OccamDonors start a monthly gift by ticking Make this monthly on your donation form. Stripe charges the same amount every month until the gift is cancelled, and Occam records each charge.
How monthly gifts work
- Monthly is the only frequency.
- The first charge happens when the donor gives, and the next ones on the same date each month.
- Each charge is its own gift. It appears in the donor's Donations list marked "recurring", counts toward the campaign's total, and gets its own receipt with a Manage your recurring donation link.
- If the donor chose Cover processing fee or Give anonymously, that applies to every charge.
On the donor's profile, the Recurring Gifts card shows the gift itself: the monthly amount, the campaign, Billed by Stripe, when it started and how many gifts it has produced.
When a payment fails
- The gift shows Payment failed on the donor's profile. Occam doesn't notify your team.
- Occam emails the donor that the payment failed, with an Update payment method button. The button opens their giving page, where they can see and cancel the gift, but not change the card. To use a different card, the donor cancels and starts a new monthly gift.
- Stripe tries the payment again, following your Stripe account's settings for failed payments. If a retry works, the gift goes back to active and the charge is recorded. If Stripe cancels the subscription after its last try, Occam marks the gift cancelled.
How a monthly gift is cancelled
The donor cancels it. The Manage your recurring donation link in a monthly receipt opens their giving page. They select Cancel next to the gift and confirm. Charges stop straight away, and the gifts already made stay on their record. The link works for 14 days after the email was sent, and each new receipt has a fresh one.
The donor cancels it in the donor portal. They don't need a receipt for this. They sign in at your web address followed by /portal/login, such as yourname.occam.gives/portal/login. On the Home tab, under Your monthly giving, they select Cancel next to the gift and confirm. Charges stop straight away.
Your team cancels it in Stripe. In your Stripe dashboard, find the donor by email and cancel their subscription immediately. Occam picks up the cancellation and marks the gift cancelled.
Occam doesn't send the donor an email confirming any of these cancellations.
You can't edit or cancel a gift marked Billed by Stripe in Occam. Cancel it in Stripe, or ask the donor to use their link or the donor portal. See "Cancel or change my monthly gift".
Good to know
- To change the amount, the donor cancels and starts a new monthly gift.
- Refunding one month's charge doesn't cancel the gift. See Refund a payment.
- Closing or archiving the campaign doesn't stop its monthly gifts.
- For donors who give monthly by check or bank transfer, see Record a check, cash or other offline gift.