Great job setting up online payments for your nonprofit — that's a fantastic first step!
The next step is managing the transition. This applies to your board and volunteers who handle payments, as well as your members (members, donors, participants, etc.). The goal: get as many people as possible to switch to online payments. 💪
This article gives you practical tools to tackle that challenge:
- Helping people see the cost of the status quo
- Choosing form settings that encourage the shift
- Guiding members with step-by-step tutorials
- Building an efficient, learning-friendly organization
Of course, these are suggestions — adapt them to fit your nonprofit and your community. And if you've found something that works well, share it in the comments: it might just inspire other nonprofits! 💡
Helping people see the cost of the status quo
The first shift to make is in how people perceive the value of volunteer time: the fact that it's unpaid is no reason to waste it — quite the opposite.
And managing payments — whether checks, cash, wire transfers, or the inevitable refunds — takes time. Time that's too valuable to waste.
How much time are we actually talking about? 👉 Run the numbers and find out. Then share that figure so everyone around you understands how they can help.
Choosing form settings that encourage the shift
If you want most of your members to choose online payment, nudge them in the right direction by configuring your forms (Membership Campaign, Donation Campaign, etc.) accordingly. We recommend two simple things.
Payment method settings
This setting is configured at step 4 - Payment and confirmation when setting up your form. There are two approaches: the all-in approach and the more flexible one — choose based on your audience (you know them better than we do).
The all-in approach
Offer only credit/debit card payment — one-time and/or installments — and leave all other options unchecked, like this:
Keep in mind: even if your form only offers online payment, you can still manually add members and record their offline payments.
The more flexible approach
If you're worried about losing members, you can also check the "Other" option and add a message like the one below, which leaves the door open for sending a payment link.
Educating members right in the description text
We recommend explaining your reasoning in the description text, entered at step 1 - General information. Here's an example:
Here's a sample text you can copy, paste, and adapt:
💰 About payment: we encourage you to pay your membership by credit or debit card. You can also choose to pay in installments to spread the cost.
Payment is 100% secure and super fast. It saves our volunteers an enormous amount of time — so thank you! 🙏
If you don't have a card handy, we still exceptionally accept checks.
Guiding members with step-by-step tutorials
If other formats work better for your audience, we've put together step-by-step guides for your members showing them how to:
If needed, you can also download them from this folder and customize them for your nonprofit (the first slide explains how).
Once you're done, feel free to share it:
- in the email campaign announcing your Membership Campaign
- within the Membership Campaign itself, for example as an attachment or in the form description.
Building an efficient, learning-friendly organization
Finally, some members may just need a little reassurance to take the leap. If the step-by-step guide isn't enough, there's always… you! Human contact is still the best way to build confidence.
Some nonprofits run training sessions to walk members through managing their account or profile, signing up for a membership, and paying online. A simple meeting or a quick online session can go a long way.
Others set up an "online membership" station at their membership drives, where volunteers help members sign up and pay online (instead of manually entering their information into the Membership Campaign). Volunteers save time, members learn the tool — everyone wins.
A few tips for running an on-site membership station:
- bring a computer with internet access — a mobile hotspot works just fine,
- open the Membership Campaign link in a private/incognito window, otherwise you may already be logged in as an Administrator,
- consider printing out a copy of the guide(s) mentioned above.
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This list is by no means exhaustive, and we have no doubt you'll come up with other ideas to drive membership sign-ups and online payments. Share them in the comments below — you might just inspire someone else.
Changing habits can feel daunting and takes time — but stay the course and keep at it. The payoff: huge gains in time and efficiency! 🌟
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