Fund Raising Through Your Website

by Karin Allen

If your nonprofit has its own website, there are many different ways you can use it to solicit donations. You can adapt any of the suggestions in the Fund Raising Via E-mail hot sheet; you can include a link to one or more charity malls; or you can configure your website to accept donations through a donation portal, your own secure server, or a donation engine. In any case, you should place some sort of "donate here" button on the front page of your website in a prominent place.

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But before you begin asking for donations online, it is important to take a look at the out-of-state solicitation issue. To avoid legal improprieties, you must make it very clear on your website that you are only asking for donations from your own state...either that, or spend the time and money necessary to register in 39 states each year (See our Legal Considerations hot sheet for an explanation of the problem).

Now we can move on to consider the question of how to accept these online donations.

Secure Servers

Ideally, a visitor to your website would be able to click a single button, fill out the proper information, and give you a credit card donation on the spot - all without leaving your site. This process would be similar to, but less complicated than, making a purchase with an online retailer. For example, if you buy a book from Amazon.com, the whole purchase takes place on their website, using a secure server to keep your credit card information safe from prying eyes. However, in order for you to make this transaction work on your website, you must have a) a merchant account with a local bank, b) a website host server which can handle secure transactions, and c) a website designer who can handle the necessary coding. This is more than most non-profits can afford. Fortunately, there are several alternatives.

Charity Malls

Charity malls are online retailers who give a percentage of their sales to selected non-profits. To add your non-profit to a charity mall's list, you normally have to register with the mall and place a banner ad for it on your website. While this system does avoid the legal issues mentioned above (The malls have to register in the 39 states, but you do not), non-profits have not tradionally reaped large rewards from such an affiliation.
        Popular charity malls include 4charity.com, GreaterGood.com, Igive.com, and ShopForChange.com. Visit our Links page for a complete list.

Donation Engines

A donation engine is a service which processes online donations for your website. You register on their site, download their software and configure it for your system, and they do all or most of the rest. When visitors to your site make donations, the transaction is redirected to the donation engine's home site - although "transparent" donation engines will make the process appear to take place on your site.

The advantage to this system is that you, the non-profit, don't have to worry about the details. The disadvantage is that the company running the engine takes a cut of the donation. You also may have to buy the software and pay a monthly fee for usage.

While a better bet than the charity malls, a donation engine is probably not your best option for website fund raising. In my opinion, the best option is the donation portal.

Donation Portals

There are a few organizations which conduct the entire donation process on their website and which relay all or almost all of the funds directly to the chosen non-profit. NetworkForGood.org, established by the AOL Foundation, is a prime example. If someone donates to your cause through the NetworkForGood.org (formerly Helping.org) website, all but the small (2% or less) fee subtracted by the donor's credit card company comes directly to you. Best of all, chances are that your non-profit already has an information page in its database, because Helping.org is affiliated with GuideStar (an online directory of non-profits which takes its information from the IRS), and it has access to all GuideStar's records.

Note: Every non-profit should check its own listing in GuideStar to be sure the information is updated and accurate. It should also register with GuideStar (a free service, but one which will take some time and possibly a bit of research) in order to add more information about itself: goals, mission, accomplishments, website address, etc. GuideStar is a highly reputable site, and one to which you can point prospects who want to research your organization. In addition, updating your information on the GuideStar site will automatically update your information on the NetworkForGood.org site.

Once you've registered with GuideStar, you can post a "Donate Now" button on your website which will link visitors directly to your donation page at NetworkForGood.org; from there, they can donate with a click of a mouse. But again, you must not use this button unless you understand the legal implications. Read our Legal Considerations hot sheet for more information.

NetworkForGood.org (formerly Helping.org) is the donation portal with which I am most familiar, but other reputable portals include 4charity.com, AllCharities.com, GiveForCharity.com, and GiveNation.com. Visit our Links page for a complete list.

More Hot Sheets....

• Fund Raising Via E-Mail
• Legal Considerations of Fund Raising Online

• Hot Sheets Main Menu

For Further Information....

• How Can We Use the Internet for Fundraising?: lots of great information, very comprehensive but slightly dated, long list of helpful online resources at bottom of page.
• Cybergifts vs. Direct Mail: straight-talking criticisms of both DM and online giving, predicts online giving will grow in popularity.
• Online Donations: Sorting out the Chaos: offers detailed information about accepting credit card donations, as well as advice on configuring your own website to accept donations.

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