Transition Existing Recurring Donors to DonorDock

When your organization begins using DonorDock Online Giving, you may already have recurring donors whose subscriptions were created in a previous system or directly through another payment processor. How those recurring Gifts transition depends on where the subscription currently exists and whether you can move the payment information securely.

The goal of the transition is to keep future recurring payments processing while automatically creating the resulting Gift records in DonorDock.

Choose the Right Transition Path

The best way to move an existing recurring donor into DonorDock depends on where the current subscription is stored and whether you can move the payment token information into Stripe.

Update an Existing Stripe Subscription to a DonorDock Product

The following process applies when the recurring subscription already exists in the Stripe account connected to DonorDock.

1. Log in to your organization’s Stripe account at dashboard.stripe.com

2. Navigate to "Billing" > "Subscriptions"

3. Open the subscription you want to transition

4. Select the purple Actions button and select Update Subscription

5. Add a new product to the subscription.

6. Locate the appropriate DonorDock recurring product for the subscription frequency (see below)

7. Set the correct quantity so the subscription total matches the donor’s existing recurring Gift Amount

8. Confirm that the new DonorDock product produces the same total amount as the existing subscription

9. Remove the old product from the subscription

10. Save the updated subscription

Once the subscription has been successfully moved to the DonorDock product, it can continue processing on its existing schedule. Future recurring payments can then create Gift records automatically in DonorDock.

Identifying the DonorDock Recurring Product

DonorDock recurring products in Stripe will have names such as:

• "Monthly Recurring Donation (Your Organization Name)"

• "Annual Recurring Donation (Your Organization Name)"

The DonorDock recurring product uses a unit price of $0.01. This one-cent structure is intentional and should not be changed.

Stripe uses the subscription quantity to determine the actual recurring Gift Amount. For example, a $50.00 recurring Gift would use the DonorDock product priced at $0.01 with a quantity of 5,000. The resulting subscription total is therefore $50.00.

When transitioning or later managing the subscription, do not rename, edit, remove, or change the DonorDock product's price. The DonorDock product and its one-cent structure are part of how future subscription payments are recognized and synced into DonorDock.

Add Metadata Information to the Subscription

After moving the subscription to the DonorDock product, you can add or update metadata to control how future Gifts are tracked in DonorDock.

Metadata can reference a Giving Page, Campaign, Appeal, or Fund. In many cases, adding the appropriate "GivingPageId" is enough because future Gifts can also inherit the Campaign, Appeal, and Fund already configured on that Giving Page.

For detailed instructions on finding DonorDock IDs and updating metadata, see Manage Recurring Online Gifts.

Stripe Payment Migration Services

Stripe offers payment data migration services that may allow card and ACH information to be moved from another supported payment processor into your organization’s Stripe account.

The Stripe account holder must start the migration request directly. Your organization will work with Stripe and the previous payment processor to provide the information and files required for the migration.

The timeline depends on how quickly the previous processor provides the required data. Once Stripe receives the necessary files, It completes the migration according to its own process and timeline.

After the migration is completed, review the recurring subscriptions in Stripe and update them to the appropriate DonorDock recurring product so future payments can begin creating Gifts in DonorDock.

When Donors Need to Re-Establish Their Recurring Gift

If an existing recurring subscription cannot be migrated or updated into the connected Stripe account, the donor will need to create a new recurring Gift through a DonorDock Online Giving Form.

Your organization should first determine how to cancel the old subscription so the donor does not accidentally have two recurring Gifts processing at the same time. Depending on the previous system, the organization may cancel the old subscription or instruct the donor how to cancel it after the new recurring Gift has been established. The donor can then use the appropriate DonorDock Giving Page, select the desired recurring frequency, and enter their payment information through Stripe.

Once the new recurring Gift is established through DonorDock, future subscription payments can create Gift records automatically using the tracking and receipt settings associated with that Giving Page.

Communicating the Change to Donors

When donors need to recreate their recurring Gift, communication should clearly explain why action is needed, provide the correct Giving Page link, and tell the donor what will happen to the previous subscription.

The message should also make clear that staff cannot simply copy payment information into DonorDock when the processor can't securely migrate the payment credentials.

A donor transition message may include:

• A thank-you for the donor’s ongoing support

• A brief explanation that the organization is moving to a new giving system

• A direct link to the new DonorDock Giving Page

• The date by which the donor should establish the new recurring Gift

• Instructions for what will happen to the previous subscription

• Organization contact information for questions

Clear instructions are especially important when both the old and new subscriptions could otherwise remain active at the same time.

Review the First Recurring Gift

After transitioning a subscription, review the next payment that processes to confirm the Gift is created in DonorDock as expected.

Check that the Gift is connected to the correct Contact and that the appropriate Giving Page, Campaign, Appeal, Fund, Gift Type, and receipt settings have been applied. If metadata was added to the Stripe subscription, confirm that the resulting Gift is using those tracking values correctly.

Reviewing the first payment provides an opportunity to catch any configuration issues before additional recurring Gifts are processed.