ActBlue user roles and permissions dictate what users can do on our platform. If the tools or features in this article are unavailable to you, speak to your entity Admin first about updating your permissions.
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ActBlue allows your team to process refunds or cancel recurring contributions, ensuring that you can handle simple donor relations issues right away. When working with refunds, please note that we can't guarantee a refund for contributions older than three months (90 days).
Issuing Refunds
If a donor requests a refund, you can track their contribution in the “Contributions Search” tab of your Dashboard.
Once there, fill in any available information about the refund and click “Search.”
When you’ve found the contribution, click the order number (formatted as AB########) to view all of the contribution information: the donation amount, the donor’s email address, and their billing address. Choose the appropriate reason for the refund, like wrong amount or a test contribution by your team, and click “Process Refund.”
If we have already disbursed the contribution in a check to your team, a message will prompt you to contact our customer service team.
Refunded contributions have the refund date listed in the "Refund date" column of the Contributions Search page.
Donor-Requested Refunds
ActBlue Express donors can request a refund for any contribution made through their ActBlue Express account within 45 days. As long as the refund is requested for a valid reason, there are sufficient funds available in your account for the refund to go through without giving you a negative balance, and there are no other issues, the refund will process automatically in our system. When a donor requests a refund for a recurring contribution, all future recurrences will automatically be canceled.
Learn more about how ActBlue Express donors can request refunds.
Cancelling Recurring Contributions
If a donor unintentionally signed up for a recurring contribution or would like to cancel their recurring contribution, you can take care of that, too. Click on the order number for the contribution. Then, click “Cancel the remainder of this recurring contribution” at the bottom of the screen.
Your Refund Center
Your refund center lists all refunds made from your ActBlue account — whether processed by your team, ActBlue Customer Service (in response to a donor call/email), or credit card chargebacks. Select “Refunds” from your Dashboard menu to access your refund center.
There are two types of refunds, and this can affect whether you need to report the contribution.
Pre-disbursement refunds are issued before the funds reach your board; you may not need to report them. Pre-disbursement refunds have an N/A in the “Disbursed” column.
Post-disbursement refunds are issued after the contribution reaches your committee, and you may need to report these. Click on the date under the "Disbursed" column to see information about the disbursement check.
If a donor requests a refund after disbursal, we’ll deduct those funds from your pending check. Once you’ve received enough money to cover the refund, click the date under “Recovered” to see information about that disbursement check.
When you click on the “Order number” of a refund, you’ll see details of the refunded contribution, including the refund date and the reason for the refund, if the donor provided one. If the donor requested their own refund, the reason will display as “Self-Service Refund.”
If you have any questions, please contact our support team using the email address you use to access your ActBlue account.
The amount of support that the ActBlue Customer Service Team can provide is dependent on the permissions that you have. Check with your entity Admin about your assigned role.
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