Charity fees

[ctnepl]

We have recently become a UK registered charity.  Please can you clarify what the fees would be for accepting donations, as the only ones I can find are priced in US dollars.  I'm sure they're on here somewhere but I just can't track them down.  Many thanks.

[PayPal_david]

Hi there Ctnepl,

Thank you for considering using PayPal to process transactions for your organisation. We offer a special fee rate for charities. Receiving donations with us costs just 1.4% + 20p. If you run a non-profit organisation you can apply for this rate.  Following are the steps to get started.

First, to begin accepting PayPal as a payment option on your website, register at https://www.paypal.com/signbiz for a PayPal Business account. When registering, create the account under the charity or organisation's name, and register a specific contact person for the account. The 'contact person' will manage the PayPal account and contact PayPal's customer support for assistance, if necessary.

When entering your business information, select the 'Subcategory' link and the 'Most-used Category' link for your organisation. If you already have a Business account, edit this information in your profile by clicking the 'Personal/Business Information' link.

Next, fax supporting documents to PayPal.

For a non-U.S. based organisation, provide:

• Evidence of tax-exempt status and/or registration with any applicable regulatory bodies governing your jurisdiction
• Link to confirm the organisation's registration status online (if applicable)
• A brief organisational summary or Mission Statement
• Subordination letter from the parent organisation (if applicable)

All documents should be faxed to 08707 303 194, ATTN: Compliance - Due Diligence.

We will review the documents and contact you if further information is needed.

I hope this helps,

David.

[helen_b]

What happens if we don't have a fax machine?  Do you have an email address we can send the charity's documents to?

[CFUadmin]

Hi,

Could you please let me know if the same fee structure applies to us as a non- profit organisation.

We are a registered  industrial provident society in the UK (reg no available) and our rules (copy available) do not allow us to make any profit but return all proceeds inline with our specific aim to support our cause.

Thanks

JB

[PayPal_Wayne]

Hi there,

I checked with our Charities Department and they have said "the customer can apply for charity rate only if its a registered charity with the Charity Commission"

So I don't think it's good news for you...

Wayne

[thebeverntrust]

Hmmm the main problem is that you do not appear to be able to link link to HMRC (the tax office) so that we can claim UK gift aid which adds another 25% Organisations like 'just giving' do allow this connection and though they charge more 5% this is all taken from the reclaimed gift aid. Can you advise. Or is this service really a U.S. one that we must shoehorn ourselves into?

[KSMRT]

I've found it almost impossible to get our UK charity onto the advertised charity merchant rate. There's very little information about it and when you do find some info you end up having to deal with a 'compliance team'.  Our PayPal account is set up in the charity's name and when we first registered we sent documents from the Charity Commission, along with, of course, our charity number.  It's now six months in and we have taken hundreds of pounds on which we have had to pay the standard rate. Still trying to get it changed and have spent hours on the phone to the customer help line, sent emails etc. etc. We are a Mountain Rescue team.  Why is it so difficult to verify what we do and put us on the advertised rate?

[theuphilltrust]

I am having exactly the same problem as you and it is extremely disappointing service from PayPal.  I have not even had any acknowledgments of my emails, document submissions etc. Like you we have receieved significant sums that have been processed at the standard business rate. 

[ugandalodge]

I just set up a new business acoount with PayPal - using the bank account & email of our UK registered charity and sent them details of our HMRC reference and found the paypal freephone number helpline number most helpful

They have even sent me a confirmation email showing fees are 1.4% +20p

Originally I had a slight delay because I had a personal paypal account that also listed our charity bank account and the two accounts got mixed up so charity status was refused - but Michael on helpline has now sorted it i

As long as you get full correct details of the person donating and they confirm they are eligable for Gift Aid (maybe email them a short form to fill in?) - there is no reason why you cant still claim GA for them

Hope this helps

[ugandalodge]

Please see my reply to uphilltrust below

try again - they really were helpful