If you’re a non-profit looking for regular donations and you’re currently using a system that only allows one-time payments, you need to look at PayPal.

PayPal allows recurring donations, and it’s super easy to set it up.

Let’s get started.

First, get yourself a PayPal Business Account.

Second, configure the recurring donation buttons in PayPal. You’ll need to create separate buttons for any recurring donation you want to offer, so follow this process for each. You can choose to use PayPal’s button images or your own. This  really is very quick and easy.

PayPal Merchant Services

Here’s how to set up recurring donations in PayPal:

1. Log in to your Business PayPal account.
2. Click the Merchant Services tab.
3. Click Subscribe in the Create Buttons section,.
4. Choose your currency and enter the donation amount to be billed each recurrence, for instance $10, $25, $50, etc.
5. Enter the billing frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.).
6. Choose your payment method – either your merchant account number or your paypal email address. Neither is visible to donors.
7. Click on Create Button to save your work. You can now continue to create more buttons for additional recurring donation options.

Create a PayPal Payment Button

Your next step is to copy your button code to your page. To do this, go to ‘My Saved Buttons’, and click on the ‘Action’ button next to the donation button you want. Choose the option to ‘View Code’, copy it and paste it where you need it.

PayPal Donate Button Form Code

Here’s a few tips for creating your donation buttons:

• You don’t need to use the ‘Customize Buttons’ options.
• You can ignore the ‘Have PayPal create usernames and passwords’ option unless you’re technical.
• Choose ‘Never’ to let the billing cycles continue forever – you’ll have to determine how your want to handle this.
• Try to bill a customer again after a failed attempt if the first try fails – it makes good sense.
• And there is no need to offer a trial to your subscribers. You want donations, not a test of a feel-good act.

And here’s how a finished page can look.

PayPal Donation Buttons

charlie

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