To cancel a Sandy Hook Promise donation, start with the organization’s self-service donor portal, which lets you manage your recurring plan using only the email address tied to your account. If the portal doesn’t resolve it, you can contact Sandy Hook Promise’s supporter service team, cancel the payment inside PayPal or your card account, or ask your bank to stop the transfers under federal law.
Use the Self-Service Donor Portal First
Sandy Hook Promise points donors to its self-service portal as the main tool for managing recurring gifts. According to the organization’s FAQ, the portal lets you change your payment method, request a receipt, and update your contact information. The FAQ doesn’t spell out a “cancel” button, but the portal gives you direct access to your active giving plan, which is where any change starts.
Go to the portal page on sandyhookpromise.org and enter the email address you used when you first donated. Sandy Hook Promise emails a secure link to that inbox. The link opens your donor account, where you can view and manage the recurring plan.
Contact Sandy Hook Promise Directly
If the portal doesn’t do what you need, reach the supporter service team one of two ways.
- Online contact form: On the Contact Us page, choose “I’d like to donate or change my donation” from the subject dropdown. Sandy Hook Promise says this routes your message directly to the right person and is the fastest way to get help.
- Phone: Call (203) 304-9780. This is a voicemail line, not a live help desk, so expect a callback.
When you write or leave a message, include your full name, the email tied to the donation, and a clear statement that you want to cancel all future recurring charges. If you still have a confirmation email with a donor or transaction ID, add that. The more identifying detail you give, the faster the team can find your account.
Cancel Inside PayPal or Your Card Account
If you set up the gift through PayPal rather than directly on the Sandy Hook Promise site, canceling with the nonprofit alone will not always stop a PayPal-initiated subscription from billing. You need to cancel it inside PayPal too.
On a computer or mobile browser, log in at PayPal.com, click the gear icon for Settings, choose Payments, then open Subscriptions and saved businesses (sometimes labeled Automatic Payments). Find Sandy Hook Promise in the list, select it, click Cancel, and confirm. In the PayPal app, open Settings, tap Automatic Payments, select the Sandy Hook Promise subscription, and choose Remove PayPal as your payment method.
If you donated directly with a credit card on the Sandy Hook Promise site, the portal and the contact methods above are your main options. Getting a new card number does not reliably stop the charges. Card networks can update merchant records automatically, so the replacement card may still be billed.
Stop the Payments Through Your Bank
If you’ve already asked Sandy Hook Promise to cancel and charges keep appearing, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act gives you a separate right to stop them at your bank. You can halt any preauthorized electronic transfer by notifying your bank or credit union at least three business days before the next scheduled payment.
You can give that notice by phone or in writing. If you call, the bank may require written confirmation within 14 days, and an oral stop-payment order that isn’t confirmed in writing expires after those 14 days. Follow up with a letter or email stating your name, account number, the organization’s name, and that you are revoking authorization for future debits.
The CFPB recommends doing both: revoke authorization with the company first, then place a stop-payment order with your bank as a backup. Once you’ve done both, any further payments the organization initiates are treated as errors, and your bank can refund them.
Banks typically charge a fee for stop-payment orders, often $20 to $35, and the fee applies whether or not the order blocks a payment. Keep this as a backstop rather than a first move. Written stop-payment orders also often expire after six months, so if the nonprofit still has your payment details on file, confirm the recurring plan itself is deleted so a charge doesn’t reappear later.
Confirm the Cancellation Worked
After you cancel, check your email for a confirmation from Sandy Hook Promise or your payment platform. Then watch your bank or card statement through the date the next charge would have posted. If a pending transaction shows up after your cancellation, contact your bank right away. Catching it early makes it much easier to resolve.
Getting Back Money Already Charged
Canceling future payments and recovering money already taken are two different things. Stopping the recurring plan only prevents the next billing cycle. It does not reverse a completed transaction.
If a charge posted that you didn’t authorize or that hit your account after you canceled, contact Sandy Hook Promise’s supporter service team through the contact form or phone line and include the exact amount, the date, and any reference number from your statement. There is no publicly posted refund policy with a stated deadline, so the sooner you reach out, the better your odds.
A credit card chargeback is another option, but it has tradeoffs. A chargeback triggers a fee against the nonprofit, often $15 to $25 or more, even if the dispute is later resolved, and staff have to spend time responding. If you simply want your money back and have no complaint with the organization itself, ask for a direct refund first. Save chargebacks for cases where the nonprofit is unresponsive or charges appeared after a clear cancellation.
Foundation or Action Fund
Sandy Hook Promise runs two separate entities, and canceling with one does not touch the other. The Sandy Hook Promise Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity focused on violence prevention education, and gifts to it are tax-deductible. The Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) that lobbies for policy change at the state and federal level, and gifts to it are not tax-deductible. If you’re not sure which one is billing you, check your bank statement for the exact name or look at the original confirmation email. The two entities have different websites, and a recurring gift to each has to be canceled on its own.