How to Refund Donations in Fundraise Up

Locating the donation for Refund

To initiate a refund, first navigate to the specific donation’s page in the Fundraise Up dashboard. There are several ways to find the donation:

1. Global Search Bar: Use the search bar at the top of the dashboard to quickly find the donation by entering the supporter's name, email address, or donation ID.
2. Donations Tab: Go to the "Donations" tab in the dashboard and use the available filters to locate the donation you want to refund.
3. Supporter Record: If you know the supporter's name or email address, you can search for their supporter record and find the donation from there.
4. Recurring Plan: If the donation is part of a recurring plan, you can access it from the installments section of the corresponding recurring plan page.

Initiating the Refund

Once you're on the donation's page, follow these steps to initiate the refund:

1. Click on the “Refund donation” button.
2. A confirmation dialog appears.
3. Select a refund reason from the dropdown menu.

   A mandatory dropdown menu will appear during the refund process, offering the following options:

   • Duplicate donation – A duplicate charge was made.
   • Fraud – The donation was flagged as fraudulent.
   • Requested by supporter – The donor requested a refund.
   • Other – If selected, a text box appears to enter an explanation (up to 500 characters).
4. Click “Refund donation” to proceed.
   

Viewing refund details in the dashboard

Once a refund is initiated, the donation's status will update to “Refunded” in the Fundraise Up dashboard. The donation details page will display the refund date, amount, and the following additional fields:

• Refund reason – The selected reason for the refund.
• Refund details – Any additional comments provided.

The refund will also be reflected in relevant reports and analytics within the dashboard.

Refund email and receipt

As part of Fundraise Up's global receipting compliance, the Refund email sent to the supporter includes a PDF receipt that bears a "Canceled" stamp and is clearly marked with the date the refund was issued. This ensures that the supporter has a clear record of the refund for their records.

Refund reasons from payment providers

If a refund is initiated outside Fundraise Up, the system will capture refund reasons from Stripe and display them in the dashboard:

Refund processing time

The time it takes for the refunded funds to become available to the supporter depends on the payment method they used:

• Stripe: Refunds usually process within 5-10 business days.
• PayPal: Refunds can take up to 30 days to be fully processed.

Please keep these timeframes in mind when communicating with supporters about refunds.