Query works on local environment but fails on shared hosting???

You cannot do a group by on things that you dont select as well

$query = DB::table('campaigns')
    ->join('categories', 'campaigns.category_id', '=', 'categories.id')
    ->leftJoin('donations', 'campaigns.id', '=', 'donations.campaign_id')
    ->select(
        'campaigns.id',
        'campaigns.title',
        'categories.name',
        'campaigns.status',
        'campaigns.user_id',
        DB::raw('SUM(donations.donation_amount) as donation_amount')
    )
    ->groupBy([
        'campaigns.id',
        'campaigns.title',
        'categories.name',
        'campaigns.status',
        'campaigns.user_id',
]);

or

$query = DB::table('campaigns')
    ->join('categories', 'campaigns.category_id', '=', 'categories.id')
    ->leftJoin('donations', 'campaigns.id', '=', 'donations.campaign_id')
    ->select(
        'campaigns.id',
        DB::raw('SUM(donations.donation_amount) as donation_amount')
    )
->groupBy('campaigns.id');

Your local MySQL is not eforcing strict group bys and your server is.

When you use GROUP BY you should list all non-aggregate columns:

$query = DB::table('campaigns')
    ->join('categories', 'campaigns.category_id', '=', 'categories.id')
    ->leftJoin('donations', 'campaigns.id', '=', 'donations.campaign_id')
    ->select(
        'campaigns.id',
        'campaigns.title',
        'categories.name',
        'campaigns.status',
        'campaigns.user_id',
        DB::raw('SUM(donations.donation_amount) as donation_amount')
    )
    ->groupBy([
        'campaigns.id',
        'campaigns.title',
        'categories.name',
        'campaigns.status',
        'campaigns.user_id',
    ]);

Or at least, depending on your database config, a primary/unique column from each table that have a non-aggregate column (easier to list all of them)

It is possible to turn the strict version off by adding this to your database config

            'strict' => false,

But it isnt recommended

As @sinnbeck mentioned , it is not recommended to turn strict mode off, it can lead to unexpected and hard to debug results.

I mentioned the strict mode in my response to highlight why it might be working on one installation and not the other.

The adoption of strict mode by MySQL was an evolution to prevent common errors and make it more compatible with other DBMS engines.

@sinnbeck you are awesome!!! 🤩😎👊

Ya this works but what you say make complete sense! Thanks

'strict' => false,

@rodrigo.pedra thanks for the help! Appreciated 👏👏👏

You’re welcome! Have a nice day =)