Troubleshooting donor questions

If one of your donors sends in an email or call you asking for help with an issue they’re having while trying to make a donation, we recommend that you ask them the following questions.

Investigating a reported gift that doesn't appear

If a donor says they completed a donation but you can’t locate it in your records, use this checklist to pinpoint common issues.

Key checks

1. Verify if the gift was processed under a different name or email address.
2. Search for the donor using name variations and alternate contact information.
3. Review donation records across different time ranges.

What to search for and how

• Look for common variations and misspellings of the donor’s name, alternate emails (work/personal), and phone numbers. Donors may use a nickname, middle name, or outdated email address.
• Confirm the reported date and approximate time of the donation, and expand your search window to account for timing discrepancies.

If no record is found

The payment attempt may not have completed successfully due to browser issues, payment processor problems, or an incomplete form submission. Ask if the donor saw a confirmation page or received an email receipt to verify the transaction.

Additional troubleshooting steps

• Request that the donor retry the donation while noting any observations. Suggest using a different browser or an incognito/private window, and confirm that all required fields are completed.
• Ask which device and browser were used (e.g., desktop vs. mobile, browser name and version).
• If an error message appears, record the exact wording or ask the donor to send a screenshot with the timestamp.

When to escalate

• If you discover a completed donation under an alternate name or email, update your records accordingly and follow your standard process to resend or re-associate receipts.
• If the donor clearly completed the donation flow but no record exists, capture detailed information (time, device, browser, screenshots, error messages) and escalate for further investigation.

Use this checklist to quickly identify issues and streamline your troubleshooting process.

How admins can search for a specific gift

When a donor asks you to confirm a donation, you can search for the gift in two main places: the campaign- or form-level gift list (best when you know which campaign or form was used) and the school-wide Donations view under Manage Gifts (useful when the source isn’t clear).

1) Search inside a single campaign or giving form

• Open the campaign or giving form in the admin, then navigate to its Manage Gifts area. The URL follows this pattern:
  • https://www.givecampus.com/schools/{school_urlnick}/admin/campaigns/{campaign_id}/gifts
• Use the search box on that page to look up the donor by name, email address, donation ID, or status.
• If you have the donation ID, append a search parameter to jump directly to the record. For example:
  • https://www.givecampus.com/schools/{school_urlnick}/admin/campaigns/{campaign_id}/gifts?donation_search={donation_id}
• Tip: Use campaign-level search when the donor remembers the campaign or page they used.

2) Search across the entire school

• Navigate to Online Giving > Manage Gifts > Donations in the admin sidebar. This view aggregates donations from all forms and campaigns in your school.
• Use the search box to look up the donor by name, email address, donation ID, or status.
• The URL for the school-wide Donations view follows this pattern:
  • https://www.givecampus.com/schools/{school_urlnick}/admin/donations

3) Practical tips and gotchas

• Search using alternate names or email variations (e.g. nicknames, maiden names, or different email addresses) since donors may submit gifts under variations of their information.
• If a donor suspects a typo, search using partial fragments (like part of an email or a last name) to surface near-matches.
• If a gift appears under an alternate name or email, follow your school’s process to re-associate or resend receipts.
• If the search returns no results despite the donor’s confirmation, record the approximate date/time of the donation, the device and browser used, and any screenshots for further investigation.

4) Quick checklist for a fast lookup

• Gather key details from the donor: donation ID, date/time, campaign or page used, email address, and any screenshot of a receipt or confirmation page.
• Start with campaign-level search if you have a campaign name or link; otherwise, use the school-wide Donations view.
• When you have the donation ID, use the donation_search URL parameter to jump directly to campaign-level results.

This structured approach should help you locate donations quickly, whether they’re tied to a specific campaign or need to be found school-wide.

In our experience, walking through these questions with a donor will resolve the issue more than 90% of the time (often by identifying user error).  If they continue to have difficulty, sending their responses to each of the below questions to support@givecampus.com will enable the GiveCampus support team to provide the most efficient and effective assistance possible.

 

1. Where exactly in the process of making your gift are you experiencing difficulty?

 

2. Are you receiving an error message?  If so, what does it say? 

 

3. If you try again, does the same thing happen?

 

4. Have you entered all of the required fields on the giving form, including checking the box to accept the terms of service?

 

5. What kind of device are you using (desktop/laptop vs. tablet vs. phone, PC vs. Mac, Apple vs. Android, etc.)?

 

6. Which web browser are you using and which version of that web browser?

 

7. What happens if you try from a different web browser?  What happens if you try from a private or incognito browser window? 

 

8. Are you at work or using a machine with highly restrictive security settings? (e.g., a firewall) 

 

9. Can you send us a screenshot(s) of what you are seeing?