Troubleshooting Recurring Donation Billing Issues

Why was a recurring donation charged twice?

A recurring donation can appear twice when a donor has two separate recurring payment schedules, or when a payment was manually charged in addition to the scheduled recurring charge. Review the donor’s recurring payment history to confirm whether both charges were created and whether one was triggered outside the normal schedule.

How do I check recurring payment history?

Go to Giving → Recurring Payments.
Find the donor’s record.
Open the three-dot menu.
Select View Payment History.
Review the charge dates, payment history, card status, and next expected charge date.

If you see more than one active recurring schedule for the same donor, cancel the one that was not intended.

What should I do if a recurring payment fails?

A failed recurring payment can be reviewed from the payment history. Open the payment’s three-dot menu and select View Payment History to confirm the failed charge and review the payment record.

What should I check next?

Verify the card details on file.
Confirm the card is active.
Confirm the card has available funds.
Review the failed entry for any additional details or error text.

For membership payments, failed-payment settings can also be reviewed at Giving → Membership Center → Settings → Manage failed payments.

How do I handle address verification errors on a recurring payment?

If address verification is blocking a payment, update the checkout setting for the event.

Steps to adjust address verification

Open the relevant event.
Go to Edit Event → Manage → Checkout Options.
Find Address Verification.
Change the setting to one of the following:
- Suggest Correct Address to show a suggested correction while allowing the payment to continue
- No Verification to stop address verification entirely
Save the setting.
Retry the recurring membership payment.

If a corrected address is shown, the donor should select the verified format before submitting again.

Can a recurring payment be processed another way?

Yes. If bank information cannot be verified, an offline payment can be recorded and linked to the donation or subscription.

Steps for an offline payment

Go to Donations → Add Donation or Add Offline Payment.
Select the donor.
Choose the applicable subscription in the Subscription dropdown.
Save the payment.

If the payment was already entered, open the donation, select Actions → Apply to a subscription, then choose the donor’s subscription and confirm.

Conclusion

Recurring donation billing issues can usually be reviewed through Recurring Payments and resolved by checking payment history, card status, address verification settings, or duplicate recurring schedules.