Charitable Documentation

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

How to install and activate Charitable extensions

Charitable extensions are normal WordPress plugins which add extra features to Charitable.

1. Make sure you have activated your license

When you purchase a plugin license through wpcharitable.com, you will receive a single code to register Charitable as a paid (or a “pro” version, not a lite or free version).

After you make your purchase, check your email for the Purchase Receipt email.

Important: Can’t find email? Don’t worry. This code can also be found in your account dashboard on wpcharitable.com.

Once you activate your license in Charitable with this code you will be able to install Charitable extensions two ways.

2. Install the addon manually via wpcharitable.com.

You can download your plugin(s) through the wpcharitable.com account area. Simply log in using the account created when you made your purchase and then download the plugin from the Downloads tab.

Once you download a zip file of an extension you can install it on your site in one of two ways:

  1. Install it in the WordPress dashboard — the recommended approach.
  2. Install it through FTP.

How to install a plugin in your WordPress dashboard

You can install a Charitable extension in your WordPress dashboard. This is the way we recommend installing Charitable extensions, since it’s the easiest.

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New:

Next, click on the Upload Plugin in the top left corner, attach the zip file you downloaded earlier, and finally click Install Now.

WordPress-plugin-install-with-a-zip-file

Skip ahead to find out how to activate your plugin.

How to install a plugin via FTP

If you have FTP access to your website server and you are comfortable with using an FTP program like Cyberducks or Filezilla, you can follow the steps below to install with FTP.

First of all, you will need to unzip the zip file you downloaded earlier. You will be uploading the plugin folder, not the zip file itself.

Next, log in to your website server using FTP. Navigate to the /wp-content/plugins directory in your WordPress installation files.

Upload the plugin folder to the plugins directory to install it.

Activate the plugin

Now that you have installed the plugin, the final step is to activate it.

If you installed the plugin via the WordPress dashboard, simply click on the Activate Plugin button:

You can also activate plugins by going to Plugins > Installed Plugins.

3. Installing via the addons screen in Charitable

You can also do a one-click install of an extension or addon you have available in your plan by going to the addons screen in the Charitable menu.

Still have questions? We’re here to help!

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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.