15 Things to Check Before the Fundraise Up + HubSpot Change Disrupts Your Workflows

Fundraise Up has announced a major update that is coming live to a HubSpot portal near you on September 25th: recurring donations are moving from a custom object into HubSpot’s native Subscription object.

Not sure what it means? In whole, it’s a big improvement for nonprofits that use the tool. Native objects are more stable and unlock more HubSpot functionality for organizations big and small. But for those of you that have your entire data infrastructure built around the recurring donation custom object (think reporting, workflows, and donor communications), it’s a change that could cause ripple effects through your system in ways you might not expect.

So with that in mind, here are 15 things every nonprofit should check before the September 25 deadline to make sure your fundraising engine keeps running smoothly.

1. Recurring donor workflows

Any workflow that creates tasks, sends emails, or updates records when a recurring donation is created, updated, or canceled must be rebuilt to trigger from the new Subscription object.

2. Acknowledgment emails

Recurring donors often receive custom thank-yous or “anniversary” messages. Double-check that these emails are still firing once data lives in the Subscription object.

3. Donor segmentation lists

Smart lists built around recurring donor status (think active, lapsed, upgraded) should be re-mapped to reference the new object and fields.

4. Reporting dashboards

With the change there’s a chance that your recurring gift retention, growth, and revenue charts may stop pulling data correctly. Audit your dashboards and reports to confirm they’re mapped to Subscription, not the old custom object.

5. Revenue forecasting

Many orgs use recurring donations to project future revenue. If you’re one of them, verify that your forecasts aren’t tied to the retired custom object.

6. Upgrade tracking

The new Subscription object provides upgrade links and metadata. The new data can be powerful, but only if you connect it to your stewardship workflows.

7. Churn analysis

At long last, cancellation reasons are now available! Now that it is, time to think about how you’ll start capturing, segmenting, and analyzing them.

8. Finance integrations

If your finance team relies on HubSpot data for reconciliation or reporting, confirm that recurring gift revenue will continue flowing correctly into your finance workflows.

9. Campaign attribution

Recurring gifts tied to campaigns need to be tested in the new object to ensure your campaign reporting (and ROI metrics) stays accurate.

10. Custom properties

If you’ve built custom fields on the old object (like fund codes or source details), you’ll need to migrate them into Subscription or you may lose context.

11. Third-party connectors

Zapier, n8n, Tray.io, and other third party integrations may need to be updated to reference the new Subscription object. If you don’t update those integrations, your data may stop flowing.

12. Marketing automations

Most organizations will put recurring donors into tailored nurture streams. Make sure that your HubSpot automations continue to enroll the right people once the object changes.

13. Major donor cultivation

If you’re tracking upgrades or flagging donors for gift officer outreach, confirm those alerts are still firing with the Fundraise Up change. 

14. Data hygiene and deduplication

Fundraise Up has noted that duplicates may temporarily appear during the migration. Plan to review donor records and confirm your deduplication process is working.

15. Staff training and documentation

Update your internal guides, team trainings, and onboarding materials. Staff should know where to find recurring donor information in HubSpot after the switch.