Payment prefixes

Payment prefixes can be set at the platform, event or page level to easily distinguish between payments made to different campaigns or events.

What is it?

Payment prefixes are descriptors that we use to create PO numbers for all payments made on the platform. The prefix is followed by a number to generate a unique PO number. These PO numbers are then sent to your Stripe account / gateway. E.g. DON123, REG456.

What are the benefits of it?

Prefixes can be set up at the platform level, which will always be the default. They can also be set up at the event level to create more specific PO numbers to override the platform default. Creating unique, event-specific prefixes will allow you to easily identify payment types and which event they are associated with. For donation pages, a prefix can also be set at page level to allow you to identify the page a donation was made on. This will override the event and platform level donation prefix.

Setting up prefixes at platform level

Your platform level payment prefixes are your default. If no prefix is set at page or event level, then these will be the prefixes used.

To add or edit this:

Navigate to Platform Settings in the black navigation > Payment Settings > scroll down to Financial Coding where you will see the platform default prefixes.

You can leave these as they are, or update them to something more specific for your accounting team. We would always recommend adding to what is currently set so that you can still identify a donation (DON), versus a registration fee, (REG). For example, if my charity was called 'SuperStars', then I may update the platform defaults to SS-REG and SS-DON.

Setting up prefixes at event level

By creating event-level prefixes, you will override the platform settings. These prefixes will only be associated with this specific event.

To edit this:

Click into the specific event >  Entries & Fees in the left-hand white navigation > scroll down to the second content block and toggle to Payment Prefixes.

Here you can update the prefixes to be specific to the event. So if my event was Big Run 2020, then I may want the prefixes associated with this event as BR20-REG and BR20-DON. This will allow me to easily identify any payment that is associated with that event.

Ensure the prefix has 'DON', 'REG' or 'SHOP' within it so you can identify what type of transaction it was, eg. a donation vs a registration payment. 

Note: The donation prefix will only apply to sponsored donations and will not apply to an event-level donation page. An event-level donation page will adopt the platform-level donation prefix. This can be updated within the specific page, and a prefix set. This is detailed in the next step.

Setting up donation prefixes at page level

If you have multiple donation pages on your site and want to identify which page a donation is made on, then setting a unique donation page payment prefix will allow you to do so. 

To set a payment prefix for a donation page go to:

Donation page > navigate to Donation Settings in the left-hand nav > select Payment Settings.

The first thing you will see is a field for Receipt Prefix. The prefix you set here will override the platform level prefix and allow you to identify donations made on this specific donation page. Ensure 'DON' is kept within the prefix so you can identify any payment made on this page as a donation. Once updated, save and publish.

Note: An event-level donation page will not adopt an event-level donation prefix. By default, it will adopt the platform-level donation prefix unless one is set at on the page. 

Below is an example of the PO number on a tax receipt.

'BR20-DON' is the prefix I set and '221' is the number generation by the platform. Looking at this donation within the admin, Stripe or a report, it can easily be identified that it is a donation made to the event 'Big Run 2020.'