Setting up to Receive Donations
As online giving becomes more prevalent, many charities are beginning to ask questions about the various provider options to receive donations. It’s a question that most charities who want an online presence should be asking. If you don’t already have the ability to take donations online, you should consider doing so. Online donating is the most preferred method of giving for those born after 1965. With so many different providers out there though, it can be difficult to know where to start.
We aren’t suggesting any provider over the others. Each has its own pros and cons that will either suit your needs or not. This post is to highlight what some of the options are. Price should only be a start point when considering the best provider for you to receive donations. Other questions you should be asking are:
- How easy is it to setup? Do they provide free support, or are you needing to do it all yourself?
- Do they integrate with your website CMS (such as WordPress or Weebly), form entry programs, and social media platforms such as Facebook?
- Do they offer the ability to process recurring donations?
- How often do payments clear into your bank account?
- Are they run through hosted pages (such as GiveaLittle), or do they integrate with your own website?
- Do they only take credit cards to receive donations, or can they also take payments from bank accounts?
- How easy is their documentation to understand? How responsive are they to your initial questions? This will usually be a good indicator to how they will support you once you are a customer.
If you are going to ask for donations from the public, make sure you are aware of your legal obligations. Not all not-for-profits can offer donation receipts for tax credits. A good checklist resource to find out if you can or not is here:
http://www.creativenz.govt.nz/development-and-resources/donations-toolkit/checklist-for-accepting-donations
If your donations are eligible for tax credits, make sure you use Donation Manager to generate your end of year receipts.
What’s the difference between an all-in-one provider, and splitting the process between a gateway and a merchant to receive donations?
The main differences will often be in price, and the number of providers you have to deal with. When you are first setting up to receive donations it’s often much easier and quicker to use an all-in-one provider. This is particularly true if you don’t have high volumes to negotiate with. They can take care of all facets of the setup, and it might be up and running in a matter of a couple of days.
This option can be more expensive than if your merchant is your bank. If you have a bank account set up already, your bank won’t need to verify your identity like other providers will. This will save time, but it means you will also need to sign up with a gateway provider. The gateway provider will still need to verify you from their end to provide cheaper rates.
Below is a pricing structure table from the different providers here in New Zealand. These prices can be a start point for negotiations if you have a high volume of donations, as this brings down the per transaction cost.
All-in-One Providers
| Name | Setup Cost | Fixed Cost | Transaction Cost | Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eWay | – | – | 2.7% | Cheaper transaction plan available below |
| Donorbox | – | – | Uses Stripe and Paypal. Free for under $1,000 a month, then 1.5%. | Makes receiving donations on your website very easy. Add these costs to Stripe or Paypal. |
| Ezidebit | $1.50 per customer | Minimum $20.70 per month | Minimum 90c. 90c for Direct Debit, Visa and MC 2.75%, AMEX and Diners 4.22% | 2 day settlement |
| Flo2Cash | $3 per direct debit customer | $30 per month | 2.7% and 15c for credit cards. $1.50 per transaction for direct debits. | Cheaper transaction pricing for higher Fixed Cost |
| Givealittle | – | – | 5% per transaction | Hosted page |
| Payment Express/DPS | – | – | – | Contact them for direct pricing, or use a partner (example). |
| Paypal | – | – | 30c and 2.2% | Clears to Paypal account. Costs $1 to withdraw from Paypal if you withdraw less than NZ$100 |
| Pin Payments | – | – | 30c and 2.9% | – |
| Stripe | – | – | 30c and 2.9% | – |
| CyberCom | $99 | – | 1.29% | Used to be called SwipeHQ |
Gateway + Merchant
| Name | Setup Cost | Fixed Cost | Transaction Cost | Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merchant – ASB as an example of the banks | – | – | 0.7% – 1.0% MC and Visa | Must have banking with ASB |
| Gateway – eWay | – | $15 per month | 10 free then 10c each | – |
| Gateway – Create Hosting | $150 | $50 | 100 free then 50c each | Only available with DPS |
Is there a provider missing that you would be able to provide pricing for? Let us know in the comments or by getting in touch on the contact page!
Do we have to use Xero for Donation manager to work?
Hi Teriria, Donation Manager works perfectly well as a standalone product.
I have been having real trouble getting Donation Manager to import a csv file from Xero, using the template provided as well as saving the Excel file from Xero as a csv file.
Are there are others having similar problems, or am I the only one?
Many thanks.
Not the only one.! DM doesn’t seem to want to accept the files. I exported from Xero and then uploaded the file to Google drive, then downloaded again as a CSV file to get it into that format, but DM still doesn’t want to upload the file. I keep on getting the message ” failed” with using DM template.
This system provides the pdf files – but how is everyone then automatically emailing out the pdfs to the donors?