Disclaimer: ActBlue user roles and permissions dictate what users can do on our platform. If the tools or features mentioned in this article are unavailable to you, please speak to your Dashboard Admin(s) about updating your permissions.
In this article:
- Getting to Know Your Recurring Tools
- Customizing your recurring ask
- Analyzing your recurring contributions
- Supporting donors who have recurring contributions
Getting to Know Your Recurring Tools
All ActBlue contribution forms are automatically set up to receive recurring contributions. Our tools make it easy to customize your recurring settings to fit the needs of your digital fundraising program! Learn more about editing your recurring settings here.
You can also take advantage of recurring upsells. A recurring upsell is a pop-up that donors will see after they process a one-time contribution. The pop-up will suggest that the donor increase their impact and sustain your work by converting their donation to a recurring contribution. Learn more about recurring upsells here.
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.
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.
If you have any questions, please contact our support team using the email address you use to access your ActBlue account.