There are several scenarios where you may encounter a failed donation, purchase, or payment attempt in Goodworld. Understanding why the failure occurred is the key to helping your donor resolve the issue quickly.
Common scenarios where payment failures occur
A donor notifies you that their donation or purchase failed
You attempt to charge an auction winner’s cart at the end of an event, and the charge is declined
A recurring donation begins failing after previously processing successfully
In all cases, the first step is to identify the cause of the failure.
How to identify the reason for a failed transaction
Goodworld’s Transaction tab provides detailed information about any unsuccessful payment. Follow the steps below to identify the cause of the decline:
1. Visit the transaction tab
Navigate to Transactions in your Goodworld admin dashboard.
2. Filter for failed payments
At the top of the table:
Uncheck Succeeded
Uncheck Pending
Check Failed
This will display only the transactions that did not successfully process.
3. Review the failure reason
Hover over the FAILED status badge next to any transaction.
A tooltip will appear displaying the decline reason returned by the payment gateway (Stripe or PayPal).
This information is extremely helpful when communicating with donors — as it usually points directly to the issue they need to correct.
Common decline reasons
Below are some of the most common reasons payment gateways return a failure:
Insufficient Funds
Incorrect CVV
Expired Card or Past Expiration Date
Bank Declined Due to Fraud Flags (e.g., suspicious activity or location mismatch)
Bank Declined Due to Spending Limits
For the full list of decline codes, you may reference the gateway documentation:
Guidance for donors
Once you have identified the decline reason, share it with the donor so they can quickly self-correct. Common fixes include:
Updating their payment method (new expiration date or CVV)
Contacting their bank to authorize the transaction
Using a different card if the bank blocked the charge or funds are unavailable
Encouraging donors to update their payment method promptly helps ensure future purchases, auction payments, or recurring donations process smoothly.
If you have questions about failed donor payments, schedule a support call with our success team.