ACH emails

ACH (bank transfer) donations work differently from credit card donations. Credit card payments clear instantly — Stripe approves the charge in seconds and the donation is final. ACH takes longer: typically three to seven business days from when the donor submits the payment to when the funds actually settle in your account.

That delay means donors get two emails for an ACH gift instead of one: an Initiated email when the payment is submitted, and a Processed email when the funds clear. Both are transactional rather than emotional — they're communicating status, not expressing gratitude. (The Thank You email handles the gratitude, separately, and is sent immediately for any donation including ACH.) Like Refund emails, ACH emails don't lead with a header photo: their job is clarity, not warmth.

For context on how ACH fits into the wider email system, see How emails and receipts work.

Opening the editor

1. In the campaign editor, click Emails & Receipts.
2. In the left sidebar of the Emails & Receipts editor, click ACH Emails.
3. Two tabs at the top: Initiated and Processed. Customize each separately.

Shared field structure

Both ACH emails have the same set of editable fields:

• Subject — what donors see in their inbox. Personalization tokens supported.
• Headline — appears at the top of the email body. Personalization tokens supported.
• Header Photo — toggle off by default for both, since these are transactional emails.
• Body — rich text with bold, italic, strikethrough, links, and lists. Up to 1000 characters. Personalization tokens supported.
• Call to Action — a toggleable button with a label and a campaign destination.

What changes between the two tabs is the default content, the receipt attachment behavior, and the editorial choices that suit each moment.

ACH Initiated email

The Initiated email is sent the moment a donor submits an ACH donation. Its job is to set expectations: confirm the payment was received, and let the donor know it'll take a few days to clear.

Editorial guidance:

• Subject and headline. Keep them calm and reassuring. Donors who expected "donation confirmed" but received "donation initiated" can briefly worry something went wrong. Phrasing like "your donation is processing" works better than language that hints at incompleteness.
• Body. The default body explains the 3–7 business day timeline and confirms the receipt is coming once the funds settle. Edit to match your voice, but keep the core message: payment received, processing, receipt coming.
• Call to Action. Typically best left off for the Initiated email. The donor's original gift is still processing; asking for another donation in the same breath can feel pushy. Save the Donate Again ask for the Processed email.

No receipt is attached to the Initiated email. ACH funds haven't settled yet, so the donation isn't legally final — issuing a tax receipt before clearance would be premature.

ACH Processed email

The Processed email is sent when the ACH payment fully clears and the funds settle. This is when the donation is officially complete and when the receipt is attached.

Editorial guidance:

• Subject and headline. Use confirming language now: "your donation has been processed," "your gift to {{org_name}} has cleared." This is the donor's signal that everything went through cleanly.
• Body. Confirms the funds cleared and the donation is final. The default thanks the donor for their support; edit to match your voice.
• Call to Action. Reasonable to enable now. The original donation is complete, so a Donate Again button doesn't compete with a pending transaction.

The gift receipt PDF attaches automatically to the Processed email. This is the same receipt template that attaches to instant-clear payment thank-you emails. See Gift receipts for customizing the PDF.

Saving and publishing

Edits are saved as drafts. Use the publish controls in the top right to ship changes:

• Publish this Email — ships only the currently-edited ACH version (Initiated or Processed).
• Publish All Emails — ships every edited email in the campaign.

A dot indicator appears next to ACH Emails in the left sidebar when there are unpublished changes. See How emails and receipts work for the full publish flow.