Revised 9/22/2025
Stripe – Account Setup
- In order to utilize the donation feature in GOfund and before going through GOdonate implementation, you must set up a Stripe account.
- Stripe, which is a 3rd party payment processing site, offers discounts for nonprofits. See additional information in our Requesting Non-Profit Pricing through Stripe Guide.
Account Setup
Step 1: Register an Account
Click this link to register: https://dashboard.stripe.com/register
The email you input during registration will be used for communications related to your Stripe income or expenses. We recommend inputting the email address of someone who has access to billing and bank account numbers.
Step 2: Activate Your Account
Stripe will send you an email asking you to verify your email. Click the Verify email address button in the email.
Step 3: Activate Payments
After verifying your email address, Stripe will prompt you to activate your payments. Fill in your information. For Business Type, choose Nonprofit organization.
Step 4: Customize Brand Settings
After adding your information, you can enable financial services and multi-party payments with Stripe Connect.
Step 5: Collect API Keys
Once your Stripe account is set up, you can collect your Stripe API keys to add to the GOfund and/or GOdonate settings record within your CRM.
To find your keys on Stripe, navigate to the Developers Dashboard (accessed by clicking Developers in the side bar). See screenshots below for reference.
1. Click on Home.
2. Click on Developers.
3. Click on API keys.
4. Highlight what's in the Token column for the Publishable key. Copy this information in order to paste it within the GOdonate settings record. Next, highlight what's in the Token column for Secret key. Copy and paste this information within the GOdonate settings record.
Note: Tokens containing pk_live and sk_live indicate that theStripe account is in live mode, ready for real credit card transactions to take place. Tokens that contain pk_test and sk_test indicate that your stripe account is in test mode. Test mode is recommended while still in setup for GOdonate or GOfund (donations enabled). Once fully tested in test mode, the stripe account must be toggled to LIVE mode and the live keys must be recaptured and replaced within GOdonate settings.
