Managing a recurring donation

GiveForms lets you manage a donor's recurring donation directly from the donation details panel. You can edit the amount, change the frequency, shift the next donation date, optionally notify the donor of the change, and delete the recurring plan to stop future installments.

Opening the edit modal

1. Open the Insights and Activity dashboard from the left navigation.
2. In the activity table, click any installment of the recurring donation you want to manage. The donation details panel opens on the right.
3. In the Donation Details section, find the Recurring Plan row. The value is a link showing the current frequency and amount — for example, Monthly $400.00 — with a small edit icon next to it.
4. Click the link or the edit icon.

The Edit Recurring Donation modal opens.

The top of the modal shows the donor's name, the current amount, and the payment method on file — these are read-only. Payment method changes are handled by the donor through the donor portal (see Donor portal setup).

Editing the plan

Three fields are editable:

• Recurring Donation Amount. Change what the donor will be charged for each future installment. Past installments aren't affected — completed charges stand as recorded.
• Frequency. Switch between Monthly and Annual.
• Next Donation Date. Change when the next installment will be charged. Useful when a donor asks to skip a month, sync their billing to a specific time of year, or shift their giving cadence.

The fields are independent — changing the frequency doesn't reset the next donation date, and vice versa. You can change one field, two, or all three in the same edit.

The Update Recurring Donation button stays grayed out until you've made at least one change. Once you change something, it becomes active.

Notifying the donor

Below the date field is a Notify donor of changes via email checkbox. The default is unchecked — updates go through silently unless you opt in to notify the donor.

A few rules of thumb:

• Check it when the donor initiated the change — confirmation is reassuring.
• Check it when the donor's billing date or amount is shifting in a way they might not expect.
• Leave it unchecked for internal corrections that don't affect the donor's experience (such as correcting a date you mistyped).

Saving the change

Click Update Recurring Donation at the bottom of the modal. A toast notification confirms the change, the modal closes, and the donation details panel updates to reflect the new values.

If you had the notify checkbox checked, the donor receives the change email shortly after.

Deleting the recurring donation

At the bottom of the modal, below the Update button, is a Delete Recurring Donation link. Click it to stop all future installments on the recurring plan.

A few things to know:

• Deleting stops future charges. The recurring plan ends.
• Past installments are unaffected. They remain on the donor's record and in your reports as completed donations.
• Deleting is not a refund. To refund a specific past installment, see Refunding a donation.

Donor-side changes

Donors with access to the donor portal can manage their own recurring donations from there. Changes flow both ways: admin-side edits update what the donor sees in their portal, and donor-side edits update what you see in the admin. See Donor portal setup for the donor experience.