Donation Page Implementation: The Decisions That Matter
Building the pages and payment flows that nonprofits use to accept online donations.
Marcus Adeyemi
The key figures
- Payment security
- card handling follows payment industry standards
- Receipts
- donors need written acknowledgment for larger gifts
- Recurring gifts
- need clear terms and easy cancellation
- State registration
- soliciting donations may require registration
Why this is worth getting right
Donation pages combine payment security, receipting and state solicitation rules with a persuasive user experience.
Do this, not that
Do
- Use hosted payment fields to reduce security scope
- Send compliant receipts automatically
- Make recurring donation terms clear
- Offer simple cancellation and amount changes
- Keep donor data access restricted
Don’t
- Custom card forms without hosted fields
- Receipts missing required wording
- Recurring gifts that are hard to cancel
- Donor data shared across tools without control
When to bring in help
Our advice Bring in help when nonprofits launch fundraising campaigns.
Where this comes from
- PCI Security Standards Council — PCI DSS
- Internal Revenue Service — Charitable organizations
The figures and practices above come from the sources listed.
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Where to go next
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