Generic donation platforms run on one calendar: Gregorian. Alora Giving runs on six. Each one drives its own appeal window, banner copy, receipt date, and report-window aggregation. The right calendar reaches the right donor at the right moment.
Pick a calendar. The platform configures the festival list, the appeal-drafting cadence, the receipt date format, and the report-window aggregation. Mix calendars per affiliated organisation.
Key windows: Q4 year-end giving (Nov–Dec), tax-season receipts (Jan–Apr), fiscal-year-end appeals (configurable).
Why it matters: Year-end giving (Nov–Dec) is the single biggest window for secular and faith-linked organizations in Western markets — the platform pre-drafts the year-end push in September so you're not scrambling in December.
Key seasons: Stewardship season (Oct–Nov), Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday, Pentecost, All Saints, Reformation Sunday.
Why it matters: Easter attendance is 2–4× a normal Sunday in most churches. An appeal that misses Easter misses the year's highest-attention moment — the platform drafts it three weeks ahead so it's never missed.
Key festivals: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Hanukkah, Purim, Pesach, Shavuot, Tisha B'Av.
Why it matters: The High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah + Yom Kippur + Kol Nidre) drive the majority of annual synagogue giving. The platform pre-drafts the Kol Nidre appeal in August so pledge cards are ready well before the Days of Awe.
Key months: Ramadan (fasting + Laylat al-Qadr), Dhū al-Ḥijjah (Hajj + Eid al-Adha + first ten days), Muharram (new year + Ashura), Rabi al-Awwal (Mawlid).
Why it matters: Ramadan moves ~11 days earlier every Gregorian year — a March campaign this year needs to be a February campaign next. The platform recalculates automatically; your team never has to rebuild the calendar from scratch.
Key festivals: Diwali (Kārtika), Holi (Phālguna), Navratri (Aśvina), Akshaya Tritiya (Vaiśākha — legacy giving peak), Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi.
Why it matters: Akshaya Tritiya (Vaiśākha) is traditionally the auspicious giving day in Hindu tradition — the platform flags it as a pre-draft window weeks ahead, alongside Diwali and Navaratri.
Key festivals: Vesak / Buddha Purnima (full moon, May), Asalha Puja (Dharma Day), Vassa (three-month rain retreat), Kathina (robe-offering at retreat end).
Why it matters: Vesak (Buddha Purnima) is the highest dana occasion in Theravada tradition — the platform pre-drafts appeals calibrated to the lunar full-moon date, which shifts each year.
The calendar isn't a display option. It's wired into appeal generation, banner copy, receipt formatting, and report aggregation.
Three weeks before each major observance — Pentecost, Shavuot, Dhū al-Ḥijjah, Akshaya Tritiya, Vesak — appeal drafts appear in your inbox. Vocabulary-correct, audience-segmented, ready to approve.
Donate-page banners, receipt headers, and admin-dashboard greetings reflect the active observance per visitor's cultural cohort. A Muslim donor sees "Ramadan Mubarak"; a Christian donor sees "Pentecost greetings"; a secular donor sees nothing tradition-specific.
Tax receipts carry the donor's preferred date convention: Gregorian-only for secular donors, Gregorian+Hijri for Muslim donors, Gregorian+Hebrew for Jewish donors. End-of-year statements aggregate across the donor's elected fiscal window.
Run a "Ramadan giving" report and the platform aggregates correctly across Hijri lunar boundaries — even when Ramadan straddles two Gregorian months. Same for stewardship season, Akshaya Tritiya window, High Holy Days period.
A multi-religion foundation can host a Catholic parish, a Reform synagogue, and a Sunni masjid as child brands. Each child runs its own calendar default; the parent rolls up aggregate finance across all three.
Each calendar's festival list, season descriptions, and appeal vocabulary are reviewed by named subject-matter experts from each tradition before publish. Audit trail preserved per change.
Pick your organisation type. The platform configures the right calendar default, the right vocabulary, the right payment methods. Switch or extend at any time — your data follows.