Understanding Failed Or Cancelled Donation Emails

What Are Failed Or Cancelled Donation Emails?

Failed donation emails are triggered when an attempt to collect payment on a recurring donation fails. This can be due to insufficient funds, incorrect details or an expired card, amongst other things. They're sent to notify you should you wish to take any action to engage with the donor and address any issues.

Cancelled donation emails are sent when a recurring donation is cancelled. The donation may have been cancelled by the donor, or cancelled automaicallyfollowing multiple failed attempts at collection.

Why Am I Receiving These Emails?

If you're receiving these emails it means you have the Contributions settings enabled for your Action Network Administrator account. We recommend this setting is only enabled for Treasurers or Fundraising Officers. If you're receiving them, and don't think you should be, ask your party Chair to remove the Contributions permission from your account.

To find out more on managing Action Network permissions check this guide: Which Permissions Should I Enable For Action Network Administrators?

What Do The Emails Look Like?

The emails take the format of a simple alert, giving you the email address of the donor, along with the details of the failed or cancelled donation. For cancelled donations you'll receive an email like the one below:

A recurring contribution from norm.cassidy@greenparty.org.uk to Manchester Green Party has been canceled. Here are the details: 

Canceled charge: GBP 250.00 to Manchester Green Party monthly

This contribution may have been canceled by the activist themselves, it may have been canceled by one of your fellow administrators, or it may have failed retries too many times. From now on it will not be retried or re-charged.

Click here to update the credit card for this donation to restart it.

Thanks! 

Action Network

And for failed donations:

A recurring contribution from norm.cassidy@greenparty.org.uk to North West Green Party has failed. Here are the details: 

Attempted charge: GBP 50.00 to North West Green Party monthly

This contribution could fail for many reasons, including an expired credit card or a bank blocking the charge for suspected fraud.

We will retry this contribution automatically. However, after repeated failures, it will be canceled.

Click here to update the credit card for this donation or cancel it.

Thanks! 

Action Network

Do Donors Receive An Email Notification Too?

Donors will receive a notification if their donation fails. The content of this notification can be configured in Action Network under the Settings tab. It's a good idea to change these from the default notification text so donors know who to contact should they be having any issues with payment.

To customise your Donation Receipts & Failed Payment Notifications check this guide: Getting Started With Action Network.

Do I Need To Take Any Action When I Receive These Notifications?

There's no need to take any action when receiving these notifications, although you may wish to reach out to the donor to check if there are any issues. It's a good idea to establish who within your local party will take responsibility for contacting these donors, and how you will approach any communication with them. If you have customised your failed payment notifications this can remove the need for any direct action.

If you want to target activists who have cancelled their recurring donation you can find the Queries need here: Monitoring Recurring Donor Status With Action Network Reports.

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