Refund emails

Refund emails confirm to donors that their refund has been processed. Two emails cover the two scenarios: Full Refund (the entire donation returned) and Partial Refund (a portion returned at the donor's request). Each includes the relevant receipt PDF attached.

Like ACH and recurring emails, these are transactional rather than emotional. Their job is to confirm a financial event clearly and provide a record.

For the operator workflow — how to actually issue a refund from the activity dashboard — see Refunding a donation. For context on how refund emails fit into the wider 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 Refund Emails.
3. Two tabs at the top: Full Refund and Partial Refund. Customize each separately.

Shared field structure

The two refund emails share the same field set:

• Subject — what donors see in their inbox.
• Headline — the email's main headline.
• Header Photo — toggle, off by default for both. These are transactional emails.
• Body — rich text with bold, italic, strikethrough, links, and lists. Up to 1000 characters.

Variables

Each refund email supports template variables that GiveForms substitutes at send time. Insert them in the Subject, Headline, or Body wrapped in double curly braces.

Five personalization variables are available in every email:

• {{donor_first_name}} — the donor's first name.
• {{donor_last_name}} — the donor's last name.
• {{donation_amount}} — the original donation amount.
• {{payment_method}} — the donor's payment method, formatted like Amex ****5553.
• {{org_name}} — your organization's name.

Two additional variables describe the refund itself:

• {{refund_amount}} — the amount being refunded.
• {{net_amount}} — the donor's new net gift amount after the partial refund.

Both are available in either email but only required in Partial Refund, where they come pre-positioned in the default body copy. Removing either from Partial Refund produces a validation error and prevents publishing. They're available in Full Refund too, but typically aren't needed there — the refund amount equals the donation amount, and the net is zero.

Receipt PDF

Each refund email automatically includes a receipt PDF attached below the body:

• Full Refund — attaches the Refund Receipt.
• Partial Refund — attaches the Partial Refund Receipt, which reflects the new net donation amount.

The receipts themselves are customized in the Receipts section of the editor, not in Refund Emails. See How emails and receipts work for the full receipt architecture.

Full Refund

Sent when the donor's entire donation is refunded. The donor may not give again immediately — something prompted the refund (a duplicate charge, a change of mind, a dispute resolved) — so the email should be transactionally clear and respectfully concise rather than soliciting again.

Editorial guidance:

• Subject and headline. Confirm the refund clearly. "Your gift has been refunded" works well. Keep the tone neutral and respectful.
• Body. Three things to cover: confirmation that the refund went through, how long it'll take to appear on the donor's statement (5–10 days is the standard timeframe for card refunds), and a brief acknowledgment of their consideration. Resist the urge to ask why they refunded or to stack a "we hope to see you again" CTA — both will read as defensive or pushy at the wrong moment.

Partial Refund

Sent when a donor specifically asks for part of their donation to be refunded — for example, when they want to adjust the gift amount down or resolve a partial duplicate charge. Partial refunds are always donor-initiated; operators don't issue them unprompted. This is the meaningful editorial difference between the two emails: a partial refund isn't a goodbye.

{{refund_amount}} and {{net_amount}} are required in this email. They render the specific dollar values inline in the body and can't be removed without producing a validation error.

Editorial guidance:

• Subject and headline. Mirror Full Refund but signal that the gift is still partly intact. "Your gift has been partially refunded" works well.
• Body. Spell out the specifics: the original donation amount, the refunded amount, and the new net gift. The required variables do this for you. Note the 5–10 day timeline. Close with appreciation that the donor is continuing their support at the new amount — that's the editorial difference from Full Refund.

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 refund email tab.
• Publish All Emails — ships every edited email in the campaign.

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