Every time a recurring donation fails and no one notices, your ministry loses not just that one gift—but potentially months or years of giving.

And while you’re busy with events, sermons, and a million other responsibilities, those small failures pile up quietly in the background—undetected, unrecovered, and unnoticed.

It hurts when a faithful donor’s card fails, and they don’t realize it. It hurts worse when no one on your team does either.

That’s Why We Built Failed Donation Automations

We wanted to fix that painful blind spot. So, we built GivFlow automations – a way to actually reach donors, have them perform an action, and measure the success of that action. But just sending a few emails isn’t enough—we needed a way to prove that these automations work.

Because if you’re like most churches we talk to, you’re wondering:

Sure, it sounds good… but how do I know this actually brings donors back?

We get it. You need more than marketing fluff. So here’s the exact way we calculate the impact of our Failed Donation Automations.

The Formula (We Keep It Generous on Purpose)

When a donor has a failed recurring gift, our automation kicks in—sending a timely, encouraging message that helps them fix the issue.

If that same gift becomes successful again within 30 days, we count it as “recovered.”

If they create a new recurring gift instead? Still counts.

New payment method or updated payment method? Yep.

Changed to a different fund? We still count it. Why? Because your message—the one we helped send—sparked the return.

Even if the exact amount or designation changes, the giving continues. That’s what matters. You can check out a more detailed breakdown here.

So… Does It Work?

In short: yes. Churches using our Failed Donation Automations are actively recovering revenue they didn’t even know they lost.

Here’s how that looked for one mid-sized church last month:

→ 8 failed recurring gifts detected → 3 donors re-engaged within 3 weeks → One donor even increased their monthly giving by 20%

Imagine if that happened automatically—every month.

Let’s Talk About What You Could Be Recovering

You’re already thinking like a pro. You care about stewardship. You care about people. But…..your time is limited and sending emails or connecting with folks takes time.

So let’s make sure failed donations don’t slip through the cracks unnoticed.

You could be recovering hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars each month. Go on, check right now to see how many failed donations you’ve had just in the last 3 months?

Let’s look at your data together and see what’s possible. The best part? We have other automations designed to help put your giving growth on autopilot, no just failed donation recovery.

If you’re not using GivFlow automations, is it worth 20min to see if we can help? Schedule a Demo