Accept donations online with Flexible, Suggested, and Tiered options.
Ticketstripe offers two ways to accept donations online. You can add donation options to an event page or create a dedicated donation page focused solely on fundraising. Both options come with a customizable URL for easy sharing across your communications, and all pages can be embedded directly on your organization’s website for a seamless donor experience.
Through Ticketstripe’s customizable checkout process, your nonprofit can ask patrons custom questions to get to know them better. Whether you’re asking if they prefer email or physical mail for updates or what drew them to your cause, having a designated space to note your audience’s responses is another piece in perfecting your puzzle.
Want to include the fair market value for each donation? You can! Simply enter the amount, and it will be displayed on the donor’s receipt.
Make donors’ hearts glow with appreciation by crafting a personalized thank-you message that appears on their receipt—a small touch that transforms a transaction into a meaningful connection.
The best part about using Ticketstripe for online donations is that you aren’t stuck paying the fees. You can pass all fees to the buyer, absorb them, or pass on Ticketstripe’s low service fee and absorb the credit card fee, charged by Stripe or PayPal.
Let’s dive into the various donation types you can add to your event and donation pages.
Flexible Donations
Flexible donations allow donors to enter their own donation amount. You can create them as a single donation option or add them to any suggested donation item. If you’re worried about meeting your quota, you can always add a minimum requirement to guarantee you meet your mark.
Suggested & Tier Donations
The most popular way to accept donations online is via suggested and tiered donations. You may add up to seven proposed contribution amounts in a single entry. One of the best ways to utilize suggested donations is with donation tiers. Donation tiers are wonderful for all audiences and act as the “best of both worlds,” allowing you to meet your numbers while helping your patrons select a donation that best fits their lifestyle and budget. This selection is best paired with several options, so you don’t paralyze or fluster your audience.
People are naturally averse to spending, but they also don’t want to feel ungenerous, and believe they’ll have a better experience moving up a tier, so put your preferred donation in the middle.
As social creatures, we take comfort in aligning our actions with those around us. Suggested donations allow patrons to participate with the greater group while adhering to their available budget.
Curious to know more about this type of online benefaction? Take a peek at our donation tiers article here.
Donations with Admission
Donations with admission differ slightly from traditional charitable contributions. Ticketstripe is proud to be the first donation platform that offers donation with admission and ticket sharing. Designed to help nonprofits collect 100% of attendee data from sponsor group tickets and save your organization time chasing down attendee information. This feature streamlines sponsorship donations, allowing a sponsor to receive a package of tickets and easily distribute them to their guests via a ticket wallet. The easy claiming process collects contact information for everyone who claims a shared ticket, building your donor database effortlessly.
In the example below, the organizer ticks the box “Donation includes admission” and bundles 10 individual table tickets and two VIP tickets when creating a Platinum Sponsor donation that will be available on the event page.
Any custom questions the organizer wants to collect per attendee will be included in the form each attendee fills out when claiming their ticket, such as the name of the Sponsor that shared the ticket, if desired.
Mix and Match donation types for the ultimate event page donor box that helps you raise more funds in one convenient location. We want to give the incredible nonprofits doing such important work a leg up, and we know this is a great way to do just that!
Accept Donations Online From Your Website
Want to accept donations directly from your website? Ticketstripe’s embed feature lets you integrate your donation page seamlessly into your website, allowing donors to contribute without ever leaving your site. This creates a frictionless giving experience that can significantly increase donations.
With just a simple HTML code snippet, you can display your donation options directly on your website, maintaining your branding and user experience while leveraging Ticketstripe’s powerful donation tools.
Here’s how to set it up:
- Go to your Ticketstripe dashboard and select “Manage Event”
- Navigate to “Links & Widgets”
- Click on “Website Embed Code”
- Customize how you want your donation form to appear
- Personalize text, background, and button colors to align with your organization’s branding
- Preview your changes to ensure everything looks perfect
- Copy the generated HTML code
- Paste it into your website where you want the donation form to appear
The embed option maintains all the benefits of Ticketstripe’s donation platform:
- Pass all fees to donors (both service and processing fees)
- Ask custom questions to gather valuable donor information
- Accept payments through Stripe or PayPal (both offer discounted nonprofit rates)
- Receive funds directly into your connected payment processor account
Mix and match donation types for the ultimate event page donor box that helps you raise more funds in one convenient location. We want to give the incredible nonprofits doing such important work a leg up, and we know this is a great way to do just that!
Figure Out Your Fees
Once you’ve ticked off your donation style, or combinations thereof, the next step is determining how to handle each donation item’s service and merchant fees. With Stripe and PayPal, you can pass all fees to the buyer, absorb them, or pass on Ticketstripe’s low service fee and absorb the credit card fee.
After reading about these three donation options, you may think, “This sounds lovely, but how do I encourage people to donate and participate in my event?” In addition to a killer social media strategy and email list—which we have comprehensively outlined in previous blog posts—we have three tried-and-true guideposts to masterful marketing.
1. Wow Them With Your Website
If social media platforms are the new business cards, websites are your digital headquarters. Make sure you have a website that reflects your nonprofit’s mission and message! Be thoughtful with your design, and find the colors and themes that speak to what your nonprofit is and what you’re striving to become. A well-designed site tells patrons you’re active and have a clear goal for your foundation. Be sure to add a “Donate” button on your website and social channels that links to your Ticketstripe donation page or use our embed feature to accept donations directly on your site.
2. Show Off Your Successes
When you’ve got it, flaunt it! It’s natural to take pride in your work, and showcasing your wins is a great way to illustrate to your audience the concrete steps you’ve taken to reach your financial and communal goals. Document your achievements across your social media channels to increase your digital footprint. By publicly illuminating your efforts, you encourage new patrons to join your cause, show existing benefactors what their funds are going towards, and create opportunities for further publicity and potential media coverage. Make it clear that you accept donations online so visitors can donate.
Once you’ve accumulated your undeniable successes, start putting together clips to build a press kit for your website, holding all your triumphs in a tidy place.
3. Make Connections
We get by with a little help from our friends. The nonprofit world is small but mighty, and making connections is critical to help meet your goals. Use the power of social media to find other organizations with similar ambitions and reach out. See if you can combine forces to create something incredible– doubling your audience and potential funds. In addition to kindred nonprofits, message local businesses and volunteer groups for their skills and expertise. Take the time to ensure you’re building a name both in your hometown and online to extend your reach fully. Remember that even when using social platforms, success doesn’t blossom overnight. Trust yourself and your team’s ability to shed light on crucial issues, and know that you will make it happen with continued, consistent effort.
Ready to accept donations online? Follow this step-by-step guide to create any of the donations we discussed above. Mix and match to raise more funds!
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