Feature Release: Pause Recurring Donations with Stripe

We’re always looking for ways to help you retain donors here at Give, which is why we’re excited about the Pause Subscription feature for our Stripe add-on. Your donors can pause recurring donations instead of canceling them outright, giving them more financial flexibility when needed and keeping your relationship intact. 

Donors who experience financial changes or hardship often feel forced to cut back on recurring expenses like Netflix and (you guessed it) donations. By offering your supporters the ability to pause recurring donations for 30,60, or 90 days, you give them a way to stay connected to your cause without fully disengaging. 

How it Works 

Amy, a high school teacher, makes a monthly recurring donation to her local animal shelter, which is charged on the 10th of every month. In the summer, she usually needs to work to make ends meet. But, this summer, she struggles to find a well-paying job and needs to cut back on expenses. She reduces her car insurance and phone bill but still needs to make tough choices. While canceling services like Spotify Premium, she goes to cancel her donation — until she sees the option to pause it for 90 days instead. As a pet lover, she’s relieved she won’t have to cancel completely or remember to set it up again later. 

This small flexibility makes a big difference in keeping donors engaged with your cause.

With the Pause Subscription feature, donors can: 

• See the Pause option when they go to cancel, encouraging them to stick around 
• Pause recurring donations for 30, 60, or 90 days right from their donor dashboard
• Resume their donation at any time before the scheduled restart 

If donors don’t resume their donations ahead of schedule, the recurring donation will automatically restart on the next scheduled charge date after the selection period ends. 

For admins using Stripe, the feature will be enabled by default, but you can disable it in your Stripe settings at any time. Currently, the ability to pause a subscription is only available for the Stripe add-on. 

While you may not want to publicize this feature broadly, you can still make it available for donors who need it. Consider adding a note in your FAQs or donor support communications to let supporters know they can pause recurring donations in their donor dashboards. You can also train your team to mention this option when assisting donors who express financial hardship. This ensures they have the option without encouraging unnecessary pauses.

Why It’s Only Available for Stripe 

Many GiveWP users have requested more flexibility in managing recurring donations. Since Stripe is one of the few payment processors allowing subscriptions to be paused, we’ve made this feature exclusive to the Stripe add-on. Offering this feature only through Stripe ensures a smooth and reliable experience for both donors and admins.

However, we recognize the importance of this functionality across all payment gateways and are actively exploring ways to bring similar solutions to other integrations. We’ll continue to work with our partners and monitor industry developments to expand these options.

Ready to Reduce Donor Churn?

If you’re already using the Stripe add-on, this feature is enabled by default — no extra setup is needed. Not using the Stripe add-on yet? Now’s the perfect time to upgrade and give your donors the flexibility they need to support your cause.