Levitate + Stripe for Payments and Donations

Stripe is a trusted payment processor used by many of our non-profit partners and clients across industries. Stripe provides tools to securely manage payments, automate receipt processing, and track donor data. Levitate also partners with Stripe to collect payments through Event Registration.

Why We Recommend Stripe

Stripe integrates well with most CRM platforms, donation forms, and custom event sites. Here’s why it stands out:

Ease of Setup

Create an account in minutes and connect to your bank.

Transparency

Clear, flat-rate pricing (typically 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction).

Security

Industry-leading fraud prevention and PCI compliance.

Insights

The Stripe dashboard includes real-time reporting and export tools for accounting or CRM syncs.

If you’re accepting donations, ticketing events, or managing memberships, Stripe offers high flexibility with low administrative overhead.

How Stripe Works with Levitate

Collect payment for ticketed events using Event Registration

Collect one-time and recurring donations using the Donation Survey

Setting up the Stripe Connection with Levitate

In order to use Stripe to collect payments through Levitate, you must first create a Stripe account and provide relevant business or organization information. If you're getting Stripe connected with a member of the Levitate team, it's recommended that you set up your Stripe account in advance, as it requires detailed business or organization information.

What we need from Stripe

To connect to Stripe, Levitate requires the Publishable Key, Secret Key, and Customer Portal URL for the Stripe account. All three are easily accessed through your Stripe account dashboard and settings. Below is a video on finding the Publishable Key, the Secret Key, and the Customer Portal URL—as well as how to access and enable payments for events and donations through our Surveys.

Publishable and Secret Keys

These are API Keys that allow Stripe to be connected directly with Levitate. They are typically displayed on the Stripe dashboard for easy access, and can also be found here.

Customer Portal URL

Finding the Customer Portal URL in Stripe can be tricky— and the documentation on how to find and create it is outdated and a bit confusing. This link will take you directly to your Customer Portal, where you can generate and/or copy the URL.

Walkthrough Video

Stripe FYIs

Stripe Customer Portal

The Stripe Customer Portal is where payments and donations can be managed outside of Levitate. Levitate does not handle billing method or detail updates, refunds, or the management of recurring donations (subscriptions).

The Customer Portal is also where the parameters for how a customer or donor may manage their recurring payments— each recurring payment donation email links to the Customer Portal, but it is up to the Stripe user to determine how much access the customer or donor has to edit billing details and subscriptions.

Payout Schedule

Typically 2-day rolling for U.S. nonprofits. You can customize frequency.

Stripe Fees for Businesses

Typically 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction*.

Generally, this can be negotiated with Stripe based on cash-flow volume.

Stripe Fees for Non-Profits

Stripe offers fee discounts for 501(c)(3) organizations. You must apply via their support with your IRS letter.

Refunds

You can issue partial or full refunds through the Stripe dashboard; Stripe’s fees are not returned after a refund. Any refunds needed for payments or donations collected through Levitate can only be handled directly through Stripe.

Donor-Covered Fees

Levitate accounts collecting donations are able to request that the donor offset the fees associated with transactions. This is an option that can be selected within the Donation Survey.

FAQs and Troubleshooting

Does Levitate integrate with Stripe?

Yes, we integrate with Stripe in order to collect ticketing payments for Event Registration and for donations through Donation Surveys.

Is Stripe a full integration that pulls in contacts, contact data, etc.? 

No, Levitate uses Stripe as an internal payment processor– meaning that any payments using Stripe made outside of Levitate will not natively pull in. Setting up Stripe within Levitate just allows for accounts to monetize and collect ticket fees, and collect donations.

If an account is already using Stripe as a payment processor with their website or donation management system (or really any system outside of Levitate,) the Stripe to Levitate Zap can be set up to pull in that donation and contact data. 

Read more about the Stripe to Levitate Zap here. 

Will having the Stripe to Levitate Zap set up interfere with the Stripe payments collected through Levitate Event Registration?

No. Even if a contact makes a payment through a Levitate survey and through an outside-Levitate source, the donation information will all route to the same contact profile. There should be no data overlap or duplication. If a contact already exists, the donation data will just be added to the contact’s profile. 

The donor needs to change or update their payment info, make a dispute, or needs a detailed receipt. Can this be done through Levitate?

No— all transaction and payment related updates must be made through Stripe. Levitate facilitates the donation and keeps records of each donation, but does not house payment method related details.

My donors are not seeing their preferred e-pay option— how can I add that in?

If a donor wants to pay through ACH, or another e-pay option that's not being show, you'll need to configure Stripe to accept those types of payments. To enable or disable certain payment methods, click here to be directed to the Stripe payment dashboard. The linked article will give information on each type of e-pay method and link where to configure the ability to accept them! Levitate does not play a role in which e-pay options show.

Are donors able to manage their recurring donations on their end?

Yes— when a recurring donation is received, Levitate will send out a Donation Confirmation email to the donor. There is a link at the bottom of the email that will take the donor to Stripe for recurring donation management. Here's what it looks like:

Every Stripe user must set their own recurring donation (subscription) management parameters in Stripe. You can read more about these parameters— like whether or not a donor can cancel their recurring donation on their end, or even update their billing information— here. This document will also link to where those parameters can be set!