Nonprofit Payment Processors for Online Donations

Top 10 Nonprofit Payment Processors: Accept Donations Online

Article posted by Nabil B.

Article posted on Mar 10, 2022 • 15 min read

What do you know about nonprofit payment processors?

Your answer may be, "Honestly, not much, other than knowing they help nonprofits collect donations online." If this is all you know about payment processors, you're certainly not alone! Though nonprofit payment processors are essential tools for strengthening your organization's online presence and powering your operations, their technical nature can make them confusing to understand and shop for.

But that doesn't mean you should simply flip a coin to pick your organization's payment processor. In fact, choosing a nonprofit payment processor will be one of the most important steps you take in building or revamping your organization's website, and will require thorough research to get right. That's where this guide comes in, designed to teach you the basics of payment processors and give you our top recommended providers.

In it, we'll cover the following:

Nonprofit Payment Processors: The Basics
Nonprofit Payment Processors: 10 Top Providers
- Stripe
- Donorbox
- iATS Payments
- PayPal
- WePay
- TransNational Payments
- Fundly
- Moneris
- Authorize.net
- Braintree

If you're ready to take control of how your organization accepts every kind of payment from donations to membership dues, and provide donors with a safe, secure, and easy donation process, this is the article for you. Let's jump in!

In this section, you'll get a rundown of nonprofit payment processor basics.

Nonprofit Payment Processors: The Basics

Before you can pick a payment processor for your nonprofit, it's worth learning what this tool actually does. Read on to gain an understanding of the basics.

What is a nonprofit payment processor?

A nonprofit payment processor is the backend tool that takes funds from your donors' bank accounts and deposits them in your nonprofit's bank account. In other words, when a supporter uses your website to submit a donation, pay membership fees, register for an event, or buy merchandise from your online store, a payment processor helps your organization actually collect that money.

For example, say a donor uses their debit or credit card to make a payment on your website. They enter their payment information, and then their card information is sent through the payment gateway to be validated by the card association. As long as the card’s information is legitimate, the transaction will be processed by your payment provider. The process is even easier for ACH (automated clearing house) payments, as there's no card association involved.

An between your content management system (CMS) and payment processor allows your organization to accept online payments directly through your nonprofit's website. API integration will help you avoid sending your supporters to a third-party platform to make their donation or purchase, eliminating worries about the safety of their personal or financial information and keeping your supporters on your website longer.

Note that some organizations will have less control over their payment processing than others. For example, nonprofits using a less comprehensive CMS will likely have to purchase a separate fundraising platform and aren't likely to be able to choose their payment processor. But, for nonprofits using a CMS that allows you to create your own payment forms, choosing and integrating a payment processor will be an important part of creating a robust online giving tool.

What types of payment processors are there to choose from?

According to , there are two types of payment processors — aggregators and dedicated payment processors.

Aggregators are tools that use the same merchant account for all of the organizations they serve. They're easy and cheap to use, but because they host multiple organizations on one account, security can be easily compromised. Plus, many of them have caps on deposits.

On the other hand, dedicated payment processors create personalized merchant accounts for each individual organization, meaning your data and transactions will be more secure. This type of payment processor takes a little more work to get set up but is well worth it for the added security.

What features should I look for in a nonprofit payment processor?

It goes without saying that some nonprofit payment processors will be better equipped to meet your organization's needs than others. Though you'll need to take your nonprofit's unique characteristics into account when shopping for a solution, here are four universal "must-have" features to look for:

CMS Integration: Ensure that the payment processor you invest in seamlessly integrates with your organization's CMS. This will make the online donation process easy and intuitive for your supporters, as they'll be able to complete their gifts directly on your website.

PCI Compliance: When a payment processor is (PCI) compliant, you can be sure that your supporters' personal and financial data is safe when they give to your nonprofit.

Tokenization and encryption. Both of these processors keep donor data safe from attackers. Tokenization and encryption turn important data into symbols and codes that can only be read by payment processors so that transactions stay secure.

Fraud protection. Your chosen nonprofit payment processor should offer fraud protection measures, like Bank Identification Number (BIN) blocking and card verification codes, to keep your supporters safe.

Note that most of these essential features focus on one thing — security. Keeping your donors' data secure will ensure that your organization's reputation remains intact, enabling you to retain supporters and keep moving your mission forward. In addition to these features, make sure to look for a processor that is affordable and that provides top-notch customer support.

In this section, you can explore the top ten nonprofit payment processor providers.

Nonprofit Payment Processors: 10 Top Providers

Now that you know what a nonprofit payment processor is and what to look for as you shop, it's time to do some thorough research on different providers. Here are our top 10 recommendations!

Stripe is Morweb's preferred nonprofit payment processor.

1. Stripe

is Morweb's preferred payment processor. Stripe accepts all major credit cards and over 135 different currencies. Through API integration with your nonprofit CMS, donors can simply enter their credit card information on your website’s donation form and their payment information will automatically be passed along to Stripe for processing.

Strengths

Stripe has best-in-class API integration to connect to your nonprofit website and offers your donors the utmost flexibility in payment options.
Stripe accepts more payment types than other providers.

Weaknesses

Stripe’s transaction fees are in the higher range for nonprofit payment processors.
While American organizations processing more than $100,000 per month may be eligible for a volume discount, Stripe is not ideal for high-volume organizations.

Morweb Integration

As a leading nonprofit CMS, the Morweb platform is equipped to integrate with a wide variety of payment processors to accept online donations directly through our built-in payment forms.

Morweb partners with Stripe to allow for advanced integration with our CMS platform. Stripe is our preferred payment processor for all of Morweb’s nonprofit website modules, including donations, event ticketing, and eCommerce.

Nonprofit websites built on the Morweb platform that use Stripe as their payment processor will gain access to a Stripe reporting dashboard in the backend of their website. With this feature, they can see all of their website and payment data in one simplified interface.

Cards Accepted

American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, JCB, Diners Club International, UnionPay, and ACH transactions

Currencies

Supports over 135 different currencies

Transaction Fees

2.9% + $0.30 for Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express

Donorbox offers a standout nonprofit payment processor.

2. Donorbox

While isn't a payment processor itself, it is a powerful recurring donation platform for nonprofit organizations. It offers a variety of features such as donation pages, donate buttons, donor management, automatic donation receipts, goal meters, crowdfunding, and more.