Connecting WeGive to Virtuous

Last updated: March 30, 2026

This article walks you through connecting your WeGive account to Virtuous CRM, selecting your API version and integration mode, and configuring your sync settings. Before starting, make sure you've completed all the steps in Prerequisites & Before You Begin.

What You'll Need

Before connecting, have the following ready:

  • Your Virtuous API Key, generated from your Virtuous CRM admin settings

  • Your Default Communication ID from Virtuous

  • Confirmation of which Virtuous API version your account uses (v1 or v2)

If you're unsure about your API version, reach out to your Virtuous account representative. Both versions support the same WeGive integration features, so this won't limit what you can do. The difference is explained below.

Understanding Your API Version

WeGive supports two versions of the Virtuous API. You'll select your version during setup.

Version 1 (v1) uses a single Virtuous ID to identify each contact. This is the original API structure and is common for accounts that have been on Virtuous for a longer period.

Version 2 (v2) uses two identifiers: a contact ID and a contact individual ID. This provides more precise matching, particularly for organizations that track individual people within larger household or company records. If your Virtuous account was created more recently, you're likely on v2.

Both versions support the full set of integration features including donor sync, transactions, recurring donations, funds, campaigns, and contact methods. The only difference is how records are matched between the two systems.

Step-by-Step Connection

  1. In WeGive, navigate to Data > Integrations

  2. Select Virtuous from the integrations list

  3. Enter your Virtuous API Key

  4. Enter your Default Communication ID

  5. Select your API version (v1 or v2)

  6. Click Test Connection to verify your credentials are working

  7. Once the test passes, select your integration mode (see below)

  8. Toggle Enabled to activate the integration

If the connection test fails, double-check your API key and Communication ID. See Connection Test Failures for detailed troubleshooting steps.

Choosing Your Integration Mode

During setup, you'll choose how donation data flows from WeGive to Virtuous. There are two modes:

Batch Integration (Recommended) groups donations into batches and sends them to the Virtuous Import Tool. Your team reviews and confirms donor matches before the data is committed to your Virtuous database. This gives you a quality control checkpoint, reduces API calls, and helps prevent duplicate records. For a full walkthrough of how batch mode and the Import Tool work, see Batch Integration & the Virtuous Import Tool.

Real-Time Integration pushes each donation directly into your Virtuous database the moment it's received in WeGive. There is no review step. This can work for organizations with low donation volume and minimal duplicate risk, but it carries a higher chance of hitting Virtuous API rate limits (10,000 calls per hour) and offers no opportunity to catch data issues before they enter your CRM.

We recommend Batch Integration for most organizations.

Configuration Options

After connecting, you'll see several additional settings in your Virtuous integration configuration. These are all optional and can be changed at any time.

Archive Funds When Inactive automatically archives a fund in WeGive when the corresponding project is marked as inactive in Virtuous. Enable this if you want fund availability in WeGive to follow your Virtuous project status.

Archive Funds When Not Public archives funds in WeGive when the corresponding Virtuous project is marked as not public. This is useful if you only want publicly available projects to appear as active funds in WeGive.

Archive Funds When Not Available Online archives funds in WeGive when the Virtuous project is not available for online donations. Enable this to keep your online fund list aligned with what Virtuous allows for online giving.

Send Processing ACH as Success controls when ACH donations are synced to Virtuous. By default, WeGive waits until an ACH transaction is fully confirmed before syncing it. Enabling this setting sends ACH donations to Virtuous immediately while they're still processing, rather than waiting for final confirmation. This is helpful if you want donations to appear in Virtuous right away, but be aware that if an ACH payment later fails, you'll need to handle that update manually.

Next Steps

Once the integration is connected and configured, your next step depends on whether you have historical data to bring over:

  • If you have existing data in Virtuous, see Migrating Your Historical Data for the recommended import process

  • If you're starting fresh, the integration will begin syncing new data automatically based on your selected mode

  • To understand exactly which fields map between the two systems, see Field Mapping Reference