To collect donations with StockCrowd Pay, you first need to activate it in your StockCrowd account. As StockCrowd Pay runs on Stripe, you activate it by filling in some Stripe forms: during the process you create a Stripe account for StockCrowd Pay and, once you confirm, you return to your StockCrowd account. In this guide we explain each step: your login details, your organisation's details, your bank details, the confirmation and Stripe's final validation.

StockCrowd Pay is the payment gateway we offer organisations on all current plans: Light, Esencial, Profesional and Premium. It offers an easy way to receive donations through a wide range of payment methods.

To find out more about StockCrowd Pay, see What is StockCrowd Pay and which payment methods does it offer?.

While activating StockCrowd Pay, you'll create a Stripe account for StockCrowd Pay. If you already have a Stripe account, you can sign up for StockCrowd Pay with the same email address, the one belonging to the owner or administrator of that account. Even so, StockCrowd Pay will be a new Stripe account, separate from the one you already have; what you get by using the same email is that both accounts appear in the same Stripe Dashboard. What's more, when you sign up with that email, the system will ask whether you want to import the data from your current account: if you accept, the new StockCrowd Pay account will have all the settings from your previous Stripe account. If you don't have a Stripe account yet, follow the steps as they're shown to you, which we explain below.

The first step of the Stripe sign-up, if you don't have an account yet, is to enter the email you'll use to register the account.

After the email, you need to enter a secure password for your Stripe account.

To keep your Stripe account secure, you'll need to verify your identity every time you log in. This two-factor authentication (2-Step verification) needs a mobile phone number to work, so make sure you add a working phone number and that you have easy access to that phone.

Once you've entered your mobile number, you'll receive a 6-digit code by SMS to confirm it.

Next, Stripe shows you a security code to unlock your Stripe account if you ever need to. We recommend downloading it and keeping it somewhere safe.

In the second step of the Stripe sign-up you need to fill in your organisation's details. On this first screen, many of them are already filled in with the details you used when you signed up for your StockCrowd account.

Select the non-profit structure that applies to your organisation.

Then fill in the details required to complete the sign-up.

The details of the organisation's representative must be filled in by an executive or another person who holds a senior position in the company or organisation. If that isn't you, you need to ask them for their details to complete the sign-up process.

As Stripe will manage funds from your organisation's account, it's important that the people with decision-making or representation powers are registered on the platform.

You also need to add the members of the board of directors and the executives if:

In the third step of the Stripe sign-up you add the details of the bank account where you want to receive the funds from your campaigns' donations, such as the IBAN.

In this same step you can set the description of the charge your donors will see on their bank statement. We recommend using your organisation's name, or any other description your donors will easily recognise.

On the last screen of the Stripe sign-up you can see all the details you've filled in, to check they're correct:

Once you submit your details, Stripe will review your registration details, and StockCrowd Pay will become your default payment gateway.

Stripe's validation usually takes 48 hours. Stripe may ask you for some more documents or information to finish setting up your account.

If Stripe needs you to verify or provide documents to validate your account, when you log in to the StockCrowd software you'll first land on the Stripe page, which details what's missing. These are the most common cases:

You can activate StockCrowd Pay even if you already have a Stripe account, but StockCrowd Pay doesn't use that account: it creates a new, separate Stripe account. If you sign up for StockCrowd Pay with the same email as your current account (the owner's or administrator's), both accounts will appear in the same Stripe Dashboard, and the system will ask whether you want to import the data from your current account so the new one has all its settings.

Your Stripe login email can't be changed once you finish the StockCrowd Pay sign-up process. That's why it's important to enter the email your organisation wants to use for the payment gateway from the start, and to check it has no mistakes.

During the StockCrowd Pay sign-up you can't go back to correct your organisation's details, so make sure they're correct before you continue. On the final screen, before confirming the sign-up, you can review all the details and correct them with the pencil icon 📝.

The details of the organisation's representative must be filled in by an executive or another person who holds a senior position in the organisation. If that isn't you, you need to ask them for their details to complete the sign-up.

Stripe's validation usually takes 48 hours from when you submit your details. Stripe may ask you for some more documents or information to finish the sign-up.

You can launch campaigns and collect donations with StockCrowd Pay before Stripe validates your account, but Stripe will only transfer the money to your bank account once your Stripe account is fully validated.