In this article:

1. Getting to know your recurring settings
2. Customizing your recurring ask
3. Analyzing your recurring contributions
4. Supporting donors who have recurring contributions

Getting to Know Your Recurring Settings

Any ActBlue contribution form can accept recurring donations. Here’s how to get started setting up your recurring program:

Step 1: Create a new contribution form by clicking “Create form” in the upper-left corner of your Dashboard Overview. Or, navigate to a form you already made by searching for it in the Contribution Forms tab of your Dashboard toolbar and clicking the “Edit” button.

Step 2: You will land on your form editor. Select the “Recurring settings” tab.

Step 3: By default, your form will accept unlimited monthly contributions if a donor selects “Yes, count me in!” in the “Make it monthly!” section of your contribution form. The default recurring upsell on your form is Smart Options: a data-driven upsell that presents donors with a pop-up suggesting multiple monthly donation amounts smaller than the one-time donation they just gave, plus the option to set their own monthly amount. You can easily change both of these settings.

Customizing Your Recurring Ask

If you don’t want to use the Smart Options default upsell, try one of our other recurring upsells:

• “Specified duration” pop-up prompts one-time donors to give a monthly donation of the same amount as the contribution they just gave and allows donors to set the number of months they would like their donation to recur. 
• “Unlimited” upsell that prompts donors who just gave a one-time contribution to also give a monthly donation of the same amount. This monthly contribution will recur until the donor cancels it.
• Smart Suggestion upsell shows donors a pop-up with a single data-driven suggestion for a smaller monthly contribution after they give a one-time donation. 

In the “Recurring settings” tab, you can write a custom recurring pitch for your contribution form or offer a free gift to supporters who make a monthly donation. Learn more about all of our recurring tools.

We also offer pre-set recurring forms that allow you to direct people ready to make a monthly donation to a form with the recurring option pre-selected. This option is great for running membership drives or starting recurring programs. 

Introduced in 2021, ActBlue policy requires groups using pre-set recurring forms to explicitly ask donors for recurring contributions immediately before the donor clicks the link to give. 

ActBlue must approve groups to use pre-set recurring forms. Reach out to us if you're interested. 

Analyzing Your Recurring Contributions

You can see who made a recurring contribution in the detailed contribution list and report for each form's contributions. Find these tools by clicking the “Stats” button in the form navigation bar when previewing your form.

On your form’s Statistics page, click “View all contributions” to find the detailed list of contributions or download a report.

You can also see who made a recurring donation by searching for a specific contribution in the Contributions Search tab in your Dashboard toolbar.

You’ll see a note that the contribution will recur each month and the one-time contribution amount.

Supporting Donors Who Have Recurring Contributions

Email receipts automatically go to all recurring contributors when their donation is processed. These receipts contain a link that allows donors to alter the number of months of their contribution, cancel it, or update their payment information. Only ActBlue Express users can change the dollar amount of their recurring donation. All donors can cancel a recurring contribution at any point in time.

ActBlue’s integration with Account Updater automatically updates lost or expired credit cards used for recurring contributions, so donors don’t have to re-enter payment information when they get a new card.

However, occasionally, credit cards are still declined. In this case, we send an automatic email letting the donor know they were not charged and should update their information. If a donor does not update their card, they won't receive a charge that month, but we’ll attempt to process the contribution again the next month.

Many donors will opt to ask ActBlue to help them with their recurring donation instead of making a change through their receipt. In that case, we take care of that for them. You can forward donor questions about recurring contributions to our contact form. Our incredible Customer Service Team makes every effort to get back to donors during the same business day.

Finally, follow up with your recurring donors to thank them for their support and update them on your work. If you go to the Settings tab in the “Admin” section of your Dashboard menu, scroll to find the “Blurbs, Disclaimers, and Tracking Codes” dropdown. Select “Recurring Email Messages” from the dropdown.

In the “Recurring email blurb” box, write the message you want recurring donors to see in their receipts after giving a monthly contribution. Scroll down and click “Save changes."

Donors can cancel their recurring donations, but over 80% of the money comes in from these commitments. That has much to do with the relationships you build with supporters and how you engage and value them.

If you have any questions, please contact our support team using the email address you use to access your ActBlue account.