Political Fundraising with PayPal
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Raising Campaign Donations Online Is Easier Than You Think!
The most effective way for local political campaigns to raise money is still the 'old-fashioned' way - by making calls and holding events. Personal contacts and solicitation are still an integral part of the fund raising process. Yes, candidates are raising plenty of money these days through the web, but a campaign website exists as a conduit through which to raise money, not as a means unto itself.
For small campaigns, we recommend PayPal Donations, which makes it easy for a candidate to collect secure donations from a website. After inserting PayPal's HTML code onto your campaign website pages, you can collect donations via secure payment pages. It's simple to implement and the fees are about the lowest you'll find.
For small campaigns, we recommend PayPal Donations, which makes it easy for a candidate to collect secure donations from a website. After inserting PayPal's HTML code onto your campaign website pages, you can collect donations via secure payment pages. It's simple to implement and the fees are about the lowest you'll find.
Anatomy of an Online Donation
Below is a summary of a payment process for online donations:
After clicking a "Donate Now" button, visitors enter their billing and other requested information into a web form. Then they submit their information to start the payment process.After submission, a Payment Gateway takes over. The Payment Gateway is a service process responsible for verifying and electronically moving funds. The donor's credit card is electronically verified and then charged. Then the funds are then deposited into a Merchant Account. This account may be in your name or in the name of the payment vendor.
When the payment transaction is complete, the donor is shown a confirmation page and sent an e-mail confirmation. At this point, a record of the transaction becomes available for your reporting purposes - and the donation process is complete!
Note: If you plan to take campaign donations online, start early to set up your payment system!
How to set up PayPal for Political Contributions
Here are the basic steps for setting up an account to accept campaign contributions through PayPal:1) Sign up for a PayPal Business Account.
a. Select Nonprofit as the business type
b. Select Political as the subcategory
2) Confirm that your political campaign account is a nonprofit,. You will need to submit a tax letter from the IRS and a bank statement or voided check in the name of your organization, along with your PayPal email account and contact details, to compliance@paypal.com.
3) Add a Donate button to your campaign's website. Use the button designer on PayPal.com to create your button, then simply copy and paste the resulting code into your site.
Again, open your account early, as there's some verification to complete before your account can be set up!
PayPal Links and Resources
- Start Accepting Credit Card Donations With PayPal
- With more than 150 million accounts in 190 countries and regions, PayPal offers a fast, affordable and convenient way to accept online donations.
- Political Campaigns Datasheet
- Politically active citizens rely on the internet to research candidates and donate to their campaigns. By accepting donations online when grassroots supporters are most engaged, campaigns are shattering campaign fundraising records.
- PayPal Donation Link Integration
- Use Donate buttons to collect contribution payments. Donate buttons let you collect pre-determined amounts or amounts entered by donors.
Fundraising Resource Links
Articles and tips from OnlineCandidate.com
- Political Fundraising with Paypal
- PayPal has a nice section of resources and instructions for users who want to do political fundraising. The new section should be helpful to any local candidates who want to raise money online.
- Watch Out For PayPal Account Scams
- Recently, we've been getting a number of scam emails attempting to trick users into putting their PayPal login information into fake websites.
- Political Campaign Fundraising in a Recession
- The only thing tougher than raising money in a local political campaign is raising that money during a recession.
- 2 More Ways to Use PayPal for Online Donations
- With a little creativity, you can raise funds and promote your campaign at the same time with PayPal!
- Sample Campaign Fundraising Letter
- Sample template for an initial fund raising appeal from a candidate to his or her friends. Works great for a local political campaign.
- Integrate Online Donations into Your Campaign Website
- Integrate online donations into your campaign website quickly and easily.
Custom Campaign Websites at a Great Price!
Online Candidate is your Print and Web Solution
Visit Online Candidate for more campaign tips and information. We also feature digital books, campaign brochure templates and more!
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