Requirements and Setup (Stripe)
The first step in the process of setting up an ActBlue account is always to submit the ActBlue setup form. Once your account setup request is received, ActBlue staff will review your submission and determine whether your account requires a merchant account. If so, you will receive an email from support@actblue.com with an invitation to the Stripe onboarding process along with specific instructions for completing it.
In order to complete the Stripe onboarding process you will need your committee’s federal tax ID (EIN), an active campaign bank account, and an authorized representative from the campaign to sign all terms and agreements. Additional information may be required by Stripe–you will be prompted for that additional information if required.
After completing some initial account creation steps on ActBlue and reviewing ActBlue’s terms & conditions, you’ll be directed to a secure setup form hosted by Stripe. Stripe collects information on their end for verification and security purposes, and after completing the required Stripe setup process, you’ll be redirected back to ActBlue.
Your committee must have a federal tax ID (EIN) in order to set up your Stripe account. Stripe will not accept a Social Security Number in place of an EIN. If you do not have an EIN, you can easily obtain one in a matter of minutes via the IRS website, here. Make sure to save your EIN confirmation document (usually an SS-4), as it’s possible we may ask you to provide that document in order to help expedite the verification process.
Because the IRS does not update its database in real time, Stripe may not be able to verify your EIN if it was established very recently. If you recently obtained your EIN, you may be asked to upload a document from the IRS confirming the issuance of your committee’s EIN–this will generally be an IRS Letter SS-4 or IRS Letter 147C.
After completing the Stripe portion of the onboarding process, you’ll be directed back to ActBlue to securely upload your bank documentation for payouts to your bank account. Because Stripe will be transferring the funds directly to your committee’s bank account, we will need you to upload a document from your bank confirming your account information (this could be a voided check, a bank statement, or an account confirmation letter).
We can only accept an original and unaltered bank document that meets all of the following requirements:
- Your committee name (or DBA name) must be printed (not handwritten) on the document as the name associated with the account. Your campaign bank account must be registered to the name of the committee in order to prove ownership of the account.
- The name of the bank must be printed on the document
- Full bank account number must be printed on the document (not handwritten).
- Full bank routing number must be printed on the document (not handwritten).
The uploaded image must include the entire document, and all of the text must be legible. If the uploaded bank document does not meet the requirements outlined above, you will receive an email notifying you of our inability to accept the document, and you will be prompted to upload a new document that fits the requirements.
Once we have received and approved your bank documentation and have confirmed that your Stripe account has been successfully created, your account will be queued for review and activation by ActBlue staff, this process typically takes 1-2 business days, though additional time may be needed for verification in some circumstances. If you have any questions as you’re going through the onboarding process, please reach out to support@actblue.com and we’ll be happy to help!
Not ready to announce your campaign publicly yet? We’re able to discreetly and privately set up your account so that as soon as you’re ready to make your big announcement you can begin fundraising immediately. If you do not want your account to be publicly accessible immediately, let us know!