Donations

Donations let members choose how much to pay without starting a subscription. They appear beside your paid plans and can optionally grant a Discord role.

Use donations when you want tips, community support, or sponsor-style access. Use one-time payment plans when you want to sell a fixed-price lifetime tier, pass, course, or add-on.

Create a donation path

You can configure one active donation path per server.

From the dashboard, open Donations and select Create Donation. If a donation path already exists, the button changes to Edit Donation.

Set:

• Title: The member-facing name, usually Donations or Support Us.
• Currency: The currency used for this donation path.
• Default amount: The amount members see first in checkout.
• Minimum amount and Maximum amount: The allowed donation range.
• Donator role: Optional Discord role granted after payment succeeds.
• Timed role access: Optional number of days before the role is removed.

The minimum amount must be less than or equal to the default amount, and the default amount must be less than or equal to the maximum amount.

Create from Discord

Admins can also create a donation path from Discord:

/arcalotl donation create

The command accepts optional role and access_duration_days options, then opens a modal for the title, default amount, minimum amount, maximum amount, and currency.

Member checkout

Members can start a donation from /donate, /subscribe, or the subscribe channel when one is configured.

In member-facing plan lists, donations show:

• The donation title
• Choose your amount as the price
• A Donate button

The checkout page opens with the default amount. Members can edit the amount on the same page before paying. Arcalotl keeps the amount inside the configured minimum and maximum, then refreshes the payment form for the selected amount.

Role access

If you assign a donor role, Arcalotl grants it after Stripe confirms the payment.

Role access can be:

• Permanent: Leave timed role access off.
• Timed: Set a number of days for the donor role.

Members can donate more than once. If timed role access is enabled and the member still has active access, the new donation extends access from the current expiration.

Quirks

• Donations are one-time payments. They do not renew and do not use dunning, cancellation saves, free trials, or upgrade and downgrade hierarchy.
• Donations are not managed through Stripe Billing Portal because there is no subscription to change or cancel.
• Deleting a donation path stops new donations but keeps previous donation history.
• Refunds and open disputes remove donation role access unless the member has another active purchase or subscription that grants the same role.