Help with Account

[Danzoooo]

Hi there, i run a a website that at the minute has no income routes. We want to add a button on the website so that people can donate. These donations are going to be used purely to advance the site. We want to offer prizes for the best things and the rest will be used to pay for additions to the site such as a social bar. We currently are not registered as a business however. What is the best account for us to use? We are not expecting do receive that much in donations. Maybe $100 every few months. Could we use the not for profit donation account? Or do we have to use a business account? do we need to be a registered business to use the business account? If the account has to be linked to someone then thats fine also although it would be preferable if at least 2 people had access. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Danny

[snowshoe]

In the past this was not an issue as probably 1000's of people currently have donation buttons on their web sites and blogs and they are not nonprofits or registered 501(c)(3) organizations, just individuals.   Things have changed as there's new tax laws to deal with, accounts must be verified, etc.   All US financial institutions such as banks, credit card issues and 3rd party transaction processors such as PayPal are required by law to reasonably verify the identity of the person behind any and all Accounts into which money is collected. 

As stated by PayPal.
"This button is intended for fundraising.   If you are not raising money for a cause, please choose another option.   Nonprofits and or must verify their status to withdraw donations they receive.   Users that are not verified nonprofits must demonstrate how their donations will be used, once they raise more than $10,000."

One easy option is to use a Buy Now item button.   You can code it so an amount can be entered right on the PayPal Screen.   You can also use the the Shipping Override Variables so as not to charge any shipping if you have a shipping method setup for other purposes.   Using a Buy Now type button allows people to give you funds without having a PayPal Account.    Note, you would still pay the standard transaction processing fees, same as selling an item and you must have either a "verified" Premier (if you're not a registered business) or  a "verified" Business Account, a Personal Account won't work.

Another easy option would be to have people use the send money feature.   Of course they would have to have a PayPal Account and if they send the funds as a gift assuming they don't use a credit card, there would be no fees unless the funds are being sent out of the country.

As far as allowing addtional people access to your PayPal Account, you would need a Business Account.  Business Accounts have a feature called Multi-User Access.  You can learn more about that here:

https://www.paypalobjects.com/webstatic/en_US/developer/docs/pdf/pp_merchantsetupadministrationguide...

The guide explains how to add additional users and how to assign permissions.

Note, there are other services for collecting donations and raising money for projects, for example, you may want to check out this service as they have different policies and requirements:

http://www.gofundme.com/