What Mastercard’s New Regulation Changes Mean for Your Organization

UPDATE: On October 11th, 2022 Mastercard extended an exemption to nonprofits. As a result, to maximize monthly gift retention, no changes will be made to how CanadaHelps currently supports monthly donations. Learn more ->

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This blog has been updated to reflect the deadline extension from Mastercard from September 22, 2022 to March 21, 2023.

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New regulation from Mastercard, effective March 21, 2023, requires all merchants to clearly disclose the basic terms of subscriptions (or in our case, monthly donations) at the point of payment and capture the cardholder’s affirmative acceptance of such terms. Furthermore, the regulation requires merchants to send an email message after every billing that includes clear instructions for cancelling the subscription (donation).

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Rest assured, CanadaHelps is ready to comply with these requirements fully. Given our analysis shows a higher gift cancellation rate when monthly donation email confirmations are turned on, we will time the release of the required changes with the date regulations come into effect. In the meantime, we will continue to engage our payment partners and work with other organizations advocating for a charitable exemption from these requirements.

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What does this mean for your monthly donors?

In the past, CanadaHelps has offered donors the option to receive confirmation of their monthly donations once processed. This email setting defaults to “Off” and donors were required to make the change to enable it in their CanadaHelps account.

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Due to the new regulation from Mastercard, your monthly donors who pay for their monthly gift using Mastercard will begin receiving monthly donation confirmation emails in March. That said, our communications will include clear instructions on how they can opt-out of receiving the monthly confirmation.  

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What does this mean for my organization?

With this new requirement, your monthly donors who pay by Mastercard will receive a donation confirmation email unless they opt-out. As a result, it’s more important than ever to ensure you add a custom Thank You message for monthly donations set up from your Customizable Donation Forms. Your custom thank you message is the first thing your donor will see. While you cannot edit the donation confirmation copy that follows, you can add a custom introductory thank you message and even update it monthly to remind your donor of the important work their gift makes possible. 

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We’re here to help

We know that monthly donors are critical to helping your organization plan efficiently, invest wisely and raise more money. We believe that just like exemptions were made for charities related to CASL, exemptions may also be needed for recurring donations. That’s why we will continue to engage our payment partners and work with others organizations advocating for charitable exemptions from these requirements.

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Monthly donations remain a critical way for your charity to diversify your revenue sources, increase donor loyalty and lifetime value and benefit from a predictable revenue stream. Are you interested in learning how to convert, retain and upgrade your monthly donors? Equip yourself and your team with the important knowledge you need to cultivate and inspire donors at any stage in the donor cycle today! Download Whitepaper

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