How To: Create & Remove a Recurring Donation + Contribution
Before setting up recurring giving, it’s important to understand how giving works in Groundswell.
Groundswell accounts are powered by a donor-advised fund (DAF), a charitable account where you can add funds and then distribute them to nonprofits over time.
There are two key steps to giving:
Contribution (Adding Funds)
A contribution is when you add money to your Groundswell account.
- This is the tax-deductible event
- Funds are added to your giving balance
- Think of this as funding your account
Donation (Sending Funds to a Nonprofit)
A donation is when you send funds from your Groundswell account to a nonprofit.
- This is when your money is granted to the organization
- Donations are made using the funds you’ve already contributed
Important: You need both a contribution and a donation for recurring giving to work.
When you set up a recurring donation, Groundswell will also set up a recurring contribution to fund it automatically.
How to Set Up a Recurring Donation
Follow these steps to create a recurring donation (and the contribution that funds it):
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Go to your Home Dashboard
Scroll down to the “Recurring Giving” section (near the bottom of the page).
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Start a new recurring donation
Click the black “Add Recurring Donation” button.
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Find your charity
Search for and select the organization you’d like to support.
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Begin your donation
On the charity’s page, click “Donate.”
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Choose donation type
In the “What type of donation are you making?” menu, select “Recurring.”
- Enter your donation details
- Amount: Choose a preset amount or enter your own
- Match: Toggle on/off to apply your company match (you can adjust how much is used)
- Frequency: Select how often your recurring contribution + donation will occur
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Proceed to checkout
Click “Go to checkout.”
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Select your funding source
Choose how you’d like to fund your recurring contribution.
Funds will be pulled on the same schedule as your recurring donation.
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Add a donation note (optional)
Include any details you’d like the nonprofit to see.
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Continue to checkout
Click “Continue to checkout.”
- Add payment details (if needed)
- Card payments are processed via Stripe
- Bank accounts are connected via Plaid
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Save your setup
Click “Save.”
That’s it! You’ve successfully set up a recurring donation and the recurring contribution that funds it.
How to Remove a Recurring Donation
- Go to your Home Dashboard
- Scroll to the “Recurring Giving” section
- Click the three dots next to the donation you want to remove
- Select “Remove recurring donation”
- Click “Confirm”