Recurring Plan Automated Pausing

When a Recurring Plan is Automatically Paused Due to Failed Payments

When a recurring plan continues to fail without the donor updating their payment method, WeGive will automatically pause the plan to prevent repeated failed charges. This safeguard helps maintain data accuracy, reduces unnecessary processor attempts, and protects donors from repeated failure notifications.

This article explains when and why a recurring plan is paused automatically, how it appears in WeGive and Salesforce, and how your team can reactivate or manage these plans.

Why a Recurring Plan May Be Paused Automatically

If a recurring payment fails, WeGive begins a sequence of retry attempts:

• Original attempt fails (e.g., on the 9th of the month)
• First retry - 2 days later (e.g., on the 11th)
• Second retry - 2 days after that (e.g., on the 13th)
• Third and final retry - On the next scheduled installment date (e.g., the 9th of the following month)

If all four attempts fail (the original plus three retries), WeGive automatically sets the recurring plan to:

• Paused
• Paused Type: Indefinite
• Next Retry: Cleared (no further attempts)

This is intentional behavior built into the platform.

Where to Find Failed Attempts and Paused Plans

Viewing Retry Attempts: Failed retry attempts can be seen at the bottom of the original failed payment record under "Retries."

Viewing Paused Date: On the recurring plan detail page, scroll to the bottom to see when the plan was paused.

How Automatic Pausing Appears in Audit Logs

Because the pause is initiated by the system—not a donor or administrator—it will not appear as a user-triggered action in Audit Logs.

You may see:

• Paused status in the Recurring Plan Overview
• Corresponding status updates sent to your CRM (e.g., Salesforce)
• No matching manual pause action in Audit Logs

This is expected.

How Automatic Pausing Appears in Salesforce

When a plan is paused automatically:

• The plan's Status is updated to "Paused"
• The Paused Date is sent to Salesforce
• System WeGive is listed as having triggered the pause
• It is not considered a donor-initiated or admin-initiated update

This allows your CRM to accurately reflect the plan's current state.

Why We Automatically Pause Plans

This automation exists to:

• Prevent endless retries on invalid payment methods
• Reduce stress on your payment processor
• Avoid donor frustration from repeated failure notifications
• Ensure your team can intervene manually when needed

How to Reactivate a Paused Plan

Admins can manually restart the plan at any time:

1. Open the Recurring Plan in WeGive
2. Update the donor's payment method (if needed)
3. Resume the plan
4. WeGive will resume billing on the next scheduled installment date

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this happen even if the donor never received the Dunning emails? Yes. Automatic pausing is based on retry attempts—not email delivery.

Can I change the number of retries before pausing? Not at this time. Automatic pausing always occurs after four failed attempts.

Will donors be notified automatically when their plan is paused? Not by default. Notifications depend on your Triggered Messages configuration.

Do all retry attempts happen on the monthly anniversary date? No. For monthly donations, the first two retries happen quickly (2 days apart), and only the final retry waits until the next monthly cycle.

Summary

A recurring plan may show as "Paused by WeGive" even when no user action exists in the audit logs. This is because WeGive automatically pauses any plan that has:

• Failed on the original charge plus
• Failed on three additional retry attempts over approximately one month

This behavior is intentional and protects both your donors and your organization.

If you have questions about the pausing logic or want help reviewing your recurring plans, feel free to contact support.