Facts about Web Donations
If you are one of those individuals who love helping people in need, then you have likely considered starting a donation page or website. There are a few things you should consider when starting down this road of web donations. Collecting web donations can be a complex and confusing road to go down. You want to do the best for the person or organization you are collecting for but here are a few facts about web donations you need to consider.
Processor
First, use a platform or software that allows you to receive the funds in a timely manner. Start by looking at existing donation platform programs so you don’t spend months or even years building something from scratch. Using an existing platform allows you to focus more on the problem and less about processing payments.
Security
Second, make sure your payment processor platform uses a secure connection and processing. You can certainly use a processor like PayPal, but there are others out there that are secure and offer many more options.
Mobile
Third, your platform should be optimized for mobile use. With more than 75% of all web traffic coming from mobile devices you will be missing out on a large portion of donors by not having a great mobile experience. Younger users typically search the web on their smartphones and tablets instead of sitting at a desktop or laptop.
Thank You
Finally, make sure that you accept web donations of any amount. Inform your donors that you accept monetary donations of any amount. This creates a trust with your donor that you are not looking to only accept large donations. Treat every donation as it was the largest donation your organization has ever received. Send them a personal Thank you after the donation send an appreciative message.
Tools
You certainly can use PayPal to accept donations, but there are other platforms that can offer more detail and less work.
Gofundme is a good platform for setting up a one time donation page and collection. Donatezilla.com is a better choice for on-going donation collection. Reports on deposits and a way to send personal Thank You emails to your donors.
There are a lot of donation platforms out there and choosing the right one is important. Choose one that works best for your organization and is easy to use. One final thing to consider is customer support. Who do you contact when you have an issue. Someone local can be ideal, but that isn’t always possible. Email them and see how long it takes for a support person to respond. If they don’t respond in a timely manner move on to another platform.