How to reconcile Fundraise Up donations with Stripe and PayPal payouts
When reviewing deposits in your bank account, the amounts received from Stripe or PayPal may be lower than the total donations shown in Fundraise Up. This is expected and usually happens because processing fees are deducted and multiple donations are grouped into a single payout.
Fundraise Up records the full donation amount, while payment processors control how funds are settled and transferred. Because of this, reconciliation should be done at the transaction level rather than by comparing payout totals alone.
Each donation in Fundraise Up has a unique Donation ID, which is also sent to Stripe and PayPal as transaction metadata. This ID is the most reliable way to match records across systems.
Export payout data from Stripe
Stripe provides an itemized payout reconciliation report that shows exactly which transactions are included in each payout.
- Log in to your Stripe Dashboard.
- Go to Reporting > Payout reconciliation.
- Select the payout (by date) you want to review.
- Click Download and choose Custom columns.
- Scroll to Payment Metadata click Select All to include the Fundraise Up Donation ID.
- Download the CSV file.
This report includes transaction-level data, fees, and Fundraise Up Donation IDs.
Export transaction data from PayPal
To reconcile PayPal donations with Fundraise Up records, you need to export transaction data directly from your PayPal account. PayPal provides transaction reports that reflect all activity affecting your PayPal balance, including donations, fees, refunds, and withdrawals.
To export PayPal transaction data:
- Log in to your PayPal account
- Go to Reports → Financial Summary
- Select the required date range
- The maximum supported date range is 31 days
- Click Create Report
- Download the report in your preferred format, or click the balance total to view the list of transactions
Use this report together with your Fundraise Up donation export to match transactions based on donation amounts, timestamps, and available identifiers.
Export donation data from Fundraise Up
To match Stripe transactions with donations, export donation data from Fundraise Up.
You can do this in one of two ways:
Using Exports
- Go to Dashboard → Exports
- Create new or use an export template Select Successful Donations as the type
- Include fields such as Donation ID, Amount, Payment method, Campaign, and Designation
- Use the Download Now button to select date range and download donation details.
Using the Donations page
- Go to Dashboard → Donations
- Apply filters that match the payout period
- Click Quick Export
- Select the required fields
- Select the file format and download
Match transactions and reconcile totals
In your spreadsheet, match the Donation ID from Fundraise Up with the Donation ID found in Stripe’s payment metadata. This allows you to confirm which donations were included in each payout and how fees were applied.
Keep in mind that:
- Stripe payouts may include donations from multiple days
- Stripe uses UTC cut-off times
- Bank transfer donations may take several days to settle
- PayPal reports may separate donations and fees into different rows
These factors often explain differences between donation totals and payout amounts.