> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://documentation.opencollective.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://documentation.opencollective.com/collectives/raising-money/rejecting-and-refunding-financial-contributions.md). # Rejecting and Refunding Financial Contributions Using our moderation features, you can reject and refund donations or block certain people or groups from contributing to your Collective. Our moderation features give you control over who is able to donate to your Collective. You can choose to reject and refund any contribution, refund a contribution without rejecting it, and even block contributions from selected accounts or groups. You can reject financial contributions for any reason, but if you want to clarify the types of donations you will not accept, you can outline your terms in your Contribution Policy. Navigate to your Collective's Dashboard > Settings > Policies. ### Refunding financial contributions Not every refund means you need to reject the contributor. Use **Refund** when you want to return the payment but keep the contributor’s relationship with your Collective—for example, after a mistaken or duplicate donation, or when you agree to return money while they remain a supporter. **Refund** returns the payment and updates your budget. It does **not** by itself cancel a recurring contribution, remove someone from your sponsor list, or block future donations. **Reject** (below) refunds the payment **and** cancels any linked recurring contribution, removes their membership from your Collective, and is the right choice when you do not want that person or group associated with your Collective. {% hint style="info" %} If enabled by the Fiscal Host, Collective admins can refund financial contributions for up to 30 days after they are made. Fiscal Host admins can refund contributions indefinitely. For [manual bank transfers](/giving-to-collectives/payment-methods.md), [added funds](/fiscal-hosts/receiving-money/adding-funds-manually.md), and other off-platform payments, only Fiscal Host admins can process refunds—contact your Fiscal Host. See [Processing Refunds](/fiscal-hosts/processing-refunds.md) for how hosts handle those cases. We recommend Fiscal Hosts have their own refund policy; learn more in [Fiscal Host Policies](/fiscal-hosts/setting-up-a-fiscal-host/fiscal-host-policies.md). {% endhint %} To refund a contribution: 1. Navigate to your Dashboard > Ledger > Transactions 2. Find the contribution 3. Click "View Details" 4. Click **Refund** and confirm the operation For contributions paid through **Stripe** or **PayPal**, the platform returns funds through the original payment method after you confirm. When you confirm the refund, you can optionally: * Cancel any linked recurring contribution * Remove the contributor from your Collective's sponsor list * Send the contributor a message explaining the refund Leave those options unchecked if you only want to return the payment and keep their membership as-is. ### Rejecting financial contributions You can reject a donation from any person or group. This will: * refund the financial contributor * cancel any future recurring contribution * remove their membership from your Collective so they are not listed as a sponsor If you only need to return the payment and want to keep the contributor as a member or sponsor, use **Refund** instead (see above). To reject a contribution: 1. Navigate to your Collective's Dashboard > Transactions 2. Find the contribution 3. Click "View Details" 4. Click the “Reject” button. You can also send them a message, explaining the reasons for your decision. Confirm your decision, and your budget will be updated to show the rejection as well as the refund. ### Rejecting categories of financial contributor You may choose to prohibit certain types of group from contributing to your Collective. We offer the option to block the following groups: * Adult websites * Casino/gambling websites * SEO services * VPN/proxy services * Essay writing services * Affiliate/review services If you wish to block one or more of these, navigate to your Collective's Dashboard > Settings > Policies and find the drop-down under “Rejected Categories”. Once you have made your selection, any account that has been tagged by the Open Collective team as belonging to one of these categories will not be able to contribute to your Collective. They will be notified that they are blocked from contributing when they navigate to your “Contribute To…” page. If you would like to let potential contributors to your Collective know upfront what your contribution policy is, and what kinds of contributions you may not accept, you can also do this in the 'Policies' section of the Collective menu. This will be displayed in the contribution flow as well. {% hint style="warning" %} It is against Open Collective's community guidelines and moderation policy for a contributor to create a new account to get around the category filter. If this happens, [please report it to us](https://opencollective.com/contact). {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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