sustaining gifts via the Donations API

JeremyGP

Hello everyone. Is there any documentation for submitting sustaining gifts via the Donations API?

I found this - http://community.customer.convio.com/docs/DOC-2266, but that's about it.

JeremyGP

That link mentions a parameter, level_autorepeat. Okay, that's a clue...but

still not much. Is level_autorepeat an interval? Or is it a level? Or

is it a yes/no question? We need a list of these parameters and a

description telling us what they do.

It seems to me that if I were to set up a donation level that was

recurring (and I can't find this option, even when creating a new one,

in my admin) and I were to specify that level id as the donation, it

would enter a recurring donation. Makes sense to me.

Anyone? Any ideas?

Matt Burghdoff 2

JeremyGP :

That link mentions a parameter, level_autorepeat. Okay, that's a clue...but

still not much. Is level_autorepeat an interval? Or is it a level? Or

is it a yes/no question? We need a list of these parameters and a

description telling us what they do.

It seems to me that if I were to set up a donation level that was

recurring (and I can't find this option, even when creating a new one,

in my admin) and I were to specify that level id as the donation, it

would enter a recurring donation. Makes sense to me.

Anyone? Any ideas?

Hi Jeremy,

On your new donation page, are you trying to offer donors the option of selecting their frequency? With the API (at least the one I built out), you don't configure a specific gift level to be repeating, you simply provide donors the option (I went with a checkbox) which says, "Charge this amount each month," or the like. Once that is selected, whatever donation amount the user has previously selected or entered manually will be charged each month. You don't need to configure a specific level which is repeating like this:

$100

$50

$20

$20 each month

To make this work, you need to go into the real donation form (your ghost form) built out within Convio's system and set your donation form to use the "Flexible Sustainer Donation Level" with unchangeable "Sustainer Giving Patterns" and "Duration Period" values instead of "Standard Donation Level."

Does that help to provide some clarity on what you're looking for?

Matt

JeremyGP

Matt Burghdoff:

Hi Jeremy,

On your new donation page, are you trying to offer donors the option of selecting their frequency? With the API (at least the one I built out), you don't configure a specific gift level to be repeating, you simply provide donors the option (I went with a checkbox) which says, "Charge this amount each month," or the like. Once that is selected, whatever donation amount the user has previously selected or entered manually will be charged each month. You don't need to configure a specific level which is repeating like this:

$100

$50

$20

$20 each month

To make this work, you need to go into the real donation form (your ghost form) built out within Convio's system and set your donation form to use the "Flexible Sustainer Donation Level" with unchangeable "Sustainer Giving Patterns" and "Duration Period" values instead of "Standard Donation Level."

Does that help to provide some clarity on what you're looking for?

Matt

Hi Matt,

It's helpful to know that I don't have to create additional levels and that the existing ones can be made recurring or single by a parameter. And I can see, in my ghost form, that there is a radio control allowing the user to choose between a single or a sustaining gift. So that part is clear to me.

However, I don't know what parameter this would be when submitted via the Donations API. For example, I have the user choose which donation amount they want - this is the level_id parameter, and it's listed in the documentation at http://open.convio.com/api/donation-api/client/. I've heard level_autorepeat in another thread - but I can't find any other reference to that, and it doesn't seem to have any effect when I set that to something and submit it.

conviojames

Hi everyone,

You've uncovered a parameter that has not been documented. We'll take care of that. here is what I know at this point. the level_autorepeat parameter It is a boolean parameter (true/false). We're digging into it.

James

JeremyGP

conviojames :

Hi everyone,

You've uncovered a parameter that has not been documented. We'll take care of that. here is what I know at this point. the level_autorepeat parameter It is a boolean parameter (true/false). We're digging into it.

James

Ahh, thank you. Some docs on this would be really great!

Nick Reid

To chime in on this thread - the way i've been told to do this is to configure your donation levels (in the donation form edit screen) so that the donation level is repeating, and then in the API just send the repeating level ID instead of the one-time giving level.

JeremyGP

Nick Reid:

To chime in on this thread - the way i've been told to do this is to configure your donation levels (in the donation form edit screen) so that the donation level is repeating, and then in the API just send the repeating level ID instead of the one-time giving level.

That's what I surmised, Nick. But even though the donation levels page in the administrator seemed like it should have a switch somewhere to make a donation level recurring, I could not find one.

Hopefully we'll get some movement on this soon.

Michael

JeremyGP :

That's what I surmised, Nick. But even though the donation levels page in the administrator seemed like it should have a switch somewhere to make a donation level recurring, I could not find one.

Hopefully we'll get some movement on this soon.

Did someone write the code into the API to handle that param in secret? oooooooo, scary!

Noah Cooper

Michael :

Did someone write the code into the API to handle that param in secret? oooooooo, scary!

Note that level_autorepeat is now documented in the updated API docs on http://open.convio.com.

JeremyGP

Noah Cooper:

Note that level_autorepeat is now documented in the updated API docs on http://open.convio.com.

Unfortunately, when I set level_autorepeat, along with sustaining.duration and sustaining.frequency, my donation continues to be processed as a single-time contribution. Why is this?

Noah Cooper

JeremyGP :

Unfortunately, when I set level_autorepeat, along with sustaining.duration and sustaining.frequency, my donation continues to be processed as a single-time contribution. Why is this?

sustaining.duration and sustaining.frequency are actually not going to be available until the next release, in Fall '09. Looks like they were mistakenly included in the new version of API documentation on the Open site -- sorry about the confusion.

conviojames

JeremyGP :

Unfortunately, when I set level_autorepeat, along with sustaining.duration and sustaining.frequency, my donation continues to be processed as a single-time contribution. Why is this?

Hi all,

We accidentally published the wrong version of the documentation. What you're seeing now contains parameters that won't be released until a few weeks from now.This would include the:

sustaining.frequency

sustaining.duration

installment.frequency

installment.dureation

We're working to get the correct version up now. Sorry about that.

James

Serge Tkachov

conviojames :

Hi all,

We accidentally published the wrong version of the documentation. What you're seeing now contains parameters that won't be released until a few weeks from now.This would include the:

sustaining.frequency

sustaining.duration

installment.frequency

installment.dureation

We're working to get the correct version up now. Sorry about that.

James

Hi James,

is sustaining gifts via donations API supported now?

I am new to the API and trying to create my first form (looking for a good how to doc right now), but we are using sustaining gifts, so that is important to us.

Thanks,

-serge

Jeff Mills

Serge Tkachov:

Hi James,

is sustaining gifts via donations API supported now?

I am new to the API and trying to create my first form (looking for a good how to doc right now), but we are using sustaining gifts, so that is important to us.

Thanks,

-serge

Yes, this was just added in our "Fall '09" release, which is being deployed. I think your site has already been upgraded. In the "donate" method doc's there is a paragraph in the Usage Notes section mentioning the parameters for the sustaining gift options.