Adding a Paypal button to a podcast website.

[akaMANNYg]

Hello.  I have started a website for a podcast.  I have some Patreon supporter and was wanting to add a direct donation Paypal button to my website.  My question is do I have to have a business Paypal account to do this and what is the best way to go about it?   Thanks for the help. 

[Anonymous_User]

You can do what you have in mind with a Personal Account.

Personal Accounts do lack certain features that Business Accounts have however, it's possible to create a Donation item button that can be copied to your web page.  If your web site host allows you to use HTML Forms you can use the Donation Item Button Code as it is actually an HTML Form.   If you're using a site that does not permit HTML Forms - for example, Wordpress is one of these sites and Facebook is another, then you would have to use the email or text link version of the Donation Item Button Code. 

For Personal Accounts, you may want to use this link to generate your code.  If you have a Business Account, you can get to the online button creator from within your account and you have the option to save the code to My Saved Buttons.  With Personal Accounts there's no option to save the code however, that's not a major show stopper if you only need a button or two.   And should you need the email or text link version of the Donation Button Code, that option is not available for Personal Accounts but, not to worry, there's a work around for that too.

One thing to keep in mind when doing personal fundraising.  If you are not a registered charity or 501(c)(3) organization, PayPal will ask you to demonstrate how your donations are used, once you raise more than $10,000.   Note, there are no setup costs or monthly fees.  You pay only 2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction (for example, on a $100 donation, you pay a $3.20 fee).

Here's the steps:

1. Create your Donation Button.
2. Paste the button onto your website or blog, or paste the URL link into an email.
3. Donors just click on the button or link and choose their payment method.
4. Track all your incoming donations in your account.

Should you need the email or text link version of the code, for learning purposes, see the example code below.  To test the code, replace YOUR_EMAIL_ADDRESS with your PayPal Account email address.

<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>