Setting up Recurring Donations on PayPal
Did you know that PayPal is great for donations? It is, and it’s both affordable and manageable. Keep reading and I’ll show you how to set it up.
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:
- Log in to your Business PayPal account.
- Click the Merchant Services tab.
- Click Subscribe in the Create Buttons section,.
- Choose your currency and enter the donation amount to be billed each recurrence, for instance $10, $25, $50, etc.
- Enter the billing frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.).
- Choose your payment method – either your merchant account number or your paypal email address. Neither is visible to donors.
- 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
December 10, 2009
Hi Charlie. Thanks for writing this tutorial. I’ve been wondering how to do this. Once a visitor establishes their donations, how is cancellation handled? Do I need to maintain membership on my site? Or is it completely handled via PayPal?
December 10, 2009
Amy, cancellation is handled through Paypal. And it’s just like any payment gateway – the donors don’t need a Paypal membership, they can use their credit cards. They can also use they Paypal accounts if they choose.
December 10, 2009
Also, does this method require the donor to have a PayPal account? Or can they enter their credit card one time and be finished? If a PayPal account isn’t required by the donor, would my PayPal Business account show the donor as recurring and I cancel manually if I’m not managing membership on my site? I’m researching recurring donations for my non-profit and came across http://networkforgood.org, but their fees are high IMHO.
December 10, 2009
Amy, I just realized that you mean membership on your site (I think). So recurring donations don’t equate to a membership. It’s a separate function. You could off that to members of a site but it’s not part of it.
And yes, all account management is handled within your Paypal account.
I can’t comment on Networkforgood.org – they look reputable and have some excellent backing.
Paypal is in the business of transferring money. Their fees are modest IMHO and they are very reputable. And they make it EASY to give and receive money.