A declined card is only a problem if nobody tells the donor. CMS Cloud sends three kinds of email about cards, all written once and then sent from the Credit Card Charges page:
| Email | Letter type | Sent from |
|---|
| Declined | Card Declined | Scheduled Charges — the charge failed |
| Renewal | Renew Pledge | Completed — the pledge has run its course |
| Expiry | Card Expired | Card Expired — the card on file has run out |
Writing the Email
Write each one once. Afterwards sending is a click.
Go to Settings → Communications → Letters and choose the letter type at the top — Card Declined, Renew Pledge or Card Expired. The list then shows only letters of that kind.
Click Add and fill in:
| Field | What it is |
|---|
| Name | Your own label for it. Nobody outside the office sees this |
| Subject | The subject line the donor sees |
| From name | Who it appears to come from — a person's name does better than the organization's |
| From mailbox and Domain | The sending address, picked from your verified domains |
Type it in the Email body tab, or open Templates and start from a ready-made one. Insert field drops in the details that change from donor to donor:
- Salutation — how you address them.
- Amount — the charge in question.
- Card Last 4 and Expiration Date — so they know which card you mean.
- Category and Subcategory — what the charge was for.
- Declined Message — the processor's own reason, such as insufficient funds.
Card Last 4 is the field that does the most work. "The card ending 6411 didn't go through" tells a donor with three cards exactly which one to deal with.
Save, then mark one letter of each type as Default. That is the one that fills in by itself when you send from the Credit Card Charges page, which is what turns sending into a single click.
Sending One
On the Credit Card Charges page, the envelope icon on a row opens the email already addressed to that family, with the default letter in the body and the details filled in. Read it, change anything you want for this one donor, send.
The Notified column counts how many of these a family has already had about this charge, which is how you avoid sending a seventh.
Sending a Batch
When several charges failed in the same run, send them together.
On the tab you are working in, open the ⋮ menu in the header and choose the email — Declined Email, Renewal Email or Expiry Email. The page switches to a list of everyone who would receive one.
Untick anyone who shouldn't get it — the donor you already phoned, the one whose card you have in hand. The pencil beside a row opens that person's email so you can change it before it goes.
Send goes through the list. Back to List returns to the charges without sending anything.
With Outbox turned on, the batch lands there instead of going straight out. You can read them, fix one, and release them when you're ready — worth having for your first few runs.
What Makes These Emails Work
- Say what happened, plainly. A donor whose card was declined is usually embarrassed; a short, matter-of-fact note is kinder than a careful one.
- Say what you need. New card, new expiration date, or a call — one clear ask.
- Say how. A phone number, or the Members Portal where they can replace the card themselves.
- Don't send it twice. Check the Notified count first.