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Set Up a Recurring Donation

Goal: Convert a one-time donor into a sustaining donor by setting up a recurring schedule that charges a saved payment method on an interval — without manual processing each cycle.

How recurring donations work​

A recurring donation in Ayuna is a schedule with:

  • A donor and saved payment method (tokenized through Finix)
  • An amount and frequency (monthly, quarterly, annual)
  • A start date, optional end date or installment count
  • A fund and optional campaign / project / event designation

A scheduled background job runs and processes due charges, creating a Donation record and emailing a receipt for each successful charge. Failed charges retry on the next scheduled run; persistent failures flag the schedule for review.

When recurring fits​

  • A donor has expressed interest in monthly giving
  • A campaign has a "monthly partner" track
  • A pledge is structured as monthly installments and you want the charges to be automatic (you can also use a Pledge — see below)

Recurring donation vs. pledge​

These overlap and people confuse them. Use these rules of thumb:

  • Recurring donation — open-ended, no fixed total, charges automatically. The donor can stop at any time. Best for monthly partners.
  • Pledge — fixed total commitment, paid in installments over a defined window. Each payment can be card-on-file or by check. Pledges do not auto-charge — payments are recorded as they come in. Best for capital campaigns or major-gift commitments.

If a donor wants to commit $5,000 over 5 years on autopay, the cleanest setup is actually two records: a Pledge for the $5,000 commitment plus a Recurring Donation that automates the monthly payment toward it.

Creating a recurring donation​

From the donor profile, choose Set Up Recurring Donation. Capture:

  • Amount and frequency
  • Start date and (optionally) end conditions
  • Fund / campaign / event designation
  • Payment method (saved card or new card; ACH if enabled)

The first charge processes immediately or on the start date you set. From then on, the scheduler picks it up.

What the donor sees​

The donor experience under Donor Dashboard → Recurring Donations:

  • Current recurring schedules
  • History of processed payments
  • Ability to update the saved payment method
  • Ability to pause, resume, or cancel a schedule
  • Ability to change the amount

Donors can self-manage these without staff involvement.

Failed charges​

When a card declines or expires, the schedule's payment record is marked failed. Behavior:

  • The charge will retry on the next scheduled run automatically
  • After N consecutive failures, the schedule status flips to paused and your team is notified
  • A donor receives a "we couldn't process your gift" email asking them to update their card

Resolve by reaching out to the donor to update their card on file. Once updated, the schedule resumes.

Donor-covered fees​

When the recurring schedule was set up with the donor opting to cover fees, each processed gift includes the fee on top of the donation amount. The donor sees a slightly higher charge; your books receive the full intended donation amount net of zero fees.

Cancelling​

Donors cancel from their dashboard. Staff can cancel from the recurring donation record on the donor's profile. Cancellation stops future processing immediately; past gifts remain on the donor's record.