Donation for personal use

[Nanai]

Hello I'm running a FB page and have quite a few followers, and because I often spend so much time doing some projects to run this page, several people have suggested that I should open a donation. But I have no idea what would be the best way to start this. I'm using a personal account. Will it cost me anything to open such a donation? If anyone would guide me through this I would be very grateful. Thank you. 

[Snow-Cat]

Here's some tips:

* Yes, you can collect donations with a Personal Account.

* There is a transaction processing fee of 2.9% + $.30 on each donation.

Example:  Someone donates $10, PayPal deducts $.59 for processing and deposits $9.41 into your account balance.

* Suggest that you "verify" your account by linking a bank account and credit card - if you don't you will experience holds on in coming money and limits on both withdraws and sending money. 

* Be aware that Fundraisers that are not verified nonprofits will be asked to demonstrate how their donations will be used, once they raise more than $10,000.  Be sure to keep good documentation to show how you used the funds.

* Here's link to getting started creating your Donation item button.

* And here's some additional info that may help.

* Note, there's two problems you will encounter - the first is that when you create a Donation item button with a Personal Account, it only creates the standard Donation item button code which is basically an HTML Form.  This works great on most web pages and sites however, not on Facebook - Facebook will accept a URL link version of the Donation code.   If you have a Business Account, then the option to create a URL or text link version of the Donation code is available.

Here's an example of a basic Donation email text or URL link:

<a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS&item_name=Widget Foundation&item_number=WFD-1001&no_shipping=1&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP_DonationsBF" &target="_self">Donate Now</a>

You would replace YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS with the email address you use to login to your PayPal Account.

[TheJayJayStore]

If you live in the US, the only costs involved are per transaction fees. Meaning, there are no monthly fees. The first step is to determine if your business is a for-profit business or a non-profit business. Then, talk to a licensed tax professional about your tax information and to your local government office about registering your business. Let me know if your business is for-profit or non-profit.