant Charitable commands based on whether you’re editing a page or viewing your reports.

🚀 Seamless Integration: Built directly into the WordPress core experience for a lightweight, native feel.

Improvement New Security

📣 New Security Features

We’ve introduced a suite of new security tools to give you total control over who accesses your forms, plus a new way to tidy up your database.

Advanced Security Suite

Layered protection: Cloudflare, ReCAPTCHA, IP Controls, and Rate Limiting.

We have overhauled our security settings to stop bots without blocking real donors.

  • 🤖 Flexible Protection: Choose between Google reCAPTCHA v3 or the privacy-first Cloudflare Turnstile to block bots invisible.

  • 🚦 Rate limiting: Stop spam floods by limiting how many submissions an IP address can make in a set timeframe.

  • 🛑 Total control: Use the new IP Blacklist to block bad actors instantly, or the IP Whitelist to let your team bypass checks during testing.

The Clean Donation Tool

Go from “Testing” to “Live” in seconds.

Finished setting up your site and need to get rid of all those test transactions?

  • 🧹 Sweep it clean: Bulk delete test donations and donor records with a single click.

  • 📉 Accurate reporting: Ensure your revenue stats are 100% accurate for launch day.

  • ⚙️ Reset sequences: Automatically resets sequential invoice numbering.

Check out all the new security features »
donation form New

🏗️ Visual Donation Form Builder

Building the perfect donation form just got easier. We have completely reimagined how you create forms with a new drag-and-drop interface.

Design Visually, in Real-Time

No coding, no guessing. Just point, click, and build.

Say goodbye to confusing settings pages. You can now edit your form and see exactly what your donors will see, instantly.

  • 🖱️ Drag & Drop: Easily add fields like names, addresses, or file uploads by dragging them exactly where you want them.

  • 🎨 Customize everything: Click any field to tweak labels, placeholders, and requirement settings on the fly.

  • 👁️ Live preview: See your changes immediately as you make them—ensure your form flows perfectly before you hit publish.

Flexible & Powerful

Works with all your existing campaigns.

  • 🧩 Deep customization: Add custom HTML, shortcodes, or CSS classes for advanced branding.

  • ⚙️ Smart fields: Collect exactly what you need with support for dropdowns, checkboxes, dates, and hidden fields.

Check out the Visual Donation Form Builder »
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