Donations
Use this page to take donations online and keep track of the gifts that come in.
Quick steps
To get the form ready:
- Click Donations in the top navigation bar.
- At the bottom, under Donate page wording, fill in What donations support and Tax receipt note, then click Save.
- Share your store's web address followed by
/donate, or put the form on your website (see below).
When an e-transfer donation arrives:
- Click Donations in the top navigation bar.
- Type the donor's name or email in the Search box and click Apply.
- Click Mark received. The gift becomes Paid and is added to Raised.
Card donations are marked Paid by themselves — nothing to do.
Common questions
Does the donor get an email? No. The donation form sends no emails, to the donor or to you. The donor's record is the thank-you page, so check the Donations page for new gifts.
There is no card option on the form. Card payments need Helcim online payments switched on for your store. Until then, donors can only give by Interac e-transfer.
A gift says "Card — not finished". The donor started a card payment and left. Nothing was charged. If they sent an e-transfer instead, click Mark received once it arrives.
I can't delete a donation. Paid donations can't be deleted — they're on your books. Use Cancel for a pending gift that isn't coming.
More detail: what donations are, and turning it on
The donation form lets anyone give money to your organization online, by card or by Interac e-transfer. Every gift lands on the Donations page, where you can see what has been raised, mark e-transfers as received and export the list.
Donations are separate from event registration. A registrant can also add a donation on the registration form itself, but that money stays on their registration and does not appear on the Donations page.
Turning It On
Donations are switched on for your store by Brother POS. If Donations is missing from your navigation bar and you want to take donations, contact Brother POS support.
Once it is on:
- Donations appears in the navigation bar for admins and managers. Clerks and drivers cannot open it.
- Your public donation form is live at your store's web address followed by
/donate.
When donations are switched off, anyone opening the form is told Donations are not available.
More detail: the donation form and your own wording
The Donation Form
The form asks:
| Question | Details |
|---|---|
| How much would you like to give? | Tap $25, $50, $100, $250 or $500, or type any amount under Or enter another amount (CAD). The smallest gift is $5 and the largest is $10,000. |
| First name | Required. |
| Last name | Optional. |
| Required. | |
| Phone (optional) | Optional. |
| How would you like to give? | Credit or debit card ("Pay securely now") — only shown if your store takes cards online — or Interac e-transfer ("We'll show you the address to send it to"). |
The button reads Continue to payment when card payments are available, or Continue when they are not.
Your own wording
At the bottom of the Donations page, Donate page wording has two boxes. Both start empty, and nothing is shown on the form for a box you leave empty.
| Field | Where it appears |
|---|---|
| What donations support | Under the Donate heading, and on the thank-you page once the gift is received. For example: "Every dollar goes to our youth programs." |
| Tax receipt note | Small print under the form and on the thank-you page. For example: "We are not a registered charity and do not issue tax receipts." |
Click Save. The form changes straight away.
More detail: what the donor sees
What the Donor Sees
Giving by card
The donor goes straight to a card payment page. When the payment goes through, they see Thank you, [name]! — Your donation has been received — with the amount Donated. The donation is marked Paid straight away. Nobody on your side needs to do anything.
If they close the card window without paying, they see Your donation isn't finished — "You didn't complete the card payment, so nothing has been charged." They can click Try the card again, or follow the e-transfer instructions shown underneath.
If the card payment could not be confirmed, they are asked to contact you before trying again, so they are not charged twice.
Giving by e-transfer
The donor sees Thank you, [name]! — One more step: send your e-transfer and your donation is complete — with the Amount to send and How to send it:
- Send an Interac e-transfer for the amount to your e-transfer address.
- Put their name in the message so you know who it's from.
The e-transfer address comes from Storefront → Checkout Payment Methods → Interac e-Transfer. If that is blank, your store's email address is used. See Storefront.
The donation form does not send an email to the donor or to your store. The donor's record of their gift is the thank-you page. Keep an eye on the Donations page for new gifts.
More detail: the Donations page and exporting
The Donations Page
Donations in the navigation bar opens the list — "Card and e-transfer gifts."
The two tiles
| Tile | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Raised | The total of donations actually received, and from N received underneath. Gifts still waiting for payment are not counted. |
| Awaiting payment | How many e-transfer donations have not been marked received yet ("e-transfers not yet seen"). If any card payments were started but never finished, a second line says N card payment(s) started but not finished. |
Search and filter
Search by Name or email, and filter by Status: All, Pending, Paid or Cancelled. Click Apply.
The list
| Column | Shows |
|---|---|
| Donor | The donor's name. |
| Contact | Email and phone. |
| Amount | The amount received for a paid gift, otherwise the amount promised. Underneath is the method — Card, Etransfer, or Card — not finished for a card payment that was never completed. |
| Status | Pending, Paid or Cancelled. |
| Received | When the payment was received. |
Actions
| Button | Shown for | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Mark received | Pending donations | Use this when the e-transfer arrives. The donation becomes Paid for its full amount, with today's date and the method set to e-transfer. It is also recorded as a sale, so it appears in your sales reports (and QuickBooks, if you use it). If that step fails, the donation is still marked Paid and a message tells you it couldn't be added to the sales reports — contact Brother POS support so it can be posted. |
| Cancel | Pending donations | Asks you to confirm, then marks it Cancelled. It stays in the list and in exports. Use this for a gift that is never going to arrive. |
| Delete | Pending and cancelled donations | Asks you to confirm, then removes it for good. Use this for test entries. |
A paid donation cannot be deleted. It is on your books, and deleting it would leave money in your accounts with nothing explaining where it came from. If the money needs to go back, refund it through your bank or payment provider.
If a donor completed a card payment, you do not need to press anything — it is already Paid.
Exporting
Export CSV at the top of the page downloads the list, following the search and status filter you have applied. The columns are Date, Name, Email, Phone, Amount, Amount paid, Status, Method and Received at.
More detail: putting the form on your website
Putting the Form on Your Website
Paste these two lines into the page on your website where the form should appear. Replace YOUR-STORE-ADDRESS with your store's web address:
<script src="https://YOUR-STORE-ADDRESS/donate/embed.js" async></script>
<div data-bpos-donation></div>
The form appears in a frame that resizes itself to fit. If you leave out the <div> line, the form appears right where the script line is. The donation form and the registration form have their own separate embeds, so a page can carry either one or both.
More detail: troubleshooting and best practices
Troubleshooting
There is no card option on the form. Card payments need Helcim online payments switched on for your store: Enable Online Payments (HelcimPay.js) under Helcim Features in your store settings.
A donation shows "Card — not finished". The donor started a card payment and left before completing it. Nothing was charged. If they then sent an e-transfer instead, click Mark received once it arrives.
I can't delete a donation. It has been paid. Paid donations stay on the list for your records.
Best Practices
- Mark e-transfers received the day they arrive, so Raised stays accurate.
- Cancel rather than delete real gifts that fell through. Cancelled gifts stay in the export as a record.
- Set your e-transfer address on the Storefront page, so donors aren't sent to your general store email.
- Fill in Donate page wording before you share the link, so donors know what their gift supports and whether they get a tax receipt.
What's Next?
- Event Registration Overview — taking registrations for an event.
- Storefront — where your e-transfer address is set.
- Exporting Reports — other exports available in Brother POS.