Issue a full or partial refund for a donation
Full or partial refunds to your donors are possible through Stripe and PayPal.
Before you get started
Video Overview
Walkthrough
Before you get started
Video Overview
Walkthrough
Before you get started
Video Overview
Walkthrough
Before You Get Started
- For nonprofits: You must have access to the Stripe account connected to Give Lively and/or the PayPal merchant account integrated with Give Lively.
- For donors: This article is not for you. Please go to: How can I get a refund for my donation?
Video Overview
Walkthrough
One-time donations
Card or bank payments managed through Stripe
To issue a full or partial refund to your donors:
- Login into your Stripe dashboard.
- Go to the Payments Overview page and find the charge that needs to be refunded.
- Click the "•••" icon next to the charge and select "Refund charge".
- The default is a full refund, but for credit card charges, both full or partial refunds can be made. To issue a partial credit card refund, enter the amount to be refunded. For ACH payments, only full refunds can be made through Stripe dashboard. To issue a partial ACH refund, please reach out to our Support team.
- Select a reason for the refund. If you select "Other", you must provide an explanatory note that is attached to the refund.
- Click "Refund" to finish.
While there are no additional fees to refund a charge, the fees from the original charge are not returned. If you have any questions, please refer to Stripe’s FAQ.
PayPal or Venmo payment
To issue a full or partial refund to your donors:
- Log in to the PayPal Merchant Dashboard.
- Click the “Activity” menu item in the top navigation. Then, under “Transactions,” click on “All Transactions”.
- On the “Transactions” page, search for the desired payment using the provided filters, such as your donor’s email address. Helpfully, “Recurring payment from” appears in the “Description” field.
- Click on the desired line item to go to its “Transaction details”.
- Click on “Issue a refund” and follow the remaining instructions.
While there are no additional fees to refund a charge, the fees from the original charge are not returned. If you have any questions, please refer to PayPal’s FAQ.
Recurring donations
Follow the same directions as above for Stripe and PayPal (recurring donations are not yet available via Venmo). To update recurring donations in Stripe, also review this article in Stripe Support.
Important note: Donors have direct access to a secure User Portal through which they can cancel their own recurring donations. For Stripe payments only, they may also change payment methods on recurring donations. This is not possible if the recurring donation is to a nonprofit whose Stripe account is restricted, missing or has been disconnected from Give Lively.
At present, donors are not able to edit the amount and date of recurring donations, although that functionality is coming soon.
