Setting Up Online Store for Donations?

mmshock
New Community Member

I'm working on the website for a religious organization. They would like an easy way for members and visitors to donate to the organization. However, donors typically choose to donate to various funds (the school, scholarship fund, rabbinical fund, arts fund, etc.) not just the general fund.

 

How can I set up an online store in Paypal that will allow the donor to choose a fund from listed options (or dropdown menus) and input their own donation amount?

 

Thanks in advance!

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10 REPLIES 10

Shaul
Contributor
Contributor

Don't do it.

PayPal does not provide services to religious orgs - but they only let you know that after you've collected donations, then they freeze your account and hang on to the funds for 180 days.

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Misty11
Advisor
Advisor

Hello mmshock,

 

Welcome to the Forums.

 

There really is not a way to set up a button with multiple choices as well as going in to separate funds. To make this happen you can set up a Parent/Child PayPal account, which would allow the payments from separate buttons to go into separate PayPal accounts and sift into one main PayPal account and be withdrawn to one main bank account. The reason being each PayPal account is identified with an email address so for each choice that would be selected on one button would go into the same PayPal account. If you would like to set us a Parent/Child account please contact PayPal directly and we can assist you with setting that up.  I hope this makes sense.

 

Smiley HappyMisty

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Shaul
Contributor
Contributor

Misty,

Could you please confirm that PayPal does in fact process payments for religious organizations?

I have been led to believe otherwise.

Thanks,

Shaul

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Misty11
Advisor
Advisor

Hello Shaul,

 

Yes you can use PayPal to process your transactions, there is not a policy against religious organizations. I hope this answers your questions.

 

Smiley HappyMisty

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Shaul
Contributor
Contributor

Oh really?!

You guys should really get your stories corroborated.

So what does this email mean?

----

From: service.at.paypal.co.il

Hello [my org],

We are writing in regards to your PayPal account. PayPal appreciates that
you have chosen us to accept payments for your organization.

However, due to legal and regulatory constraints, PayPal Private Limited is
unable to process payments for religious institutions in countries under
its jurisdiction.

You may refer to the PayPal Private Limited User Agreement link
(https://www.paypal.com/sg/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/ua-outside) to
review the list of countries under its jurisdiction.

This is not a decision we make lightly, and we deeply regret any
inconvenience or frustration this matter may cause you. Please understand
that this decision is final.

If you have any questions, you may contact us at apacdd.at.paypal.com.

Sincerely,
Ryan
PayPal Compliance Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

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PayPal_Adrian
PayPal Employee
PayPal Employee

Shaul,

 

I notice the email address you listed there is from a PayPal Israel email address.  I'm assuming, then, you are from outside the US, likely Israel?

 

In the US, PayPal can be used to accept donations, including for religious causes.  However - regulations vary from country to country, and region to region. 

 

Outside of the US, PayPal may not be able to be used to accept donations, whether it is for a religious cause or not.  In fact, I don't think it is the religious component that matters; I believe it is the donation component that makes the difference.  We could get into a huge chat about compliance with international payment processing regulations and the Singapore Monetary Authority, but I don't think it will really help (and will quite likely bore) us more than do any good here.

 

I did find, though, in the Acceptable Use Policy for "Other Countries" (there's not a separate listing for Israel), that collecting donations as a charity or non-profit organization would require pre-approval.  There's also an address there you might consider writing directly to, being certain to mention your country of origin.

 

These boards are designed and written for US Members; as such, I doubt Misty suspected that you were outside the US.  We're hoping to expand our boards to other regions as soon as possible.  Smiley Happy

 

Hope this helps,

 

Adrian

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Sandwich
Contributor
Contributor

One of my clients is also a religious non-profit based in Israel. I understand that PayPal doesn't process donations for orgs outside the US.

 

Is this situation only going to change if and when the relevant laws in Singapore/Israel/etc. change? Or is it more a matter of PayPal not currently having the necessary infrastructure in place for Israel or other non-US organizations? In other words, is PayPal legally restricted from processing non-US donations, or is PayPal simply not set up to operate at that scope yet?

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PayPal_Adrian
PayPal Employee
PayPal Employee

Sandwich - Welcome to the boards!

 

The infrastructure is certainly there, up, running, and available.  We can definitely handle the volume of donations outside the US,  but I believe it is more of a regulatory issue at this point. 

 

Adrian

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Sandwich
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the clarification, Adrian. 🙂

 

My client wants to know something else. If one of their board members opens up a personal PayPal account, and they accept donations for the organization through that account, would that cause any legal issues with PayPal? This is assuming, of course, that all the legalities of doing so on the Israeli side of things were settled.

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