Testing your Square payment gateway before going live ensures donations work smoothly when you launch. This guide walks you through connecting your Square sandbox (test) account to Charitable.
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Before you begin, make sure you have:
- A Square account
- Charitable plugin installed and activated
- WordPress admin access
In this Guide
Quick answers
I clicked “Connect to Square (Sandbox)” and got a blank white screen. What happened?
This is a Square requirement, not a Charitable bug. Before clicking Connect, open your Square Sandbox Dashboard in another tab of the same browser and leave it open. Then return to Charitable and click Connect again. The full steps are in Step 1 below.
Do my WordPress email and Square email need to match?
No. Your WordPress admin email, your live Square account email, and your Square Sandbox test account email can all be different. That is normal and expected. Charitable connects to Square through a secure authorization flow (OAuth), not by matching email addresses.
What is the Square sandbox?
The Square sandbox is a testing environment that mirrors live Square without processing real money. You can test the full donation flow, error handling, and confirmation emails using Square’s test card numbers. Sandbox transactions never hit a real bank account.
Step 1: Create your Square sandbox account
Sign up for Square if you haven’t already, then log in to your Square Developer Console.
Note: The Developer Console is for managing applications and API access. The Square Dashboard is for general business operations. They are two different places.
You should see a page like this:
From the left-hand navigation, open the Sandbox test accounts page. You’ll see a default test account along with a Square Dashboard link.
Click the Square Dashboard link. A new tab opens with your Sandbox Square dashboard. You’ll see a Sandbox indicator at the top, confirming this isn’t your live dashboard.
Important: Keep this Sandbox dashboard tab open and active throughout the entire connection process. This is a requirement from Square (not Charitable) and is necessary for the connection to work properly. If you close the tab, you’ll see a blank white screen when you try to connect.
Step 2: Connect Charitable to Square
With the Sandbox dashboard tab still open, switch to your WordPress admin. From the menu on the left, go to Charitable > Settings > Payment Gateways.
Click Enable Gateway next to Square if you haven’t already done so:
On the same page, turn on Test Mode – this is what tells Charitable to connect to the sandbox instead of live Square. Click Save Changes.
Now click Gateway Settings to open Square’s configuration. Find the Connection Status section and click Connect to Square Account (Sandbox).
Square will ask you to authorize the connection. Click Allow, then return to Charitable and click Save Changes to finalize.
Reminder: The Square sandbox dashboard tab must remain open in another browser tab while you connect. Keep it open for any future Square testing too – not just the initial setup.
Step 3: Test your connection
Make a test donation on one of your campaigns using one of Square’s test card numbers (for example, 4111 1111 1111 1111 for a successful Visa charge). Then verify:
- The donation appears in Charitable > Donations
- The transaction shows up in your Square Sandbox Dashboard under Transactions
- The donor receipt email is sent and looks right
If all three match, your connection is working.
Step 4: Switch to live payments
Once you’re confident the sandbox connection works, switch Charitable to live mode:
- Go to Charitable > Settings > Payment Gateways and click Gateway Settings next to Square.
- Turn off Test Mode and click Save Changes.
- In the Connection Status section, click Connect to Square Account (no sandbox label this time) and authorize your live Square account.
Your live donations will now be processed by your real Square account.
More questions
How do I turn off Test Mode in Charitable?
Go to Charitable > Settings > Payment Gateways, click Gateway Settings next to Square, turn off Test Mode, and click Save Changes.
I want to test with a different country’s currency. How?
In the Square Developer Dashboard, go to Sandbox test accounts and click New sandbox test account. Choose the country whose currency you want to test, then connect Charitable to that account using the same steps above.
Where can I find more tips and nonprofit advice from Charitable?
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Need help with other Charitable features? Check out our other documentation guides or contact support.
