Virtual Terminal

Virtual Terminal works well for:

• Processing donations during telethons and phone campaigns.
• Entering in-person donations at events.
• Handling mail-in donations.
• Setting up future-dated recurring donations.
• Processing major gifts that need special attention.
• Helping supporters who prefer not to use online forms.

Virtual Terminal adapts to different fundraising scenarios through its settings. You can:

• Show all campaigns or limit visible options.
• Make email addresses optional or required.
• Display processing instructions for operators.
• Set default language preferences.
• Enable saved payment methods.
• Configure custom fields.

The interface is straightforward enough that new team members can start processing donations with minimal training. At the same time, you have options to customize the experience based on your organization’s needs.

Virtual Terminal accepts these payment methods:

• Cards (with optional security code verification).
• ACH Direct Debit.
• Bacs UK Direct Debit.
• SEPA Direct Debit.
• BECS.
• Canadian PAD.
• Saved payment methods.

Virtual Terminal cannot process cash or check donations.

Virtual Terminal is designed to handle large-scale fundraising events. Our system processes up to 200 transactions per second by default — 25 times the typical processing demand. Additional transactions are queued automatically, ensuring no donation is ever rejected due to server overload.

For upcoming high-volume events, please notify us at support@fundraiseup.com.

All user roles in Fundraise Up can access Virtual Terminal, except for View only users. This includes Organization Administrator, Campaign Administrator, Configuration Manager, Support Specialist, and Virtual Terminal Specialist roles.

The Virtual Terminal Specialist role is particularly useful for events and telethons. Users with this role can only access Virtual Terminal and can’t see other parts of your Dashboard.

Dashboard as seen by the Virtual Terminal Specialist

Consider creating Virtual Terminal Specialist accounts for temporary staff or volunteers before large fundraising events — this ensures they have exactly the access they need while maintaining your organization’s security.

Before your event, create accounts for team members who will only process donations. To add a Virtual Terminal Specialist:

1. Go to Settings > Team.
2. Click Invite user.
3. Enter their details:
   • Email address
   • First name
   • Last name
4. Select Virtual Terminal Specialist from the roles list.
   

   Invite user window

5. Click Send invite.

The team member will receive an email invitation. Once they click Accept invite, they’ll be directed straight to Virtual Terminal, where they can start processing donations.

When you enable Virtual Terminal, your networks and computer systems become part of Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance requirements. To minimize your technical responsibilities and maintain security, we:

• Tokenize and encrypt all payment data.
• Limit each user to three simultaneous Dashboard sessions.
• Tag all donations processed through the Virtual Terminal with the source Virtual Terminal in your Dashboard, export files, and integrations.
• Use secure MOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) processing

For temporary event staff, you can easily manage access using Single Sign-On (SSO). This lets you control user access through your organization’s identity provider — when you disable a user’s account there, their Virtual Terminal access is automatically revoked.

Organizations can filter donations processed through Virtual Terminal to analyze performance and track trends. Select Virtual Terminal as the Source filter on the Insights page for a broad overview, on the Donations page for analyzing individual contributions, or on the Recurring page to focus on ongoing plans.

Additionally, donations made through Virtual Terminal can be filtered by source in export files, CRM integrations, and API data.

To start using Virtual Terminal, read our configuration guide that walks you through enabling and setting up the tool for your organization.

If you’re planning a telethon or large-scale fundraising event, check out our practical guide for running successful events with Virtual Terminal.