Knowledge base
Everything, by topic. Looking for setup steps? Start with the how-to guides.
Getting started
From a new account to your first online gift.
Donation forms
Amounts, designations, recurring options and the look of your form.
- Donation form options, A to ZEvery setting in the form builder and what it does.
- Custom questions on formsAsk donors something extra, such as T-shirt size, church membership or how they heard about you, and see the answers on each gift.
- Customize your donation formSet suggested amounts, recurring options, designations, questions and colors in the form builder, then publish.
Website & embeds
Put the form on WordPress, Wix or any site, or share the hosted page.
- Allowed websites, site keys and embedsWhy forms only load on sites you've approved, how site keys work, and what to do when a form shows "not allowed here".
- Hosted donation page linksEvery form has a page on donorfinch.com you can link from anywhere, with options to pre-fill amount, frequency and fund.
- Install the form on your websiteShare the hosted page, or embed the form on any site with one script tag. WordPress and Wix have their own one-click paths.
- Install on WordPressUpload the DonorFinch plugin, paste a site key, and add the donation form block or shortcode to any page.
- Install on WixAdd the DonorFinch Donations app from the Wix App Market, connect your organization, and drop the widget on a page.
Payments & Stripe
Connecting Stripe, payouts, wallets and failed payments.
- Payouts and your Stripe accountYour money goes straight from Stripe to your bank. How to see payouts, match them to gifts, and what DonorFinch can and can't touch.
- Payment methods: cards, bank transfers, Apple Pay and Google PayWhat donors can pay with, what each costs, and why the wallet buttons sometimes don't show.
- Connect StripeLink a new or existing Stripe account so donations are paid straight to your bank. Takes about ten minutes.
- Disputes and chargebacksWhat happens when a donor's bank reverses a gift, how to respond in Stripe, and how DonorFinch records it.
- Bank deposits for checks and cashGroup recorded checks and cash into deposit batches that match your bank slip and sync to QuickBooks.
- Issue a refundRefund all or part of an online gift from the gift page. Receipts are corrected automatically and our fee comes back.
Recurring gifts
Monthly and yearly plans, retries, card updates and the donor portal.
- Recurring gifts, explainedHow monthly and yearly plans are charged, what donors and staff can change, and what each plan status means.
- When a recurring payment failsThe retry schedule, the emails donors get, what "past due" means, and how to get the plan going again.
- Help a donor update their cardEmail a secure link so a recurring donor can enter a new card themselves, and the plan picks up where it left off.
Receipts & year-end statements
Automatic tax receipts, resends, voids and annual statements.
- Tax receipts, explainedWhen receipts are sent, what's on them, how they're numbered, and what happens when a gift changes.
- Year-end statements, explainedWhat counts toward a donor's annual total, how in-kind and refunded gifts are handled, and why re-running is safe.
- What DonorFinch can and can't say about taxesWe print the standard receipt language and accurate totals. Deductibility itself is between the donor, your status and their tax adviser.
- Resend or download a receiptRe-email a donor's tax receipt, download the PDF, or point donors to their own portal.
- Run year-end giving statementsGenerate one annual statement per donor, email them as PDFs, and re-run safely if anything changes.
Donors & imports
Donor records, households, tags, notes, tasks and CSV imports.
- The donor portalDonors sign in with their email to see receipts, statements and recurring plans across every organization they support.
- Tags, custom fields and householdsThe three ways to organize donor records beyond name and address, and when to use each.
- How imports avoid duplicatesThe three matching modes, how blanks are handled, and why the dry run is your friend.
- Thank-yous and email templatesReceipts are automatic; thank-yous are the personal note. How the Thank-yous queue, templates, auto-send and printed letters work.
- Record a check or cash giftEnter gifts that didn't come through your form so they get a receipt and show up in reports and statements.
- Import donors and gifts from a spreadsheetBring your donor list and giving history over from a CSV export in five steps, with a dry run before anything is written.
Reports
Built-in reports, CSV exports and scheduled emails.
- The seven reportsWhat each built-in report answers, who it's for, and how to save and schedule it.
- Matching bank deposits to giftsHow the Deposits report reconciles each Stripe payout and check batch to the penny, and how to hand it to your bookkeeper.
- Schedule a report by emailSave a report with its filters and have the CSV emailed daily, weekly or monthly to whoever needs it.
QuickBooks & bank deposits
Syncing Stripe payouts and offline deposits to QuickBooks Online.
- QuickBooks sync, explainedDeposits only, one entry per payout, on your chart of accounts. What syncs, when, and how it posts.
- QuickBooks sync errors and fixesWhat each sync-log message means and the one thing to do about it.
- Connect QuickBooks OnlinePost each Stripe payout and offline deposit to QuickBooks as a bank deposit, with income split by fund.
Team & roles
Inviting teammates, roles, permissions and the audit log.
- Roles and permissionsThe five roles, the fourteen permissions behind them, and how per-person adjustments work.
- The audit logEvery change to money, donors, settings and team is recorded with who, what and when. Here's how to read it.
- Invite your teamAdd coworkers, volunteers and your bookkeeper with the right role, and adjust individual permissions when needed.
Pricing & fees
What DonorFinch costs, Stripe's fees and how refunds affect them.
- What DonorFinch costsNo monthly fee. 1.2% per online gift, plus Stripe's processing fee. Checks, cash and imports are free.
- How donors cover processing feesThe fee-cover box adds just enough to the gift so your organization nets the amount the donor chose.
- Getting Stripe's nonprofit rateRegistered 501(c)(3)s can ask Stripe for 2.2% + 30¢ on cards. Here's how, and what changes in DonorFinch (nothing).
Account & security
Signing in, sessions, data export and how your data is protected.
- Signing in with email linksNo passwords. How sign-in links work, how long they last, and what to do when one doesn't arrive.
- Security and your dataWhere data lives, who can see it, how card numbers are handled, and how to get your data out.
- Working with multiple organizationsOne login, many organizations. For bookkeepers, fiscal sponsors and chapters.