Payment Methods

The following payment methods are available through GiveDirect:

1. Credit Card
2. ACH
3. Donor-Advised Fund

Credit Card Payment Method

Accepted credit cards are Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and all cards in the Discover network, including Discover, UnionPay, and JCB.

UnionPay is the most widely used card brand in China. JCB is widely used in Japan.

We display the card brand logos above the credit card entry fields.

ACH Payment Method

ACH (Automated Clearing House) is a network for electronically moving money between bank accounts in the United States.  Either a Checking or Savings account can be used for ACH.

ACH transactions have a lower fee than credit card transactions.

Donor-Advised Fund Payment Method

A donor-advised fund is a private account that manages and distributes charitable donations on behalf of an organization, family, or individual. It can provide a tax benefit to the account holder.

If a donor maintains a DAF through a retirement brokerage or a Community Foundation, they can use the DAF payment method to inform you that they are going to complete a donation to you using their donor-advised fund. This type of donation is recorded as a Pledge in the GiveDirect system.

When using the DAF payment method, the donor first selects their DAF provider from the list.

If the DAF platform the donor uses is not found in the list, they can add the name of their platform and still submit the Pledge.

Once the donor submits the form using the DAF payment method, they are provided with a link to log into their DAF platform website. The information they need to complete the donation such as the charity's Tax ID and other information is also provided.

In your GiveDirect reports, the transaction is recorded as a Pledge and should not be included with credit card and ACH totals when reconciling against your bank deposit. The pledge will be fulfilled through the donor's DAF platform and will be distributed to you separately.

Payment Method Settings

You can manage which payment methods appear on your fundraising form in the Form Builder.

By default, the DAF payment method is not included in Event, Membership, or Payment forms. However, any combination of payment methods can be set from the Custom Options section of the Form Builder.

To edit your payment methods, log into the GiveDirect portal, and go to the Form Builder for the form you wish to edit. Go to the Custom Options section. From there, you can select or deselect the payment methods. Once you have made your selections, be sure to Save your changes.