What is the difference between a Recurring Donation (or Monthly Donation) and a Split Payment donation?
A Recurring Donation, usually an ongoing monthly donation, is a commitment of a donation amount that will be charged monthly indefinitely, until it is cancelled (it is generally capped at 4 years by the payment gateway). The amount that appears in the donation amount field is the amount they will be charged each month.
→ This is similar to an ongoing subscription. Example: $50/month, ongoing
A Split Payment donation means the donor has committed a specific amount, and will pay the donation in installments. You can choose a minimum amount for split payments to be offered as an option, so that it won't appear on the page for smaller donation. The amount that appears in the donation amount field is the total for the donation, which will be split into payments.
→ Like a payment plan. Example: $1,200, paid in 12 monthly installments of $100 ($100 x 12)
SUMMARY OF RECURRING DONATION VS. SPLIT PAYMENT
| | Recurring Donation | Split Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Type of Payment | Monthly/Annual subscription | Payment plan (installments) |
| Length of Transaction | Ongoing (usually 4 years) | Selected by donor from the options you make available |
| When does it appear | Always | Above the minimum amount that you define |
Which one should I include on my campaign/page?
Which one to include depends on your campaign strategy, and the donation amounts involved. For crowdfunding campaigns with smaller amounts, perhaps offering someone to become an ongoing monthly donor makes more sense. For capital campaigns and other campaigns with larger amounts, a split payment option makes more sense.
Make sure to include the right one that fits your goal and strategy, and that it's clear to donors what they are committing to.
It is best never to include both on the same page, since it will be confusing.
SUMMARY OF BEST PRACTICES
| Type of Campaign | Monthly Recurring | Split Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Crowdfunding with Goal | (Yes)* | Yes |
| Capital Campaign | No | Yes |
| Donate Page | Yes | Yes |
* When using monthly gifts on a crowdfunding page, you can choose whether to annualize the gift (i.e., apply 12 months' worth toward the campaign) or not (i.e., only one month applies to the campaign).
How are Recurring Gifts and Split Donations managed?
The recurring/split payment is managed in your payment gateway (e.g., Authorize.net, Stripe, etc.). You can see the charges there and make changes to the dates and amounts if needed.
Note that the payment gateway treats recurring and split payments the same way ($X over X number of months), and you'll see them in the same place.
HiRaiser only receives confirmation for the first payment that is charged at the time it is submitted via HiRaiser. HiRaiser records the entire lifespan of the recurring/split payment, but does not yet have the ability to track if payments are actually charged. We are currently working on functionality that will enable HiRaiser to track and manage the donations.
If it's a pledge, the donor is expressing his/her intent and it needs to be followed up like any other pledge.