Collecting Donations on Your Wix Website
Having a way to collect donations online is essential for nonprofits, charitable organizations, and even individuals looking to support a cause. At WIXCreate, we specialize in creating beautiful, functional websites that represent your brand and serve your goals—one of which may be collecting donations. With Wix, there are multiple ways to set up donation capabilities on your website. Whether you’re looking for a simple, built-in solution or a more robust, third-party integration, this guide will walk you through the possibilities, including transaction fees to consider for each option.
Preferred Ways to Collect Donations on a Wix Website
When deciding how to collect donations on your Wix website, the best option depends on your specific needs and goals. Here’s an overview of the most common options and when they might be preferred:
1. Wix Donations: Ideal for Simplicity and Seamless Integration
Best for:
Organizations looking for a simple, built-in solution that integrates seamlessly with the rest of their Wix site.
Why Choose It:
Wix Donations is directly integrated into the Wix platform, making it easy to set up and customize. It’s a great choice if you want to keep everything within the Wix ecosystem, benefit from automated features like receipt generation, and avoid dealing with external tools.
Considerations:
While it’s user-friendly, it might lack some of the advanced features that specialized third-party platforms offer.
Key Features of Wix Donations:
Easy Setup: With just a few clicks, you can add a donation button or page to your website, allowing supporters to contribute with minimal hassle.
Customizable Design: The donation button and pages are fully customizable, allowing you to match them with your website's aesthetics seamlessly.
Automated Receipts: Wix Donations automatically sends out confirmation emails and receipts, keeping everything organized and professional.
Transaction Fees: Wix charges a processing fee for each donation, typically around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, depending on your payment gateway and location. Be sure to factor this into your fundraising strategy.
This option is ideal for organizations that want an integrated solution without the need for additional tools or plugins. It's streamlined, effective, and keeps all your website functionalities under one roof.
2. New Wix Forms with Donation Input Field: Tailored for Flexibility
Best for:
Organizations that need more control over the donation process and want to collect additional donor information.
Why Choose It:
Wix Forms with donation input fields offer greater customization, allowing you to tailor the donation experience to your specific needs. This can be useful if you need to gather more detailed information from donors or use conditional logic to enhance the user experience.
Considerations:
This option is still within the Wix environment but with more flexibility than the standard Wix Donations feature.
Advantages of Using Wix Forms for Donations:
Custom Fields: Tailor your donation form with additional fields to collect specific information from your donors.
Conditional Logic: Use conditional logic to guide donors through a personalized giving experience, enhancing user engagement.
Integrations: These forms can be connected with Wix Automations and other third-party apps for enhanced functionality, such as sending personalized thank-you messages or updating your CRM.
Transaction Fees: Similar to Wix Donations, the processing fees for donations collected through Wix Forms typically stand at around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. These fees may vary based on your payment processor and location.
The new Wix Forms are perfect for those who want a more tailored experience while keeping everything within the Wix ecosystem.
3. PayPal Donation Button: A Trusted Standard
Best for:
Organizations that prioritize donor trust and ease of use.
Why Choose It: PayPal is widely recognized and trusted, which can encourage more donations. The setup is straightforward, and many donors are already familiar with PayPal, reducing friction in the donation process.
Considerations:
PayPal charges transaction fees and may have limitations in terms of customization compared to Wix-specific solutions.
Why Use PayPal Donation Button:
Global Trust: With PayPal’s established reputation, donors are more likely to feel secure when making a contribution.
Easy Integration: Adding a PayPal donation button to your Wix site is straightforward. Simply embed the button code provided by PayPal, and you're ready to go.
No Setup Fees: PayPal doesn’t charge any fees to set up your donation button, making it a cost-effective option.
Transaction Fees: PayPal charges a standard fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for donations within the U.S. International transactions may incur higher fees, typically around 4.4% + a fixed fee depending on the country.
PayPal's trusted reputation makes it an excellent choice for organizations looking to offer a familiar and secure donation method, though the transaction fees should be considered in your overall budgeting.
4. Stripe Payment Page: Ideal for Flexibility and Customization
Best for:
Organizations that need a flexible payment solution that can be customized to match their branding and easily collect payments, such as membership dues.
Why Choose It:
Stripe is a powerful payment processor that allows for extensive customization and is ideal for nonprofits needing to manage recurring payments or more complex transactions. You can link a Wix button directly to a Stripe payment page, enabling members to pay their dues or donors to make contributions seamlessly.
Considerations:
Setting up Stripe might require more technical work compared to simpler solutions like PayPal, but it offers significant flexibility and control.
How to Use Stripe with Wix:
Create a Payment Page in Stripe:
Log in to your Stripe account and set up a payment page for your dues or donations.
Stripe will provide a unique URL for this payment page.
Link a Wix Button:
Add a button to your Wix site and link it to the Stripe payment page URL. When clicked, this button will direct users to the Stripe page where they can complete their payment.
Customization and Security: Stripe allows you to customize the payment page to match your nonprofit’s branding while ensuring secure payment processing.
Transaction Fees:
Stripe charges a transaction fee of typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in the U.S. International transactions may have different fees. Be sure to factor these into your budgeting.
This method provides a secure and flexible way to collect payments directly through Stripe while maintaining a seamless user experience on your Wix website.
5. Third-Party Options
Best for:
Organizations that need advanced features such as recurring donations, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising, or detailed donor management.
Why Choose It:
Third-party platforms like Givebutter, Donorbox and others offer robust features designed specifically for fundraising. They are ideal for nonprofits with complex needs, such as managing large donor databases, running crowdfunding campaigns, or offering various donation tiers.
Considerations:
These platforms often come with additional fees and require integrating external tools into your Wix site, which could be more complex than using Wix’s built-in features.
Givebutter:
Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer: Givebutter excels in peer-to-peer fundraising and crowdfunding, making it ideal for campaigns that involve large communities or networks.
Live Donations: This platform allows for live donation tracking, which can be integrated into virtual events, making it a great choice for live fundraising activities.
Transaction Fees: Givebutter offers a free plan, but charges a transaction fee of 2.9% + $0.30 per donation, with an optional platform fee that donors can cover. This makes it flexible, but be sure to communicate potential fees to your donors.
Donorbox:
Recurring Donations: Donorbox makes it easy to set up recurring donations, which can significantly increase your fundraising potential over time.
Donation Tiers and Designations: With Donorbox, you can create donation tiers or allow donors to designate their contributions to specific causes or projects within your organization.
Transaction Fees: Donorbox charges a platform fee of 1.5% per donation, on top of payment processing fees, which are usually 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. Like Givebutter, Donorbox offers donors the option to cover the fees, reducing the cost to your organization.
Other Third-Party Options:
Other platforms like DonorPerfect, Causevox, and Kindful also offer advanced fundraising tools and integrations, tailored to specific nonprofit needs.
All platforms offer easy integration with Wix, usually through embedding code or using a plugin, and provide detailed analytics, donor management, and more. However, the combination of platform and processing fees is something to consider when choosing these third-party options.
5. QuickBooks Integrations: Simplify Your Financial Management
Managing donations is only one part of the equation; tracking and accounting for those donations is equally important. Integrating QuickBooks with your Wix website can streamline your financial management, ensuring that every donation is accurately recorded and easily accessible for your accounting needs.
Benefits of QuickBooks Integration:
Automated Bookkeeping: Automatically sync donations collected through your Wix Donations, Wix Forms, PayPal, Stripe or third-party platforms like Givebutter and Donorbox with QuickBooks. This reduces manual entry and the risk of errors, helping to keep your financial records organized and up-to-date.
Real-Time Financial Tracking: With QuickBooks integration, you can monitor your income, donations, and expenses as they happen. This real-time syncing allows you to maintain an accurate picture of your financial health.
Simplified Reconciliation: QuickBooks makes it easier to reconcile your accounts by automatically matching transactions recorded through your donation platforms with your bank statements. This is particularly effective with PayPal, where every transaction processed through PayPal is automatically recorded in QuickBooks, ensuring accuracy in your accounting processes.
Detailed Reporting: Generate comprehensive financial reports that include all donation transactions processed through your Wix website. These reports can be especially useful for nonprofits needing to track donations, ensure financial transparency, and prepare for tax season.
Transaction Fees:
While QuickBooks itself does not impose transaction fees for donations, the processing fees from your donation platform or payment gateway (such as PayPal or Stripe) will still apply. The QuickBooks integration focuses on easing your accounting and reporting rather than affecting transaction costs.
How It Works:
Through third-party apps or plugins available on Wix, you can seamlessly integrate QuickBooks with Wix Donations, Wix Forms, PayPal, Stripe and other donation methods on your site. This integration ensures that all donation data flows directly into QuickBooks, making financial management simpler and more efficient.
Examples of WIXCreate Websites with Donation Capabilities
At WIXCreate, we’ve had the privilege of designing numerous websites that effectively collect donations. Here are a few examples of our work:
Arlington Artists Alliance: This website uses both a PayPal donation button and Stripe, to collect donations easily and securely for supporting local artists.
Gould Farm: Gould Farm uses DonorPerfect, a third-party platform, to manage its donations. WIXCreate seamlessly integrated this tool into their website, ensuring a smooth and efficient donation process.
Amiga Project: The Amiga Project website uses Causevox, another third-party platform, for its donation management. WIXCreate customized the integration to match the site’s design, providing a cohesive and professional look.
Food Cap: This website uses Kindful, a third-party donation platform that WIXCreate expertly embedded into the site. The result is a user-friendly and effective donation process that supports Food Cap’s mission.
Choosing the Right Solution for Your Needs
At WIXCreate, we understand that every organization has unique needs when it comes to collecting donations online. Whether you opt for the simplicity of Wix Donations, the flexibility of the new Wix Forms, the trustworthiness of PayPal, or the advanced features of third-party tools like Givebutter, Donorbox, or QuickBooks integrations, your Wix website is fully capable of supporting your fundraising efforts.
Each option comes with its own set of benefits and associated transaction fees, so consider what will best serve your audience and your goals. Be sure to account for these fees in your fundraising plans to ensure that your organization maximizes the impact of every dollar received. And remember, we’re here to help you every step of the way. If you’re ready to get started or need assistance in setting up your donation capabilities, don’t hesitate to reach out to WIXCreate. Together, we can build a website that not only looks amazing but also makes a real impact.
Get in touch with us today and start transforming your Wix website into a powerful tool for positive change!
