Last week I had an idea. It was a great, even terrific idea, if I do say so myself. One of those slap-yourself-on-the-forehead ideas that was so obvious that I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of it earlier. So tonight I set about researching the feasibility of my super-fantastic idea and I quickly became disappointed, then mad because it looks like I won’t be able to implement it.
OK, so it’s not an original idea. In fact, I stole it from a Facebook posting. But still, it’s pretty forward-thinking for my area (can you tell I’m proud of myself?). What is it? I’m sure you’re exasperated to know by now. It’s texting a donation to my local Safe Kids coalition. Yes, the simple act of typing a little code into your phone to donate money is very appealing to this CPS tech who parent after parent, event after event, asks if we take a credit card for donations. We can’t take credit cards at events because we have no way of processing them. We’re usually in the middle of a parking lot with no access to power. The best I can do now is to provide a PayPal account that they can access when they get home. Unfortunately, we’ve never seen a donation from one of these well-meaning parents who, upon hearing of our donation button on our website, say, “Oh great! I’ll do it when I get home.” Nope, not a one. I don’t blame them–their heads are swimming with all the information we’ve just given them then they have to drive home with their kids who probably distract the memory of the donation out of them. *I* can barely remember my name after an event, so I have no doubt they are simply forgetting.
So I looked into texting donations. Apparently it’s only available to non-profits who earn over $500,000 per year. Yeah right. How many are there that can do that? Only 16% can. The rest of us who scrape by with perhaps a positive balance in the bank account this month don’t qualify. There are two clearinghouse companies in the country who do this sort of thing and then you have to be approved. Holy cow! Small non-profits with little to no paid staff are going to be daunted by the process.
In other countries, it’s very easy to set up text donating. In fact, I found several UK sites able to get us started right now with no minimum income–if only we were based in the UK. I’m disappointed (as if you can’t tell) it can’t be done here in the US. Non-profits usually get a break on fees (surveymonkey.com is one online company that does discounts for non-profits) because they are non-profits and usually need money. While I don’t doubt that the huge non-profits like the American Red Cross need money as well for disaster relief, it’s the little guy that benefits most from a service like this.
I know. There are fees and fees and fees and by the time the money actually gets to it’s receiver, a chunk has been taken out, but isn’t some money better than none? If we’re able to pay the fees and at least break even on it, who’s it hurting by letting the small non-profits use these services? Seems to me that as usual, it’s some guy who wants to make a huge buck and we’re suffering for it. Figures. I’m applying anyway for our coalition. They can always say no, but perhaps they’ll start allowing exemptions and realize, as we do in child passenger safety, that they need to pay attention to the exceptions.
A cafe I like, uses an iPad for people who want to pay by credit card. I’m not entirely sure how it works, but it might be worth looking into!
Ohhhh! I’ll have to Google that, Andrea. You guys are giving me such great ideas–thanks!
What about getting a QR code (you know, those square bar code thingies) that people could scan with their smart phones, taking them right to a page where they can pay via PayPal? You could get it printed on business cards, then just whip it out of your wallet when someone wants to donate and say, “Sure, just scan this!”
@Megan.Amarice, I did look into a handheld cc device a few years ago, but it either cost too much or needed to be plugged in (I can’t remember–this was a few years ago, lol). I’ll look at that again, because that would allow us to accept donations of any amount, not just a set amount that texting allows.
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@Katelyn, thanks so much for the Square link! That looks awesome and we all have iPhones, so it would work well too. I could also see it working for some of our PTA events.
You should look into Square. You can take a payment with a credit card, anywhere with your phone. https://squareup.com/
I don’t know if it would be worth the cost, but you can get handheld credit card processing units. My parents have an online store and recently started taking their wares to local street fairs. My dad was able to find a company that provides these little handheld credit card machines. It requires no direct power source (just charge it after the event) and it uses satellite or something to process the charge right then. It’s pretty simple to use too.
Wow. That really is a great idea! Good luck!!!
I got the idea from their FB post! So they definitely qualify. There’s possibly a way for a local coalition to set up a text number under SKW, so I’m looking into that. In fact, my goal for today was to follow up with the account specialist!
Wow. I’ve gotta say, it IS a brilliant idea! Would it be possible for SafeKids Worldwide to qualify for the service? Sure, our local coalitions wouldn’t directly benefit, but maybe it would trickle down?