Zeffy fully supports monthly donations. Recurring giving is one of the simplest and most effective ways to provide ongoing support to a nonprofit. Whether you’re a donor wanting to give regularly or an organization looking to build a dependable funding stream, Zeffy makes monthly donations easy, automated, and completely free.
How Monthly Donations Work on Zeffy
Monthly donations are set up directly through your nonprofit’s donation form. Here’s what happens:
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Donors select the monthly giving option on the form.
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They enter their donation amount, payment details, plus their name and email.
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The first payment is processed immediately, and that same day of the month becomes the recurring charge date.
🗓️ Note: The recurring charge date cannot be changed — it always occurs on the same day of each month as the original donation.
What Happens Each Month?
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On the same day each month, Zeffy automatically processes the next donation.
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Donors receive a confirmation email and receipt every time a payment is processed successfully.
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Nonprofits see each donation as a new transaction in their Zeffy dashboard, just like a one-time gift.
Can Donations Be Modified or Canceled?
Yes! Donors can manage their monthly donations anytime through their donor portal to:
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Update the donation amount
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Cancel the donation
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Update their payment method
Learn how donors can manage monthly donations →
You can also update or cancel monthly donations on a donor’s behalf upon request.
What If a Payment Fails?
If a payment can’t be processed (e.g., expired card or insufficient funds):
- A failed payment attempt will be marked as “past due” in your dashboard. Both you and the donor will be notified of the failed payment and the past due status.
- Our secure payment processor, Stripe, will automatically retry the charge 4–5 times over several days.
- After each failed attempt, donors receive an email notification with a link to update their payment information.
- If the payment still doesn’t succeed after 5 retries, Stripe will cancel the recurring charge. The monthly donation status will update to “stopped.”
- If the donor wishes to continue giving monthly, they will need to start a new monthly donation.
Tax Receipts for Monthly Donations
If your organization offers tax receipts on Zeffy:
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A single tax receipt for all monthly donations will be generated and sent to donors at the end of the calendar year (in January of the following year).
- This consolidated receipt summarizes the total amount donated throughout the year, making tax filing easier and keeping donation records well organized.
Learn more about tax receipts →
Migrating Existing Monthly Donors to Zeffy
If you’re switching to Zeffy from another fundraising platform, you can import your donor information to keep your records up to date. However, active recurring donations cannot be transferred automatically.
This means you will need to:
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Cancel existing monthly donations on your previous platform.
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Invite your supporters to set up their monthly donations again using your new Zeffy form.
Learn how to import monthly donors →