Receiving donations?

[Dan03]

I would like to put a donation button on my website which helps others. I went to the page to create the button and it says:

Note: This button is intended for fundraising. If you are not raising money for a cause, please choose another option. Not-for-profit organisations must verify their status to withdraw the donations they receive. Users that are not verified not-for-profit organisations must demonstrate how their donations will be used, once they raise more than $10,000.

I dont quite understand this but it sounds like it says I must have a registered NPO to receive donations, but I know many blogs similar to my own have donation buttons so I am confused. Am I allowed to add a donations button or not? Would hate to find out months later that the money I'd been given could not be withdrawn.

Btw in case it's important the site is a travel blog that teaches others how to travel cheaply, I don't expect any huge amounts of money from this but it would be nice to receive some small donations to help pay for the hosting and so on. Also my paypal account is a personal one as I don't sell anything at the moment and don't expect any large amounts of money through donations either.

[snowshoe]

The policies have changed:

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 or Organisations registered with the UK Charity Commission or the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, 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 Premier or 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.

[Dan03]

Hmm, so you are saying that is it not possible to receive donations on my site? There are 2 things that confuse me if this is true. First of all I see other travel bloggers have a donation button, second of all the line

"Users that are not verified nonprofits must demonstrate how their donations will be used, once they raise more than $10,000."

Kind of implies that users not verified as nonprofits can receive donations, just that they must demonstrate how they will be used IF over $10,000.

I doubt I will ever reach $10,000, maybe not even $1,000, so shouldn't it be fine? Also I actually tried to set up the button and it seemed to work fine... But will I run into any problems if I try to withdraw or spend it?

[snowshoe]

No, never said it was not possible, you simply have to take a different approach.  As for others and what they are doing, I would not be concerned about them.  PayPal has been checking accounts and speaking with people and in some cases shutting the accounts down.  It's totally your decision as to what you want to do, at least you're now aware of the policy changes.

[nerdettedesigns]

Hey! If I were you, I would just email Paypal's customer service and ask. They aim to get back to you within 24 hours. I had the same question/concern last night, so I emailed them, and this morning they sent me back this:

"Even if you do not raise funds it is ok to add a donation button. As long as your funds are not more than $10,000 you can add the button."

This was after I told them that I was *NOT* a non-profit or raising funds, I just wanted to put a donation button on my blog where I offer free artwork in exchange for donations... So you should be fine. But if you would like record that it's ok for you to do this, just email them and you'll have a copy of their reply in your inbox. 🙂

Cheers!

[jendyck1]

Curious though -- What if they are a registered non-profit organization, and raise over $10,000, but not in the same fiscal year. **Is the org then allowed to use the donation button? Thanks!