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Create a subscription

Pour :Administrateur
Preview: Create a subscription

Manual creation of a subscription is used when a donor asks you to set up a regular direct debit that you enter on their behalf (by phone, face-to-face, by paper form). Most subscriptions come through the public site via a recurring donation form — here, we are talking about manual entry by an administrator.

Before you start​

You will need:

  • ✅ The donor contact (created beforehand or on the fly)
  • ✅ The monthly amount wanted
  • ✅ The payment method: bank card or direct debit
  • ✅ The reason for the subscription (cash account, campaign, pledge…)
  • ✅ For a GoCardless direct debit: the mandate identifier already signed and the date of the first direct debit

Procedure​

  1. 1

    Open the Recurring payments screen

    In the left sidebar, Finance menu → Recurring payments (/app/paiements/recurrent).

  2. 2

    Click on “Add a subscription”

    Button at the top right of the list. A modal window opens.

  3. 3

    Select the donor contact

    In the Contact field, start typing the name (e.g. "Cohen").

    • If the contact exists, click on it in the suggestions
    • If it is a new donor, click on Create a new contact and fill in first name, last name, email
  4. 4

    Choose the reason for the subscription

    Select what the subscription contributes to:

    • Main cash register — free cash inflow
    • Campaign — contribution to an ongoing campaign
    • Fund — participation in a fund
    • Donation pledge — to honor a pledge in several installments
    • Booklet — payment to a budget booklet
    • Form — triggered by a recurring form (rare in manual entry)

    Depending on the choice, an additional field appears to select the precise entity (campaign X, pledge Y…).

  5. 5

    Enter the monthly amount

    In the Amount field, indicate the sum charged each month (in euros). Example: 50 €.

  6. 6

    Enter the number of months

    In the Number of direct debits field:

    • Type the number of planned months (e.g. 24 for two years)
    • Type 0 for an unlimited subscription (until the donor or you cancel it)

    For a donation pledge, the calculation is easy: if the pledge is 600 € at 50 €/month, set 12 months.

  7. 7

    Enable the tax receipt (optional)

    Check Generate a tax receipt at each direct debit if the donor is eligible and wishes to receive a tax receipt for each installment.

    If your organization is French and the Annual tax receipt option is available, you can also check Issue an annual cumulative summary at year end.

  8. 8

    Add a comment (optional)

    Use the Comment field to note a specific context: "Installment plan following a pledge signed on March 12", "Loyal donation since 2018", etc. This note stays internal.

  9. 9

    Choose the payment method

    Two options:

    • Bank card — you will be redirected to enter the donor's card information (secure form)
    • Direct debit (GoCardless) — only available if your organization has activated GoCardless
  10. 10

    Complete the information specific to the method

    If bank card:

    • Enter the card number, expiration date and security code.
    • For security reasons, this information goes directly to Stripe or PayGreen without being stored in Unisoft.

    If GoCardless direct debit:

    • Enter the mandate identifier (GoCardless reference starting with MD…)
    • Choose the date of the first direct debit (often: beginning of the following month)
  11. 11

    Check the summary

    Unisoft displays a summary with the monthly amount, duration, method and reason. Read carefully before validating.

  12. 12

    Validate

    Click on Create the subscription. The new subscription appears immediately in the list with the In progress status.

First direct debit: when does it happen?​

MethodDate of the first direct debit
Bank cardImmediate (at creation) then a month later, then every month
GoCardless direct debitDate you chose at creation, then every month on the same date

All subsequent direct debits are triggered automatically by the Unisoft nightly task.

Special cases​

Multi-reason subscription​

A single subscription can split the monthly amount across several donation pledges simultaneously. For example, 100 €/month split into 60 € for a gala pledge + 40 € for a memorial pledge.

→ See Multi-reason subscription for the detailed procedure.

Professional donor (business)​

If the subscription is taken out by a business and requires tax receipts in the company's name:

  1. When selecting the contact, create or use a contact of Professional Type
  2. Fill in the company name, company ID and billing address
  3. The tax receipts generated at each direct debit will be issued in the name of the business

Subscription to honor a donation pledge​

If the donor has an open pledge and wants to pay it in installments:

  1. Select Donation pledge as the reason
  2. Select the relevant pledge from the list
  3. Calculate the number of months needed to reach the total amount
  4. Check the tax receipt if applicable

At each successful direct debit, Unisoft automatically updates the remaining balance of the pledge.

→ See Subscriptions and pledges.

After validation​

Once the subscription is created, Unisoft triggers:

  • ✅ The update of the contact profile (an active subscription appears in their history)
  • ✅ For the bank card: the immediate first direct debit
  • ✅ For GoCardless: the scheduling of the first direct debit on the chosen date
  • ✅ A confirmation email to the donor summarizing the subscription parameters

Going further​