The hidden costs of online fundraising can catch you off guard if you have neglected to do the full comparison between percentage and flat fee based charges. If your bank was to charge you a percentage for every dollar you deposited, you would probably say wait a minute, but why is it okay when donors offer their pledges to your organization. For many charitable and non-profit organizations every dollar raised is valuable, in fact, it can be life or death for many simple based organizations.
Although, I understand why Online Pledge Platform companies prefer percentage based solutions, to cover overhead, large staff, marketing and credit card transaction systems, and hey take a portion of all your funds raised, I prefer the simple and secure Non-Profit charitable PayPal solution. I have seen programs that charge between 10-23% for their online solution. Why pay any additional charges when you can open your own PayPal online account, secure the funds instantly and at a minimum earn valuable interest on the funds collected.
That’s right, don’t forget when you use a third party percentage based solution, the hidden costs of online fundraising are also losing the interest in the dollars you raise just while you are waiting to get your dollars back. An example recently of a large national charity that has a Walk-A-Thon and donors donate hundreds of thousands of dollars. At 2% Bank Interest that organization would earn an extra $2,000 which would more than cover a flat based system and ensure that all funds raised go directly to the charity and cause.
Consider RaiseAThon, an online pledge fundraising tool which has no hidden costs. Depending on the level of platform, you are interested in, the cost is between $200-$400. PayPal will charge you 1.9% + 0.30 trx. This is one of the most reasonable programs out there. Build your brand and program, fee is set, and away you go!
So next time, ensure that you have studied the hidden costs of online fundraising before you consider your solution. Remember, in today’s culture, the large solutions will always cost more – which means less to your cause.