What happens when a charge fails on a recurring donation plan in Fundraise Up?
When a recurring donation plan encounters a failed charge, such as due to an issue with the supporter’s credit card, Fundraise Up will automatically place the donation into a "pending" status. This means the system will attempt to process the payment again at a later time, usually within a few days. For more information on this process refer to our documentation on installment retries.
Retry settings
By default, Fundraise Up uses machine learning to optimally determine when to set a recurring plan's status to "failed" after unsuccessful charge attempts. This default setting balances the opportunity to recover a recurring plan with avoiding potential fees for repeated charge failures.
In addition to the machine learning option, you can select from seven other conditions for when a plan should be marked as failed:
- After 1 unpaid installment
- After 2 unpaid installments
- After 3 unpaid installments
- After 4 unpaid installments
- After 5 unpaid installments
- After 6 unpaid installments
- Never
Handling missed payments
When a recurring plan is in the "retrying" status, Fundraise Up will attempt to process the next scheduled installment only. If an installment fails, it will be skipped, and the supporter will not be charged for that missed payment at a future date.
If a supporter wishes to make up for a failed payment, we recommend suggesting they submit a one-time donation for the same amount as the missed installment. This allows them to keep their total contribution on track without complicating the recurring plan.