Take Advantage of Online Payment Options For Your Non – Profit Organization
One of the biggest mistakes non-profit organizations make is not to take advantage of online payment options. Today, people are moving towards a cashless society. Everyone has a credit or debit card that is used to take care of almost all financial transactions. If a payment for utilities and other services needs to be made, more people are taking advantage of being able to make an online payment. Non-profit organizations should take note of this opportunity.
What do you need to be able to accept online payments? Two primary components make up the online payment system. First, your organization will need to open a merchant account. This account allows one to accept credit cards online. Your organization may already have in place a method to accept credit cards. If so, the organization can easily update the account to work online. Check around to see the different prices that some companies charge for the service before you commit. If you have an account, adding this feature may qualify the organization for a discount.
The second component the organization will need is a payment gateway. A payment gateway could be thought of as a virtual machine where credit cards are swiped. The gateway allows for authorizations in real-time over the Internet. Once again, you should carefully consider any company that offers payment gateway services because of the great number of features and other options that you can use. Another point to consider is that the payment gateway needs to be compatible with any software you may already have in place on the organization’s website.
Once the organization has both parts in place, it can begin to accept online payments. Ensure the site is protected and encrypted to allow people to be comfortable with making an online payment to your organization. Implementing these simple steps can go a long way to increasing the amount of money your non-profit organization has access to.
