External Payments

External Payments allow you to track and manage donations that were processed outside of your connected Stripe account. This feature enables you to maintain a complete record of all donations to your organization, regardless of where they were originally processed.

What Are External Payments?

External Payments are donation records that represent transactions processed through third-party platforms like ActBlue, WePay, EveryAction, or other fundraising services. External payments come from People Import, 'Record a payment' on a profile, the Users API, Zapier, or ActBlue.

Key Differences from Regular Payments

Adding External Payments

Via a Person's Profile (Manual Entry)

You can record a payment directly from any person's profile. This is useful for logging cash, check, money order, or other off-platform payments without a CSV import.

1. Open the person's profile in the People section
2. In the Dues Membership section, click the + button (Record a payment) to open the Record Payment modal. The button needs the 'Update Advanced Person Details' permission.
3. Choose a Payment Type:
   • Dues Payment (the default) records a dues payment and can update the person's dues dates
   • Donation — records a one-time donation without affecting dues fields
4. Enter the Amount, Payment Date, and Payment Method
5. For a Dues Payment, also set the required Covers Through date. It can move Paid Dues Expires At later, never earlier.
6. Optionally add a Note and click Record Payment

💡

Tip: Use Dues Payment when the payment renews a membership period. Use Donation for contributions that are not tied to dues (e.g., a fundraiser donation paid by cash at an event).

Supported payment methods:

• Dues Checkoff
• In Person
• Check
• Cash
• Money Order
• Other

Via API Integration

You can add external payments programmatically using the Users API (Professional plan). When you create or update a person, put the payment in a donation_charge object:

{
  "first_name": "John",
  "last_name": "Doe",
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "chapter_id": 123,
  "donation_charge": {
    "amount": 25.00,
    "external_donation_date": "2024-01-15",
    "external_donation_source": "PayPal",
    "external_donation_id": "AB123456789"
  }
}

Required Fields:

• amount: The donation amount in dollars, above 0

Optional Fields:

• external_donation_date: When the donation was made
• external_donation_source: The platform where it was processed
• external_donation_id: Unique identifier from the external platform. Send it to prevent duplicates.
• processing_fee: The processing fee

Via Import Process

External payments can be imported in bulk through the People Import feature:

Step 1: Upload CSV

Upload a CSV file containing your donation data. The system will automatically detect if your CSV contains donation-related columns.

Step 2: Map Fields

Map your CSV columns to donation fields:

Required Mappings:

• Donation Amount: Map to columns containing dollar amounts
• Donation Date: Map to columns containing transaction dates

Optional Mappings:

• Donation Source: Map if your CSV has a source/platform column
• External Donation ID: Map if your CSV has transaction IDs

Step 3: Import Details

When you map any donation field, the Details step asks for a 'Donation Source'. It fills only the rows whose source cell is blank.

Import Validation:

• Amount must be a positive number
• Date must be in a recognizable format (MM/DD/YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD, etc.)
• Source is required, even when you map a source column

Via Zapier Integration

Zapier sends donations from apps such as PayPal and Square into Solidarity Tech with no code. Each Zap run creates or updates the person and can add the donation.

Setup Process:

1. Access Integration Settings: Navigate to Settings → Integrations → Zapier in your Solidarity Tech dashboard

2. Copy Your API Key: Copy your organization's unique API key from the integration page

3. Connect in Zapier: Visit the Solidarity Tech Zapier app page and connect your Solidarity Tech account

4. Authenticate: Paste your API key when prompted

5. Create a Zap: Build your automation with:

   • Trigger: Your fundraising platform (e.g., PayPal or Square)
   • Action: Solidarity Tech → Create or Update Person

6. Map Fields: Use Zapier's interface to connect donation fields from your platform to Solidarity Tech

Supported Platforms:

• PayPal
• Square
• Any of 5,000+ apps with Zapier integration

Benefits:

• No coding or API knowledge required
• Automatic syncing each time the Zap runs
• No manual CSV uploads
• Easy field mapping interface
• Duplicate prevention built-in

Note: The Zapier integration requires a Standard plan or higher.

Via ActBlue Integration

Direct webhook integration with ActBlue provides automatic, real-time donation tracking for organizations using ActBlue for fundraising. It needs the Standard plan or higher and shows only for US organizations.

Setup Process:

1. Access Integration Settings: Navigate to Settings → Integrations → ActBlue in your Solidarity Tech dashboard

2. Configure Webhook: Create an integration with New integration. Then click its key icon (View Credentials) and copy:

   • Contributions Webhook URL: Your unique URL in the format https://www.solidarity.tech/webhooks/actblue/[unique-id]
   • Cancellations Webhook URL: https://www.solidarity.tech/webhooks/actblue/cancellations/[unique-id]
   • Username: Generated automatically
   • Password: A 24-character randomly generated password

3. Add to ActBlue: In your ActBlue dashboard:

   • Under Tools, open Integrations > Webhooks
   • Click Create a new webhook and select ActBlue Default
   • Paste the Contributions Webhook URL, not the Cancellations Webhook URL
   • Enter the provided credentials

4. Test Connection: After ActBlue's first webhook, the Activity column shows Last: ... ago instead of Never.

What Gets Synced:

• Donor information (name, email, phone, address)
• Donation amounts. For a split contribution, only the first line item and its amount are saved.
• Transaction dates and IDs
• Employer and occupation data (stored as custom properties)
• Whether the donation is recurring

Features:

• Real-time Processing: Donations appear immediately after processing
• Duplicate Prevention: Automatically detects and prevents duplicate donations
• Refund Detection: Refunds happen in ActBlue. When ActBlue reports a refund, Solidarity Tech records it on the donation.
• Secure Authentication: Uses HTTP Basic Auth with the integration's credentials

Important Notes:

• Each integration has its own credentials and covers an organization or one chapter
• Donations match existing People by phone number first, then by email
• New users are created automatically if no match is found
• All donations are marked with source "ActBlue" for reporting

Where External Payments Appear

Finances Dashboard

External payments show on two finances pages:

Overview Page:

• Only as separate 'External Today' and 'External Yesterday' amounts
• Not in the 'Stripe Donations' totals, the chart, 'MRR', or 'Active recurring donations'

Payments Page:

• Not listed in the default view when a Stripe account is connected. To list them, pick 'External Donations' in the account menu on Finances > Payments.
• Clearly marked as "External" with source information
• Cannot be refunded (external processing)

User Profiles

External payments appear in individual user profiles:

Activity Timeline:

• For imports, shows the date of the donation, not the date of the import
• Displays donation amount, date, and source
• Links to the payment's page, except for manual entries
• The 'Donations' filter lists Stripe and external payments together

Dues Membership Section:

• 'Total Donated' and 'Last Donation Date' count successful Stripe and external payments. Both are read only.
• No export (see Exporting Payments)

Reporting

External payments count in these reporting pages:

Activity Overview:

• The 'Recent Donations' tile includes external payments but has no breakdown by source

Graphs:

• The Graphs 'Donations' metric counts successful external payments that are not refunded.

Exporting Payments

The Payments export follows the current view, so open Finances > Payments with 'External Donations' selected before you click 'Export'. The CSV includes two columns to help you identify and reconcile external donations:

Use these columns to filter and reconcile records in your accounting or reporting tools.

Import Process Details

Date Format Recognition

The system automatically recognizes various date formats:

• MM/DD/YYYY (01/15/2024)
• YYYY-MM-DD (2024-01-15)
• MM-DD-YY (01-15-24)
• Natural language (January 15, 2024)

Amount Processing

• Accepts dollar amounts with or without the dollar sign. Other currency symbols, such as the pound or euro sign, do not work.
• Handles decimal places automatically

Error Handling

The import does not report problems with donation data. After an import with donations, check Finances > Payments with 'External Donations' selected.

• A duplicate donation adds no new payment and shows no warning.

Limitations and Considerations

What External Payments Cannot Do

Refund Processing:
External payments cannot be refunded through Solidarity Tech since they were processed elsewhere. Users must contact the original platform for refunds.

Real-time Updates:
ActBlue and Zapier add donations automatically.

Best Practices

Data Consistency:

• Use consistent source names across imports
• Maintain accurate external donation IDs when available
• Regular reconciliation with external platform reports

Import Timing:

• Import external donations regularly to maintain current records
• For high-volume sources, use the Users API, Zapier, or ActBlue
• Use batch imports for historical data

Record Keeping:

• Keep original CSV files for audit purposes
• Document data sources and import dates
• Maintain mapping documentation for recurring imports

Getting Started

To begin using External Payments:

1. Identify External Sources: List all platforms where donations are processed
2. Prepare Data: Export donation data from external platforms
3. Test Import: Start with a small batch to verify mapping
4. Regular Process: Establish routine for importing external donations
5. Monitor Integration: Review external payments on Finances > Payments with 'External Donations' selected

External Payments provide a comprehensive view of your organization's fundraising efforts across all platforms, ensuring no donation goes untracked in your Solidarity Tech system.