Nowadays many charities provide their users with the option of making web donations on their websites. Here we will discuss some of the internet payment services that can be easily used for web donations.
PayPal – Safe and Easy Online Payments
PayPal is a very popular online service that allows you to register a free account that is connected with your email address which will function as your PayPal ID. It is very easy to give and receive payments both large and small via PayPal, which should be very useful for web donations for charities. A user can fund his or her account balance with various methods such as credit card or bank transfer, and the money can then be moved to another account by specifying the recipient’s email address and the amount of money (the payment can also be made directly with a credit card as the source of funds without having to necessarily transfer it to the PayPal account balance first for the purpose of making the web donations). If the recipient has already registered an account with PayPal for that email address, the money will be transferred almost instantly and the recipient will get a notification via email. On the other hand, if the email address is not connected with an existing account, the email recipient will nevertheless receive a message and he or she will be informed about the possibility to register with PayPal and receive the money. PayPal will charge a small percentage fee from the amount of money that is sent, but otherwise this service is free to use. At any point, the user can withdraw the money that is available in the balance and the withdrawal requests are usually processed within few days.
Skrill – Another Easy Way to Make Web Donations
Skrill is the new name for a service that was long known as Moneybookers. The basic idea behind Skrill is very similar to PayPal, and thus it is also very well suited for making and receiving web donations. Just like PayPal, Skrill charges a small fee for the money transfers. Additionally, there is a small fee for withdrawing money. While Skrill may not be as popular as PayPal, it would be good for a charity organization to at least use it along with PayPal since registration is free and web donations are made easier for potential donors when there are multiple options. For example, some potential donor may only be registered with one of these services or may want to make web donations from an account where he or she currently has money available in the balance.
ChipIn – Making Web Donations More Interesting
ChipIn is not really an independently working online payment service all by itself, but it can be very useful in making web donations more interesting and in making their purpose and impact more evident. ChipIn allows the user to create a widget that can be place on the user’s website or blog for the purpose of inviting web donations. The user can express the specific need for which web donations are being asked as well as define a specific amount of money as the goal. The widget will contain graphically represented information on the progress of peoples’ donations toward the goal in terms of amount and percentage. This can be a good way to motivate people to make web donations and to see the difference that they are making.
