Effective Ways of Accepting Donations Online

I think we can all agree that the health of almost every organization can be measured by its financial standings because the lifeline of every organization is in its finances whether that is obtained from donations or an income or a combination of both. A healthy and successful charity or non-profit organization is one that is strong financially. One of the main sources of financial support for charities are donations. Today, a large chunk of those donations come from online. But what are the best ways of accepting donations online?

In this blog, we will be introducing or possibly reintroducing you to four of the best online donations platforms.

Let’s get started with PayPal 

PayPal is a popular secure payment platform used around the world.  One of its key features is the ability to allow organizations or individuals to accept donations online. Donors only need to know either the contact number, email address, or contact name to make successful donations.

Other Key features on PayPal are;

• Wide Acceptance of major card types (Credit Cards, debit Cards & Prepaid Cards)

• Ease of integration with websites

• Flexibility to offer various donation options for donors

• Ability to accept recurring donations

• Compatible with QR codes, emails and shareable URLs

It’s not all rosy on PayPal though. For instance, it does not offer a section where you can post your story and photos to encourage donations. It’s also a little restrictive in the sense that all donations must come from a registered PayPal account. This can discourage donors who do not have registered PayPal accounts.

Next up is GoFundMe 

GoFundMe is a unique platform that is designed specifically for accepting donations online from many sources popularly known as crowdfunding. This platform has some really great features. Let’s run through the key ones;

• Allows organizations/users to feature their unique story alongside donations

• Provides an avenue to accept donations without necessarily creating an account

• You receive the donations quickest on this platform.

• Provides the ability to create/manage your unique fundraising goals

• Allows for customized Thank you messages to each donor

Donors have the flexibility of donating on their mobile device or computer with a simple click of a button. And oh, there is also NO platform fee. Yeah…you heard right!

Unfortunately, GoFundMe is only supported in 19 countries. So, you may want to check if you are in an eligible country before you get too excited. Also, there are limited customer service options on the platform which may make the experience not so worthwhile.

On to the next one … Venmo 

Like PayPal, Venmo is a very user-friendly, convenient and quick platform for sending and receiving donations. To get started, all you need to do is download the mobile app to your smartphone or tablet.

It also allows donations from bank accounts, debit cards and credit cards at a small fee. It has a nice way of adding social elements to payments. Donors can comment, like or even share on the Venmo App which is really cool.

One major downside on Venmo that needs improvement is the security or privacy settings. Any Venmo user can view your past activities (ie: donor’s username and recipient’s username). This can deter donors who like to be discrete and anonymous.

Venmo is also very restrictive in terms of location. Venmo registration can only be done in the United States. So, if you are not in the US, Venmo is not for you!

Last but not the least is Cash App 

Chances are that you may have heard of Cash App. If you are unfamiliar with this popular mobile payment app, then you will want to know about all the advantages that this service offers.

Venmo and Cash App are very similar in terms of convenience and ease of use. While you as a recipient have no receiving limits, donors can be restricted with limits. Donations on Cash App are very secure so you will have nothing to worry about.

Cash App provides the options for investment in Stocks and Bitcoin. Some of the unique features on Cash App comes at a fee.

Now that you are better informed on the options for accepting donations online. Take your time, review and select the app that suits you and your organisation the most.