Best Payment Solutions for Charities

Charitable organisations face a battle for every penny in these financially beleaguered times. In the wake of the pandemic, many domestic and corporate donors alike are keeping a closer eye on the purse strings, and cutting back on non-essential spending. The slightest friction could give donors pause. As such, charities need to eliminate barriers to payment, making it as easy as possible for donors to send, monitor and control their payments. They also need to reduce their own operational spending so that as much capital as possible goes towards helping the cause that is so close to their donors’ hearts.

Choosing a payment solution for your charity

Needless to say, choosing the best payment solution has never been more important for charities. They need to be able to create a customer experience that puts the donor in the driving seat, enabling them to pay by regular direct debit, make ad-hoc donations or both. All without paying high processing fees that could eat into their margins.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best payment solutions for charities:

GoCardless

Join the hundreds of charities that use GoCardless to accept donations on an ad-hoc basis or by monthly direct debit. We offer a low transaction fee of 1%, and we’ll never bill you more than £2 per payment.  

Moreover, we are partnered with a number of business and financial management platforms including:

●       ZenDebit

●       TotalGiving

●       Givecloud

●       eTapestry

●       Donorfy

●       Charity Checkout

●       And more.

We also understand the importance of seamless integrations to facilitate smoother operations. This is why we partner with some of the world’s most widely used accounting and bookkeeping platforms such as Xero.

Charity Engine

Charity Engine is a comprehensive all-in-one payment solution for charities. As well as offering secure payment processing it has a suite of other useful tools. These include customisable donor pages, advocacy software and even a CRM platform. All of which integrate seamlessly into one another. It also integrates with Double the Donation, the leading gift-matching tool.

Charity Engine is built specifically around the billing and security needs of charities. And because it is a comprehensive solution, it may prove cost-effective for charities.

TrueLayer

TrueLayer will already be familiar to some as a financial API provider. Now, however, they have created their own donation app that enables charities to keep 100% of the donations received. It uses Payments Initiation to take donations via online banking without the need for credit or debit cards.

This payment solution was developed in direct response to the post-pandemic financial crisis in order to aid charities in reducing their operational spending. It has already been adopted by The Brokerage, Women’s Aid, FareShare, The Wonder Foundation, and End Youth Homelessness.

Stripe 

Stripe originated in the US but is now commonly used by NPOs and private companies alike in the UK and mainland Europe.

Stripe is particularly appealing to charities due to its single flat charge. Billing is transparent, and there are no additional costs incurred for using different cards or currencies, making it a good choice for charities that receive international donations.

Opayo

Opayo offers payment processing solutions for both physical and online payments. This makes it a useful tool for charity shops, or charities that use street and door-to-door canvassers. It can also be used to process payments received over the phone. 

Charities that use the Sage platform will find that it also offers seamless integration with their accounts as Opayo is the rebranded version of SagePay. Fees are charged at a flat rate of £25 per month, no matter how much is received in donations.

We can help

If you’re interested in finding out more about payment solutions for your charity, then get in touch with our financial experts. Discover how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.