Strategies for Success: Accepting Credit Card Payments

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October 21, 2016

Strategies for Success: Accepting Credit Card Payments

 

Accepting credit cards to enable donors to pay for pledges, make a one-time gift, respond to an emergency appeal, participate in monthly or annual giving programs, or support special events can be a “win/win” for you and your donors.

 

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When paying by card, donors enjoy the ease and convenience of making payments when and where they like, and can earn points towards travel, restaurant experiences, or other perks.

 

Your organization can benefit from collecting and processing donations quickly and may even notice an increase over paper payments.  One recent study reported that credit card gifts brought in 20% more revenue than non-credit card payments.

 

Questions to Ask Before Investing in a Payment Processing Solution 

These important questions will help you to determine the type of software, training, and support you need to assure your online fundraising success.

 

What problem are you seeking to solve with online payment processing?

Many nonprofits operate with small staffs and budgets, yet set ambitious fundraising goals. Online payment processing helps organizations meet or exceed their goals by using Internet and web-based technologies that save them time so they can focus on fundraising efforts.

 

Would you like to accept one-time donations, recurring gifts, or both?

Fulfillment of pledges and monthly giving programs requires a processing solution that makes it easy to safely store credit card or banking information and generate automatic payment processing.

 

Will the solutions you are evaluating reduce time spent on manual data entry?

Make certain that the software you select allows you to authorize the transaction in real-time and automatically records the payment in the donor’s account.  This minimizes staff processing time and cuts down on errors.

 

Are you only aiming to collect donations, or would you like to also sell tickets to fundraising events? 

While it is relatively easy to allow donors to make payments using their credit card, it is much more difficult to process complicated transactions like buying tickets, selecting seats, or ordering premiums for a fundraising event. Customized online forms give donors the information they need to support you.

 

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