Importing Direct Debit (UK) Regular Donors
This article covers importing your Direct Debit (Bacs method) Regular Donors into Raisely.
This involves working with Stripe to ensure a smooth migration. See Import Bacs data to Stripe for more information and all of the necessary forms to complete the migration. Also do note new Stripe users have a weekly Bacs Direct Debit transaction limit of 10,000 GBP. If you need higher limits, contact Stripe support.
Important Note for all Imports
Prior to commencing the import process, please ensure the following:
- The campaign where you would like the donors to be imported to has been set up in Raisely
- Ensure that your Stripe payment gateway has been connected to the campaign
- Ensure that your Campaign has been set to LIVE mode and is ready to accept payments
- (For Direct Debit) Ensure that you have enabled Direct Debit payments in your Raisely and Stripe settings
We highly recommend completing these steps to speed up the import process.
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Overview of Import Process
Step 1: Customer to submit Bacs import request to Stripe
Navigate to the Stripe Support form for data migrations. Stripe's Data Migrations team emails you within 3 business days of receiving your request with a questionnaire for you to complete.
If you've completed this migration process and all your donors' payment details are in Stripe, you can skip these steps and move on to Step 6.
Step 2: Print, sign, and send your Bulk Change Deed
To complete the migration, your current Bacs provider needs to sign a bulk change deed. This agreement authorises the transfer of your mandates from your current payment processor to Stripe.
Step 3: Determine your switch date
After Stripe receives your Bulk Change Deed, Stripe’s Data Migrations team works with you, your current payment processor, and Stripe’s sponsor bank to agree on a switch date. The actual import into Stripe takes place on your switch date.
Step 4: Send communications to your Donors
Download the pre-approved Letter to Payers template and send it to your Donors at least 2 days before your switch date. You can decide how to communicate the letter to your Donors (e.g. by email, mail, and/or text message). Not alerting Donors to this change can result in failed payments and disputes.
Furthermore, Bacs Direct Debit requires that customers are notified of the following:
- When payment details are initially collected and confirmed
- Each time a debit will be made on their account
By default, Stripe automatically sends emails to the customer for the above cases.
Raisely will send our default Regular donation messages if they are toggled on. This includes:
- Regular Donation Welcome Message - On the first successful deduction of their direct debit payment
- Regular Donation Receipt Message - On subsequent successful deduction of their direct debit payments
You can refer to our help article on Default Messages for more information. If you want to send other custom messages, you will need Raisely Pro.
Step 5: Wait for your data import to be completed by Stripe
Your current payment processor needs to send on your existing mandates and payers bank account details after Stripe has gained authority for them. Stripe’s Data Migrations team sends you a confirmation email when your import is complete. You can’t charge your donors on your current payment processor after they cancel the mandates on the switch date.
Step 6: Complete Raisely's Import Template
You will need to complete the Import Template, providing the details of what will be imported. The data can be found in your Stripe Account.
Click here to download the template.
Step 7: Customer to Review Imported Data
All donations will be imported in an ACTIVE state, which means they will be ready to be processed. We'll provide a report to support you with reviewing the imported data.
Timelines and Costs
Import Time Frame
Just starting the process and haven't contacted Stripe? The entire process can take about 6 weeks.
If the data has already been migrated into Stripe, the minimum timeframe required to complete an import for Direct Debit Payments is 7 business days. This is counted from the time the task is lodged and we have acknowledged your import request.
Payment Processing Time Frame
Raisely tries to initiate the payment process 2 days prior to the Next Payment Date, with the intent for the debit to occur on the Next Payment Date. However, it may take up to 3 business days for Stripe to confirm that the debit has gone through.
Costs
All subscriptions will incur a 2% fee as part of the import cost. This cost is deducted from the donation total - meaning your organisation incurs this fee. This 2% fee is an ongoing fee, it will be charged to all future payments within the subscription.
For example, let’s say we import your donor’s $50 monthly donation, there is no change for your donor. They still pay the same amount ($50). You receive the $50 donation monthly, minus the 2% ($1) and any other gateway fees.
FAQs
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# Must we have Stripe as our Payment Gateway to setup regular giving?
Yes. Raisely's integration with Stripe allows for the processing of regular giving payments. This is not available via PayPal.
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# When will the regular donor be charged once migration is finalised?
For Bacs (UK) Direct Debit donations, Raisely will initiate the payment process 2 days prior to the Next Payment Date, with the intent for the debit to occur on the Next Payment Date.
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# What do I do if I see errors when an attempt has been made to take the payment?
As the payments are processed through Stripe, you can see the full details of any errors within the original Stripe transaction record. If you click on the Regular donation within Raisely, you will see a link directly to the Stripe record.
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# What happens to unsuccessful direct debit attempts?
If there are two consecutive failed payment attempts, we will set the direct debit payment to a FAILED status. We will no longer retry the donations and you'll need to check the Stripe record to understand why the payments have failed.
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