Frequently Asked Questions
Hardware & Specifications
How do I integrate GC Connect with The Social Fundraising Platform and/or Giving Forms by GiveCampus?
You don’t! GC Connect is designed to integrate immediately and effortlessly with other GiveCampus products--without any technical implementation required. You can begin accepting in-person gifts within 30 seconds of pulling your GC Connect reader out of the box and logging into the GC Connect app.
Can I really process gifts from anywhere?
Yes! To process gifts with GC Connect, your iPhone or iPad must be connected to WiFi or have a data connection via your cellular provider. A weak signal or connection will degrade the GC Connect experience and the performance of the app, so we do not recommend using GC Connect in locations with weak or unreliable WiFi or where there is only 3G (or lower) cellular service. If you plan to use GC Connect at an event, be sure to test the WiFi/cell service at the event location ahead of time!
What types of in-person payments can I accept using GC Connect?
Unlike other card readers that only accept one or two forms of in-person payments, GC Connect can be used to accept payments by swiping a magnetic stripe card, inserting an EMV chip card, and/or tapping a contactless payment method (e.g., an NFC chip card or a mobile wallet like Apple Pay).
How do I charge my reader?
To charge an old reader (purchased prior to March 2022), use the included micro USB cable. The USB port does not work for connecting the reader to a device--it’s only for charging. If you are using a new reader, to charge the reader, use the included USB-C to USB-A charging cable. Remember to charge your reader at least two hours before initial use.
Does my reader need to be connected to the USB cable while in use?
No. The USB port does not work for connecting the reader to a device--it’s only for charging. The reader uses Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) to connect to the GC Connect app on a mobile device.
What devices are compatible with the GC Connect app?
Can a single GC Connect reader be connected to more than one iPhone and/or iPad?
No. Each reader can only connect to one device (i.e., phone or tablet) at a time. For example, if you are hosting an event and want to use four GC Connect readers at the event, you also will need four iOS devices. However, please note that you can have an unlimited number of approved GC Connect users (at no added cost) on your GiveCampus account.
Can I use a different card reader with the GC Connect app?
No. The GC Connect app only works with our pre-certified GC Connect card readers. This ensures that the donations you process with GC Connect are secured by end-to-end encryption and that your readers are kept up-to-date by our remote management tools.
Will I ever need to update the GC Connect hardware or app?
GiveCampus and our hardware and software partners may periodically release updates for the GC Connect readers and/or the GC Connect app.
Hardware Updates
NOTE: If you purchased a GC Connect device prior to March 2022, you will be provided with an upgraded device later in 2022 and will be able to recycle your old device. This new device is a drop-in replacement for your old device with all of the same capabilities, including end-to-end encryption. Additionally, this device is point to point encryption (P2PE) ready and you will have the option to enable P2PE for an additional cost.
Software Updates
You will be notified on your iOS device when there is a new update for the GC Connect app, which can be installed using the App Store.
Software updates for your GC Connect reader will be installed automatically when you pair your device.
Does GC Connect work outside of the United States?
No. At this time, GC Connect can only be used in the United States to process transactions in U.S. Dollars.
Does GC Connect work with all payment processors?
No. GC Connect readers and the GC Connect iOS app are only compatible with GiveCampus's native payment services solution (delivered in partnership with Stripe). If you leverage a custom integration with another payment processor and would like to switch to GiveCampus's native payment services solution at no cost, please contact support@givecampus.com.
What does my reader’s status light indicate?
For the older device:
| Color | Frequency | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | Flashing every second | Reader is on and ready to pair with a device |
| Multi | Flashing every second | The reader has been discovered using Bluetooth |
| Blue | Steady | Bluetooth paired and ready to accept gifts |
| Blue | Flashing every second | Standby mode |
| Red | Flashing every second | Battery Low |
| Red and Magenta | Flashing every second | The reader is charging |
For the new device:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| First LED ON | Ready for payment |
| LEDs ON in consecutive order | Reading card information |
| 4 LEDs ON + "BEEP" | Card read successful |
| "BEEP" | Transaction completed |
| First LED flashing | Standby mode |
| 2 "BEEP"s | Remove card (after successful payment) or error, please retry |
How do I pair my reader with my iPhone or iPad?
- Enable Bluetooth on your iPhone or iPad via its system settings.
- Open the GC Connect app and log in.
- Select the “Reader” tab in the lower right corner and click “Discover Readers.” The closest in-range reader will appear, listed by serial number (the serial number is on the back of your reader). Your reader’s status light will flash multiple colors when it is discovered and ready to pair.
- Select the serial number of the GC Connect reader with which you wish to pair.
If you are using an old device:
Once paired, your GC Connect reader’s status light will switch to a steady blue light.
How do I turn my reader off and on?
If you are using an old device:
To turn on your reader, press and release the power button (located on the side of the reader). The status light will turn on to indicate power. If the reader is not paired with an iPhone or iPad within five minutes, it will turn off. To manually turn off your reader, press and hold the power button until the status light goes dark.
If you are using a new device:
Turn on the device by pressing and releasing the power button. The status LEDs turn on and the reader beeps twice. The reader waits for a Bluetooth connection for five minutes before turning off.
When the reader connects to a device running your app, the status LEDs on top of the reader flash four times. After connecting, the first status light begins flashing at five second intervals. The reader stays connected to your iOS or Android device while in standby mode and automatically exits standby mode when you resume activity.
When connected, the reader automatically turns off after 10 hours of inactivity. You can turn off the reader manually by pressing and holding the power button for four seconds. You don’t need to turn off the reader to conserve power.
Giving Forms & Campaigns
Which campaigns or Giving Forms are available on the app?
All live campaigns and Giving Forms will be available for donations on the app. Your available campaigns and Giving Forms are listed under the ‘Campaigns’ and ‘Forms’ tabs, respectively.
What fields will be included on the GC Connect view of a campaign donation form or Giving Form?
The GC Connect view of campaign donation forms and Giving Forms is designed with simplicity and speed in mind. To streamline the in-person giving experience, GC Connect limits data collection to the below fields (assuming they are present on your form):
- Name
- Postal Code
- Affiliation
- Designation (if designations have been selected for the campaign/giving form)
- Write-in designations (if a write-in designation has been selected for the campaign/giving form)
- Anonymous opt-in (campaigns only)
What if my campaign's donation form or my Giving Form has fields that are not visible in GC Connect?
To streamline the in-person giving experience, GC Connect limits data collection to certain fields. If your campaign's donation form or your Giving Form includes fields that are not visible in GC Connect (e.g. any custom fields), you can still accept donations for the campaign or Giving Form using GC Connect. These fields of data simply will not be collected and therefore will not be available in your reporting. However, GC Connect gives you the option to add a Note regarding any gift that you accept via the app, allowing you to capture any other pertinent details about the gift. These Notes are available in your GiveCampus reporting.
NOTE: If you use GC Connect to accept gifts for a campaign or Giving Form that includes fields that are not visible in GC Connect, remember to check that your donation confirmation email does not use any of those fields. If it does, donors who give via GC Connect will receive confirmation emails with blank fields and/or missing content.
NOTE: If you use GC Connect to accept gifts for a campaign or Giving Form that includes fields that are not visible in GC Connect, remember to check that your donation confirmation email does not use any of those fields. If it does, donors who give via GC Connect will receive confirmation emails with blank fields and/or missing content.
Are there any other differences between my campaign donation forms and Giving Forms and what I will see in GC Connect?
To streamline the in-person giving experience, GC Connect does not currently support the following 3 features (all of which are utilized by <1% of donors).
- More than 2 levels of designation nesting: If your campaign or giving form includes designation groups, only designations in the first two layers of nesting will appear in the GC Connect app and only designations in the second layer of nesting will be selectable. For example, if you have designations organized by Athletics > Soccer > Soccer Scholarships, only “Athletics” and “Soccer” will appear in the app and only “Soccer” will be selectable for your donors. However, GC Connect gives you the option to add a Note regarding any gift that you accept via the app, allowing you to capture any other pertinent details about the gift (such as designations that are further nested than what is displayed in the app). These Notes are available in your GiveCampus reporting.
- Designation search when using designation groups: If your form uses designation groups (think: Athletics > Soccer), then donors will not be able to search for a specific designation. However, if your form uses only one level of designations, donors will be able to search.
- Multiple designations / split gifts: It is not possible to give to multiple designations or split a gift between multiple designations via GC Connect in a single transaction. However, you can quickly and easily process an additional gift(s) from the same donor by clicking "Accept another gift." Clicking this button will pre-populate the form with all of the information from the last gift you processed. All you need to do is change the designation and present the payment method again! (You could also add a Note about a single gift, stipulating that it should be split between certain designations.).
- Multi-class years: When processing a gift via GC Connect, it is not possible to select multiple class years associated with a single affiliation for a donor (e.g., a Parent of students from classes 2020 and 2022). However, donors can select multiple affiliations, each with a different class year.
- Custom fields: GC Connect was designed to deliver as streamlined a giving experience as possible. In service of that goal, any custom fields on the form will not be visible in the GC Connect app. However, you can use the option to add a Note for any gift you accept allowing you to capture any important details.
If your campaign or Giving Forms uses one or more of these fields and field features, GC Connect can still be used to make gifts to that campaign/form; the incompatible fields and field features simply will not be available on the GC Connect view of the campaign donation form or Giving Form
App
How do I download the GC Connect app?
Search 'GiveCampus Connect' in the App Store to download the app.
How do I log into the GC Connect app?
Full level administrators can give other administrators (and themselves) access to the GC Connect app by visiting GiveCampus.com > Administrator Dashboard > Administrators > clicking the entry under the ‘GC Connect Access’ until it switches to ‘Yes.’ Once you’ve been given GC Connect access, you can log into the GC Connect app using the same credentials you use to log into your GiveCampus.com administrator account.
What if I use Facebook to log into GiveCampus?
If you normally use your Facebook account to log into GiveCampus, you will need to follow these steps to log into the GC Connect app:
- (1) While logged out of your GiveCampus account (or while using a private or incognito window in your web browser), go to https://www.givecampus.com/password/new and enter the email address associated with your Facebook account (the one you use to log into GiveCampus).
- (2) Click 'Reset password.'
- (3) You will receive an email to reset your password. Click the link in this email.
- (4) Create a new password.
- (5) You will now be able to log into the GC Connect app using this password and the email address associated with your Facebook account.
NOTE: You will still be able to log into GiveCampus.com using your Facebook account, but you can also now log in using this email address and password combination.
What devices are compatible with the GC Connect app?
The GC Connect app is compatible with iPhones and iPads with iOS version 12 or later. We recommend using the latest version of iOS available.
Which campaigns or Giving Forms are available on the app?
All live campaigns and Giving Forms will be available for donations on the app. Your available campaigns and Giving Forms are listed under the ‘Campaigns’ and ‘Forms’ tabs, respectively.
Can I set up a recurring gift using GC Connect?
Absolutely! You will see the option to set up a recurring gift in GC Connect for any campaign or giving form on which recurring giving is enabled.
NOTE: Recurring gifts cannot be set up using "tap" payment methods (e.g, mobile wallets like Apple Pay or NFC chip cards). This is a restriction imposed by financial institutions. If you attempt to set up a recurring gift using a "tap" payment method, GC Connect will successfully process the first installment of the recurring gift but we will not be able to process any future installments.
NOTE: Recurring gifts cannot be set up using "tap" payment methods (e.g, mobile wallets like Apple Pay or NFC chip cards). This is a restriction imposed by financial institutions. If you attempt to set up a recurring gift using a "tap" payment method, GC Connect will successfully process the first installment of the recurring gift but we will not be able to process any future installments.
What gift information is available in the app?
While a donation is in ‘Recent Gifts’, the following data will be available in the app:
- Donor name
- Donor email
- Donor City
- Donor State
- Donor Postal Code
- Payment Method
- Last four digits of payment method
- Donor affiliation (if applicable)
- Designation (if applicable)
Can I resend a gift confirmation email to a donor who gave through GC Connect?
Yes! To resend a gift confirmation email to a donor who gave with GC Connect, visit the ‘Home’ screen on the app > click into the donation under ‘Recent Gifts’ > tap ‘Resend Receipt’ at the bottom of the donation’s record. You can also resend a gift confirmation email to a donor who gave with GC Connect on GiveCampus.com via your Administrator Dashboard > Donations.
Can I refund a gift made through GC Connect on the app?
Yes! Visit the ‘Home’ screen on the app > click into the donation to be refunded under ‘Recent Gifts’ > tap ‘Refund Gift’ at the bottom of the donation’s record. You can also refund donations made through GC Connect on GiveCampus.com via your Administrator Dashboard > Donations.
Reporting
How are GC Connect gifts reported?
Gifts accepted using GC Connect are reported in the same way as if they had been made by a donor via the web. The data from these gifts will be included on your regular date range donation, campaign, Giving Form, and deposit reports.
Will any special information about gifts made with GC Connect be included in reporting?
Gifts made with GC Connect will be reported with the standard criteria for your reports. You can also enable ‘gcconnect_gift’ via the Administrator Dashboard > Reporting > Settings to include where a GC Connect gift was made and which reader was used to make it.
PCI Compliance
Is GC Connect PCI compliant?
Yes. A PCI DSS SAQ C and Attestation of Compliance is on file and available upon request.
If you are using an old device, the hardware used for GC Connect is ISO 7816 compliant and certified for: EMV Contact L1 & L2; EMV Contactless L1; VISA PayWave; MasterCard PayPass; AMEX ExpressPay; Discover Contactless D-PAS; VISA Ready; MasterCard TQM; MasterCard Mobile POS; Discover Network ZIP; PBOC 3.0 L1 & L2; QPBOC 3.0 L1 & L2; and FCC, CE, RoHS.
**For additional details about the hardware used for GC Connect, please review this information sheet from the manufacturer: https://www.bbpos.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/C2XBT_leaflet.pdf
If you are using the new device, the EMV chip card reader is ISO7816 compliant class A, B, C card. For additional details about the Stripe M2 Reader device, please review this information sheet from the manufacturer: https://stripe.com/files/docs/terminal/m2_product_sheet.pdf
Does GC Connect use end-to-end encryption?
Yes. GC Connect uses end-to-end encryption to encrypt all PCI data (including track data and sensitive EMV data) when a card is presented to the reader. Sensitive card data never enters the merchant environment.
Other
What should I do if my reader is lost, damaged, or stolen?
You can purchase a replacement reader at any time. When you do, reach out and let us know that your other reader was lost, damaged, or stolen, and we will deactivate it and remove it from your account so that you are not charged for the annual fee associated with access to that reader.
Anything else I should know about using GC Connect?
If the phone or tablet you are using for GC Connect has a mobile wallet set up on it, be sure to keep the phone/tablet at least 6" away from the GC Connect reader when you are processing a gift from a donor. If your phone/tablet is less than 6" from the GC Connect reader when you are processing a gift, the GC Connect reader may detect the mobile wallet on your phone or tablet and attempt to charge the gift to that mobile wallet.