How to Handle Refunds or Failed Payments

Sometimes a donor’s transaction may fail or require a refund.

GiveWP provides tools to help you manage these cases efficiently while keeping your campaign reports and donor records accurate.

The Faun WordPress Theme does not modify these processes but ensures your donation pages and messages remain consistent in design and layout.

Understand How Refunds Work in GiveWP #

Refunds in GiveWP can be handled in two ways:

• Manual Refunds – You process the refund directly in your payment gateway (e.g., Stripe, PayPal), and then update the status in GiveWP.
• Automatic Refunds – If supported by your gateway (like Stripe), refunds processed from the GiveWP dashboard will sync automatically with your payment provider.

Refunds remove the donation from your campaign’s total raised amount and mark it as “Refunded” in your records.

Locate the Donation Record #

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Donations → All Donations.
2. Search by donor name, email, or donation ID.
3. Click the donation you want to review.
4. Check its current Status (e.g., Complete, Pending, Failed, Refunded).

This page provides full transaction details including gateway used, amount, and payment date.

Process a Manual Refund #

If your gateway does not support automatic refunds, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your payment gateway account (e.g., Stripe Dashboard or PayPal Business).
2. Locate the transaction and process the refund directly from your gateway interface.
3. Return to Donations → All Donations in WordPress.
4. Open the donation entry and change its Status to Refunded.
5. Add an Admin Note explaining the reason (e.g., “Refunded via PayPal on 9 Oct 2025”).
6. Click Update Donation.

This ensures your GiveWP totals and donor reports remain accurate.

Issue an Automatic Refund (Stripe) #

If you use Stripe, GiveWP can trigger automatic refunds through the connected API.

1. In the donation details page, click the Refund Payment button (if available).
2. Confirm the action when prompted.
3. Stripe will process the refund and update the donation status automatically.
4. You can verify completion in both Stripe and the GiveWP donation record.

Note: Not all gateways support this feature. If the button is missing, you’ll need to refund manually via your provider.

Handle Failed Payments #

Failed payments can occur for several reasons such as card declines, expired payment methods, or temporary gateway issues.

To review failed donations: #

1. Go to Donations → All Donations.
2. Use the filter dropdown to select Failed.
3. Click on a specific donation to view its failure message or gateway error code.

Common reasons for failure: #

• Insufficient funds
• Invalid or expired card
• 3D Secure authentication not completed
• Connection timeout with the gateway
• Currency mismatch between form and gateway account

To resolve failed donations: #

• Ask the donor to retry the transaction or use a different payment method.
• If recurring donations fail, the system will usually retry automatically depending on your gateway’s policy.
• Double-check that your API keys, webhooks, and gateway connections are still active in GiveWP → Settings → Payment Gateways.

Update Donation Status Manually #

If a payment eventually succeeds or is manually corrected, you can update the donation record:

1. Go to Donations → All Donations.
2. Open the donation entry.
3. Change Status from Failed or Pending to Complete if you’ve verified the payment manually.
4. Save your changes.

Only update donation statuses if you’re certain of the transaction outcome — incorrect changes can affect reports and campaign totals.

Notify Donors #

When processing refunds or failed payments, communicate clearly with your donors:

• Send a short, polite email confirming the refund or explaining the issue.
• Include the donation amount, date, and campaign name.
• If using GiveWP’s Email Notifications, enable “Refunded Donation” messages under GiveWP → Settings → Emails.
• For failed payments, reassure the donor that their data is secure and guide them to retry through your official form.

Maintaining transparency builds trust and encourages donors to give again in the future.

Best Practices #

• Always verify refund eligibility before processing.
• Use the same payment gateway for refunding as the one used for the original donation.
• Keep internal notes for every refund or failed payment for audit purposes.
• Regularly check for recurring payment failures to avoid donor churn.
• Do not delete refunded donations — keep them for reporting consistency.
• Enable Email Logging (if available) to track refund notifications.