How we found and fixed a campaign totals issue

At DynaRaise, every naira donated has to be accounted for. Recently we ran a full audit that compared each campaign’s displayed “amount raised” and donation count with the individual donation records behind it.

Some of those totals were wrong. This post explains what we found, what it meant for fundraisers and donors, and what we’ve done about it.

What we found

27 campaign pages showed a lower amount raised, and fewer donations, than their records:

• ₦696,035.80 was missing from the displayed totals
• 384 donations were missing from the donation counts
• The largest single gap on a fundraiser’s campaign was ₦147,508.80

Four of the 27 were campaigns DynaRaise runs itself (including our Ramadan Giving drive), and they account for ₦160,602 of the total. The other 23 belong to fundraisers and organisations, with ₦535,433.80 restored across them.

No campaign showed more than it had received. Every mismatch went the same way: the page showed less than was donated. That means no fundraiser was paid out money that wasn’t there, and nothing has to be taken back from anyone.

Were donations lost?

No. Every donation on DynaRaise is stored as its own record, with the payment provider’s reference attached. That’s exactly how we were able to find each gap and correct it to the kobo.

Donors’ money reached the campaigns they chose, and no donor was charged twice. What drifted was only the running total and count shown on the campaign page.

Why it happened

When several donations reached the same campaign at the same moment, the update to that campaign’s running total could overwrite another one. Each donation was saved correctly, but the page’s total and count could miss one of them.

That’s why the campaigns most affected were the ones that receive bursts of many small donations at once, mostly Ramadan drives. One of our own Ramadan campaigns was missing 200 donations from its count.

What we’ve done

• Corrected every affected campaign. Each total and donation count was recalculated from its donation records, and every change was logged.
• Changed how totals are updated. Each donation is now added to the campaign total in a single step that can’t overwrite another, so donations arriving at the same moment are always counted.
• Made double-recording impossible. Each payment reference can now only be recorded once, even if the payment provider notifies us more than once.
• Labelled transfers between campaigns. Internal transfers are now clearly marked and linked to where they came from, so they’re never confused with donor gifts in reports.
• Added a daily audit. An automated check now compares every campaign against its donation records each day and alerts our team immediately if anything drifts.

If you’re a fundraiser

If your campaign was one of the 23, we’ve already emailed you with the exact amount and number of donations added and your corrected total. The updated balance is available for payout now.

If you have questions about your campaign, email us at support@dynaraise.com.

If you’re a donor

There’s nothing you need to do. Your donation was recorded the moment you made it and went to the campaign you chose. If you gave to one of the affected campaigns, its page now shows your gift in the total.

Our commitment

We’re sorry this happened, and for any confusion it caused. We’d rather tell you about it than hope nobody noticed.

Transparency is the reason DynaRaise exists: every donation is visible and traceable. This audit is that principle working, and the daily check means we’ll catch any future drift within a day, not months later.

Thank you for trusting DynaRaise with your giving.

The DynaRaise Team