If your nonprofit wants to start accepting online and mobile donations, you need a donation processing tool. Donation processing tools take your donor’s funds and deposit them into your nonprofit’s bank account.
While there are hundreds of different donation processing tools that your nonprofit could choose from, it’s important to find the one that meets your specific fundraising needs and goals.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about choosing the right nonprofit donation processor, including:Â
- Nonprofit Donation Processing FAQs
- 5 Must-Have Features for Nonprofit Donation Processing
- Top 7 Nonprofit Donation Processors
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Nonprofit donation processing allows you to take control of your donations and provide donors with a safe and easy way to give. Ready to learn more? Let’s get started!
Nonprofit Donation Processing FAQs
Review these common questions to discover what nonprofit donation processing is
and how it can support your fundraising efforts. With this foundational knowledge, your search for the perfect provider should be a breeze!
What is donation processing?Â
Nonprofit donation processing is the process of managing and facilitating an online or mobile giving transaction. This process occurs starting from when a donor’s financial information is first entered into your donation form to when that information is translated into a donation and deposited into your organization’s bank account.Â
How does nonprofit donation processing work?
After a donor fills out the necessary information on your donation form and presses submit, their contribution is transferred to a payment gateway, where their information is kept safe. Meanwhile, your donation processor alerts the credit card card company and bank associated with the transaction.Â
The bank then approves or denies the transaction. Once approved, the credit card company moves the money from the donor’s bank account into yours. All of this happens within seconds.
Keep in mind that every donation processor takes a percentage of your gift to account for processing fees. For credit card transactions, this will be a card processing fee plus a percentage of the transaction. However, you can provide an option for donors to cover the processing fees and ensure you receive your donations in full.Â
5 Must-Have Features for Nonprofit Donation Processing
As you search for a nonprofit donation processing tool, look out for these key features:Â
- Low processing fees: Although it costs money to process donations, it shouldn’t be a financial burden for your nonprofit. Look for a platform that has low credit card processing fees and provides donors with an option to offset those fees. Most donors will be willing to pay less than $5 (as that’s normally the cost) to help your nonprofit receive the entirety of their donation. Â
- Flexible payment options: Find a donation processor that accepts all major credit cards, including electronic transactions and international payments. This provides donors with multiple giving options.Â
- Secure payment processing: It’s important to choose a processor that complies with Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards, because it means they work diligently to protect cardholders from data leaks and theft.
- Credit card storage: Securing a donor’s card on file makes giving easier, helping to drive long-term value for your nonprofit. An effective donation processor will naturally convince donors to put their credit card on file by demonstrating how easy it is to support you.
- Additional fundraising features: Most donation processors are designed specifically for nonprofits, meaning they offer other tools to help boost your fundraising revenue. For instance, Snowball offers customizable donation forms, recurring gift options, and fundraising thermometers to help you raise more.Â
These donation processing features allow your nonprofit to accept donations with ease. Donors, in turn, will see how easy and secure your donation process is and feel more inclined to give again. In the long run, this helps to boost your donor retention rates and improve your fundraising efforts.Â
Top 7 Nonprofit Donation Processing Tools
There are hundreds of different donation processing tools available to your nonprofit. To help you narrow down your search, we’ve compiled a list of our favorites so you can start raising more with online donations.Â
1. Snowball – Best Tool for Accepting DonationsÂ
Nonprofit Donation Processing Overview
Snowball is a comprehensive fundraising platform that allows your nonprofit to accept donations using online giving tools like donate buttons, embeddable donation forms, donation pages, and text-to-give features.Â
Even better, this nonprofit donation processing tool is effective at converting regular supporters into repeat donors by securing credit card information and donor data for future giving.Â
Why This Nonprofit Donation Processor Stands Out
Snowball allows you to create custom donation form fields, turn on recurring donation frequency options, and enable supporters to pay your credit card processing fees. With Stripe as their payment processing partner, you can ensure your donations are secure.Â
Simply link your bank account to your fundraising campaign page and start receiving donations within days.
PricingÂ
Snowball’s premium plan provides you with unlimited access to fundraising campaigns, email blasts, text-to-give, and donation processing for a 2.5% + $0.30 transaction fee.Â
2. Stripe – Best Tool for Fundraising Integration
Nonprofit Donation Processing Overview
Stripe is an online payment processor and credit card processing platform that accepts all major credit cards in over 135 different currencies. With this easy-to-use platform, all donors have to do is enter their credit card information on your website’s donation page and their payment information will automatically be passed along to Stripe for processing.
Why This Nonprofit Donation Processor Stands Out
Stripe accepts more payment options than any other provider. Plus, it integrates with Snowball’s comprehensive fundraising features, making it the ideal platform for nonprofits. With Snowball and Stripe, you can send out automatic receipts, reminders, and notifications for every donation and purchase.
Pricing
Stripe’s regular payment processing fee is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. However, they offer a reduced rate for nonprofits, down to 2.7% + $0.50 per transaction for verified 501(c)(3) organizations.
3. Fundly – Best Tool for Crowdfunding
Nonprofit Donation Processing OverviewÂ
Fundly is a leading crowdfunding platform that allows nonprofits and individuals to maximize their online donations with personalized fundraising pages. For the technical credit card processing, Fundly gives users the option of going through WePay or Stripe.
Why This Nonprofit Donation Processor Stands Out
Fundly goes beyond payment processing, allowing your nonprofit to reach more donors and raise more money through crowdfunding. The platform also includes built-in gamification tools to provide donors with fundraising incentives, like t-shirts and water bottles. This rewards system is an easy way to boost your fundraising efforts and re-energize donors.
Plus, Fundly seamlessly integrates with 360MatchPro, a matching gift software. Automatically collect matching gift eligibility from donors within your donation forms to increase your fundraising revenue.
PricingÂ
Collecting crowdfunding donations through Fundly is free! Organizations will only pay a platform fee and 2.9% + 0.30 per transaction payment processing fee once they start receiving funds.
4. Regpack – Best Tool for Virtual Event Fundraising
Nonprofit Donation Processing OverviewÂ
Regpack is an online registration software that specializes in virtual event fundraising. This platform offers key features such as embeddable registration forms, group registration options, scheduling and check-in tools, and donation processing. Their PCI-compliant payment processor allows you to create customizable forms and collect donations directly from your website.
Why This Nonprofit Donation Processor Stands Out
Accept donations and manage your virtual fundraising events with Regpack. During your online auction or gala, you can send out donation forms that only ask for the most necessary information, allowing donors to quickly lend their support amid the excitement.
PricingÂ
Regpack’s plans start at $125/month with 2.1% in processing fees. Get a quote and request a demo to learn more.Â
5. Braintree – Best Tool for Donation Tracking
Nonprofit Donation Processing OverviewÂ
Braintree is a PayPal company offering flexible donation processing to nonprofits. With this powerful platform, you can accept donations from Apple Pay, Venmo, and all traditional credit and debit card payments.Â
Although Braintree is easy for donors to make a contribution, it’s a bit more complicated on the nonprofit’s end. In most cases, nonprofits will require a developer to get their payment interface up and running. After that, you can begin accepting donations and tracking donor information.
Why This Nonprofit Donation Processor Stands OutÂ
Braintree’s reporting features allow your nonprofit to set custom tracking options to help you stay on top of your fundraising goals. With their reporting feature, your team can view transaction history by card type, date, and more. You’ll also have access to disputes, settlements, and real-time notifications.Â
Pricing
Braintree’s standard processing rate is 2.59% plus $0.49 per transaction.Â
6. Venmo – Best Tool for Social Proof
Nonprofit Donation Processing Overview
Venmo is a digital wallet made for peer-to-peer payment processing. To take advantage of this popular payment platform, nonprofits simply have to create a business profile.Â
Then, instead of going through the formal process of filling out a donation form, donors can send money directly to your bank account.Â
Why This Nonprofit Donation Processor Stands OutÂ
Venmo provides nonprofits with a powerful fundraising tool: social proof. With the “friends feed” feature, donors can share their charitable contribution with their network. This provides your nonprofit with free publicity and increases your chances of reaching more donors.Â
Plus, making a donation on Venmo is convenient. It only takes supporters a minute to complete the donation process right from their wallet or the linked bank account.
Pricing
Venmo doesn’t charge any monthly fees. Instead, there’s a 1.9% + $0.10 fee for accepting donations.
7. SparkVirtual – Best Tool for Point-of-Sale Transactions
Nonprofit Donation Processing OverviewÂ
SparkVirtual is perfect for nonprofits that use point-of-sale transactions to accept donations or purchases. This donation processing tool integrates seamlessly with a DipJar device, a credit card reader designed specifically for nonprofits.Â
Using the device, Spark enables you to display your fundraising progress in real-time each time a donor gives.
Why This Nonprofit Donation Processor Stands Out
With SparkVirtual, you can give donors the option to cover the transaction fees associated with making their donation. In offering this feature, you’ll receive the full amount of the donor’s intended gift.Â
Your nonprofit will also receive access to a suite of tools to help you stay informed about your campaigns and hone your strategy. These tools include donation tracking, campaign specific impact results, and donor management.
PricingÂ
SparkVirtual offers a 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee, along with $299 per Dipjar device that you purchase.Â
Choosing the right nonprofit donation processor is a crucial first step in online fundraising. Now that you know what nonprofit donation processing is and which features to look for, you and your team can decide on the best one to drive your mission forward.Â
If you’re interested in learning more about online giving, check out these additional resources:
- Complete Text-to-Give Guide for Nonprofits and Fundraisers. Looking for more information on mobile giving? Check out our complete guide on text-to-give tools.
- 15 Best Nonprofit Websites + Tips for Making Your Own. Having a well-designed nonprofit website is the key to accepting gifts online. Check out the 15 best nonprofit websites for inspiration and follow our tips to make your own.
- Top 8 Paypal Alternatives: Expert Tools for Nonprofits. PayPal isn’t the only option available to nonprofits looking to accept donations online. Find the right fit for your organization with these PayPal alternatives.
Nonprofit donation processing makes giving easy and secure.
Partner with Snowball to accept donations anytime, anywhere.
