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Setting up a payment gateway for online payments or donations in WordPress can be challenging without a plugin. Many digital products are freely available online, and offering donations can be a meaningful way to appreciate and support the creators.

Non-profit organisations, charities, developers, and bloggers often rely on donations from various sources. While WordPress doesn’t inherently support payments, integrating a reliable payment plugin can significantly enhance the process.

Why opt for donations?

There are several compelling reasons to accept donations. Incorporating a donation button can serve as a valuable fundraising tool for non-profits, charities, bloggers, and developers. It provides an alternative to crowdfunding within the WordPress platform.

For instance, charities and non-profits need funds to execute projects, developers offering free products can seek inspiration and support through donation buttons, and bloggers managing multiple websites with free content can also benefit.

Donors often prefer online donations over traditional methods like mailing checks or contributing in cash. Online transactions are hassle-free, straightforward, and quick, making them a preferred choice. Additionally, online donations can reduce fundraising costs, attracting more supporters. In the current landscape, everyone desires fast, secure, and convenient donation processes, prompting the need for WordPress donation plugins to bridge the gap.

Choosing the right WordPress Donation Plugin:

WordPress lacks a default payment option, and plugins play a crucial role in this context. After establishing your blog, business, or nonprofit website, installing a plugin becomes essential to incorporate donation forms. While there’s a plethora of WordPress donation plugins available, selecting the most suitable one can be challenging.

This WordPress Wednesday lets explore six of the best WordPress donation plugins, providing a summary of their features to assist you in making an informed decision. Most of these plugins leverage PayPal for donation processing, so familiarising yourself with PayPal for nonprofits is recommended before diving in.

To streamline the donation process, consider choosing one of the plugins listed below. Let’s delve into the details!

1. GiveWP

Givewp

GiveWP stands out as one of the premier WordPress donation plugins available in the market. It enables the acceptance of both one-time and recurring donations through various payment gateways, including popular options like PayPal and Stripe.

This feature-rich WordPress donation plugin goes beyond basic functionality, offering comprehensive payment history and donor management features. Donors can easily register, and the plugin allows them to track their donation history effortlessly. Additionally, you gain valuable insights into your top donors and the various forms of donations received.

GiveWP provides flexibility in creating donation forms, whether through buttons or pop-ups, and these forms are fully customizable. The inclusion of a custom goal feature adds a motivational aspect by encouraging donors to contribute towards a specific donation goal.

For effective promotion of your WordPress donation campaigns, GiveWP integrates seamlessly with marketing add-ons such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact. This integration enhances your ability to reach a wider audience and market your fundraising efforts effectively.

Beyond the basic features, GiveWP offers functionalities like encouraging donors to have their company match their contributions. Furthermore, you can customize a “thank you” message for the confirmation page, allowing you to express gratitude in a personalized manner.

While GiveWP is available as a free download, opting for one of the premium plans unlocks additional features. The pricing for these plans ranges from $149 to $499 per year, providing users with a range of options based on their specific needs and requirements.

2. Donorbox

Donorbox

Donorbox emerges as a top choice among WordPress donation plugins, particularly for those embarking on their initial donation campaigns. This free donation management plugin offers a comprehensive set of tools necessary for launching a cost-effective and efficient donation campaign.

The plugin’s strength lies in its fully customizable donation forms, allowing users to adjust color schemes, styles, and language settings to seamlessly integrate with their site’s design. Donorbox goes the extra mile by auto-detecting donors’ preferred languages, maximizing reachability.

In terms of efficiency, the plugin enables the setting of donation amount options, streamlining the payment process for donors. Regular donors benefit from personalized login details, providing them with a convenient platform to monitor their transactions.

Donorbox supports multiple currencies through well-known payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Google Pay, and bank transfers. Additionally, it accommodates offline donations via cash and checks.

Security is a priority for Donorbox, ensuring that all credit card information is encrypted and securely stored through Stripe. The donation amount is directly transferred to your account by the payment processor.

While Donorbox is available as a free download, it imposes platform fees ranging between 1.75% to 2.95%. For users seeking additional features, a Pro version is available at $139 per month, featuring a flat platform fee of 1.5%. This flexibility allows users to choose a plan that aligns with their specific preferences and campaign requirements.

3. Donation for WooCommerce

Donation For Woocommerce

The Donation for WooCommerce plugin emerges as an excellent choice for those looking to raise funds for a charitable cause through their online WooCommerce store. If you’ve already established an eCommerce platform with WooCommerce, this WordPress donation plugin seamlessly integrates to enhance your fundraising efforts.

This plugin offers the unique capability to create multiple donation campaigns, allowing you to collect recurring donations on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis. Donors have the flexibility to choose the “pay what you want” option or select from pre-defined donation amounts that you’ve configured.

What sets this plugin apart are features that integrate your online store with ongoing donation campaigns. For instance, the round-up feature encourages customers to round up their bill amount, donating the difference to the cause. This not only benefits the nonprofit events but also fosters goodwill for your business.

Another notable feature is the ability to showcase a list of charities, enabling customers to choose the cause they believe in. This personalized touch enhances the chances of successful campaigns.

The Donation for WooCommerce plugin includes a donation widget that can be placed anywhere on your eCommerce site using a shortcode. Furthermore, both the donation widget and form are fully customizable to align with your site’s design and branding.

While WooCommerce itself is free to use, the Donation for WooCommerce plugin is available at a cost of $8.25 per month. This pricing structure provides an affordable option for users seeking to enhance their WooCommerce store with robust donation capabilities.

4. Seamless Donations

Seamless Donations

For those in search of a reliable and straightforward WordPress donation plugin, Seamless Donations may be the perfect fit. Boasting a user-friendly setup process and seamless integrations with Stripe and PayPal, this free WordPress donation plugin simplifies the process of accepting donations globally.

Notably, Seamless Donations distinguishes itself by charging zero platform fees, catering to website owners with budget constraints. Donors can conveniently make recurring donations using both desktop and mobile devices and receive personalized “thank you” emails in appreciation of their contributions.

The plugin offers a unique tribute feature, allowing you to raise funds in memory of a deceased person. Additionally, if you reside in the UK, you can contribute to the Gift Aid tax incentive.

Seamless Donations can be downloaded for free, making it an accessible option for users with varying budgets. While the base plugin is free, the option to enhance functionality and access premium responsive donation forms is available through paid add-ons, each priced at $19.95 per site. This provides users with the flexibility to tailor their experience based on their specific needs and preferences.

5. WP Crowdfunding

Wp Crowdfunding

WP Crowdfunding stands out as an outstanding WordPress crowdfunding plugin, facilitating the funding of projects through the collective efforts of online backers. Leveraging the power of WooCommerce, this plugin incorporates a native wallet system, enabling the acceptance and management of pledges from multiple donors. As the administrator, you gain control over approving withdrawal requests once the fundraising goal has been achieved.

The Stripe Connect payment gateway ensures a seamless and hassle-free process of sending funds to project owners. In addition to Stripe Connect, WP Crowdfunding supports various payment methods, including PayPal, Skrill, and credit cards.

While the Basic version provides essential crowdfunding functionality, it’s important to note that the native wallet system and Stripe Connect integration are exclusive features available in the Pro version. The Pro version offers different plans, priced between $149 and $299 per year, providing users with a range of options based on their specific crowdfunding requirements. Investing in the Pro version unlocks advanced features, enhancing the overall crowdfunding experience for both administrators and project owners.

6. Charitable

Charitable

Charitable stands out as a robust donation plugin for WordPress, offering an easy setup process and GDPR-compliant donation forms to ensure a quick and secure donation experience for supporters.

The free version of Charitable provides valuable tools for creating compelling donation campaigns. Users can set up unlimited and time-sensitive campaigns with designs that seamlessly match their website’s theme. Charitable facilitates the connection to PayPal accounts and supports offline payment methods like cheque and bank transfer, complete with detailed instructions to simplify the donation process.

In terms of usability, Charitable features a versatile donation management system that allows sorting and searching of specific donations, as well as exporting records into a CSV file. Additionally, the plugin automates donation receipt generation and offers custom email tags for personalized communication with donors.

One noteworthy aspect is that Charitable does not impose any platform fees, making it an attractive option for website owners with budget considerations.

For users seeking additional functionalities such as recurring donations, peer-to-peer fundraising, and expanded payment gateway integrations, the Charitable Pro version is available at a cost ranging from $69 to $299 per year. Investing in the Pro version unlocks advanced features, providing users with a comprehensive suite of tools to enhance their fundraising efforts.

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WordPress Wednesday – 6 Plugins to Accept Donations