Use this article to find a failed paddle raise pledge payment, understand what BetterWorld does automatically when a pledge payment fails, and help the donor complete their payment. This article covers paddle raise pledges you charged from the Pledge payments page.
How to find failed paddle raise pledge payments
To find failed paddle raise pledge payments, follow these steps:
From your dashboard, open your paddle raise campaign.
Click Pledge payments in the sidebar.
In the payments table, look for payments with the Failed status.
A failed paddle raise pledge stays unpaid until the donor retries the payment or you collect it another way.
What happens when a paddle raise pledge payment fails
When a paddle raise pledge payment fails, BetterWorld emails the donor with the subject “Your pledge payment to [Organization name] has failed.” The email has a Retry Payment button that takes the donor to their donation history in their BetterWorld account, where they can pay with a different saved payment method or add a new one.
Once the donor’s retry goes through, the donor gets a receipt and your Pledge payments table updates automatically. The table keeps both rows: the failed payment and the new successful payment. In nearly all cases, this is how failed paddle raise pledge payments get resolved.
Please Note: Bank (ACH) payments can fail several days after you charge them. When that happens, the payment changes from Pending to Failed, the pledge becomes unpaid again, and the donor gets the failed payment email.
What to send a donor whose paddle raise pledge payment failed
If you’re in touch with a donor whose paddle raise pledge payment failed, you can copy and send them these instructions:
“Your pledge payment didn’t go through, but it’s easy to fix. Sign in to your BetterWorld account at https://account.betterworld.org/donation-transactions, find the failed payment, and click Update payment method. You’ll see why the payment failed, and you can choose another saved card or bank account or add a new one. Once the payment goes through, you’ll get a receipt and the status updates for both you and the organization.”
Why a donor can’t retry their paddle raise pledge payment
If a donor tells you they can’t retry their paddle raise pledge payment, one of the following is usually the reason:
The pledge is already paid, because it was marked as paid, paid through an invoice, or retried in another browser tab.
The pledge is on an open invoice. The donor should pay the invoice instead.
A bank (ACH) payment for the pledge is still Pending.
Your organization is charging the paddle raise campaign’s pledges at that moment. The donor can try again once the charges finish.
The donor tried too many times in a short period. They can try again later.