Connecting Stripe

Buyers can pay by card at checkout only after your organization connects its own Stripe account. Cash and check sales do not need it. Only owners and admins can connect Stripe or change a campaign’s payment settings. A volunteer sees neither Payments under Settings nor a campaign’s Payment tab.

You connect Stripe once for the whole organization, not once per campaign. Buyers pay your Stripe account directly, and UnitTally never holds the money. For the two fees on each card sale, see Fees and caps, and for how card and manual payments differ, see Payment methods.

1. Open Settings in the Console side navigation, then Payments under Money.
2. Under Online card payments, select Connect with Stripe. Stripe opens in the same window.
3. Sign in to Stripe or create an account, and answer Stripe’s questions about your organization, its tax ID and its bank account.
4. Stripe sends you back to Payments. If the badge has not changed, wait a minute and select Refresh status. The page shows what Stripe last reported, so it can lag behind a change you just made in Stripe.

The Getting started list on the dashboard has a Connect Stripe to take card payments step that links here. It is marked optional, so skip it if you only take cash and checks.

The badge at the top of Online card payments shows where the connection stands, and the button beside it names the next step. Once Stripe has reported, Stripe last reported shows the time, and Card payments and Payouts to your bank each read Enabled or Not enabled. Card payments can read Enabled while payouts are still blocked.

Badge	What it means	Button
Not connected	No Stripe account is linked yet.	Connect with Stripe
Setup not finished	The account exists but Stripe has not reported it ready. Finish the steps in Stripe, and refresh the status if you just did.	Finish Stripe setup
Action needed	Stripe needs more information. A Stripe needs more information notice appears, with Stripe’s reason when it gave one, and card payments or payouts may be off until you provide it.	Update details in Stripe
Connected	Stripe reports the account working, with card payments and payouts both on.	Update account details
Disconnected	The link to your Stripe account was removed, and UnitTally can no longer take card payments for the organization.	Reconnect Stripe

Each button in the table opens Stripe, and Stripe returns you to Payments. Refresh status appears once you have started connecting.

1. Open the campaign and select its Payment tab.
2. Switch on Credit Card (Online). You can keep Cash / Check (Manual) on as well. At least one of the two must be on.
3. Select Save Settings.

The Credit Card (Online) switch cannot be turned on while Stripe reads Not connected or Disconnected. A Stripe is not connected notice links to Settings, Payments. If the notice does not show and a save is refused, you see “Online payments require a connected Stripe Connect account.” The switch can be turned on with Setup not finished or Action needed, but Stripe needs attention appears on the tab, because card payments may fail until Stripe is fully set up.

A campaign with card payments on cannot open, or be scheduled, until Stripe reports the account able to take card payments. The campaign’s Status tab lists this under Before you open it. See Running a campaign. Finish Stripe, or turn card payments off on the Payment tab.

The charge is made on your Stripe account, so you handle disputes and payouts in your Stripe dashboard. To refund an order, owners and admins use Refund on the order, and a card refund goes back to the buyer through your Stripe account. See Payment methods.

Stripe asks for your organization’s own tax ID and bank account. A group that runs under a school’s or parent organization’s tax ID often cannot connect. It can still sell for cash and check. Leave Cash / Check (Manual) on and Credit Card (Online) off. Cash and check orders carry no UnitTally fee on any plan.

• Payment methods covers how card and manual payments work, and how the money moves.
• Fees and caps covers UnitTally’s platform fee and Stripe’s processing fee.