Accept one-time and recurring donations online, at events and through bank-based payments with a setup designed around the way your nonprofit actually raises money.
USA Payments helps nonprofits and foundations evaluate card processing, recurring donations, ACH, Pay by Bank and other payment options while keeping donor experience and processing costs in view.
Support monthly, quarterly and other recurring giving programs without treating repeat donations as an afterthought.
Accept donations and eligible payments across online, card-not-present and in-person fundraising environments.
Give donors additional ways to contribute directly from a bank account where that payment option is appropriate.
Understand what your organization is actually paying to process donations and whether the current structure still makes sense.
A retailer usually sells something for a fixed price. A nonprofit can receive:
01
A $25 online donation
02
A $100 monthly gift
03
A larger contribution by bank account
04
Hundreds of payments at a fundraising event
Those transactions do not all look the same.
And they do not automatically need the same payment method.
Your nonprofit may collect money through:
Website donation forms
Recurring giving programs
Fundraising campaigns
Events and galas
Payment links
Phone donations
Membership payments
Program fees
Larger individual contributions
The payment setup should support the way your organization raises funds instead of forcing every contribution through the same path.
USA Payments starts with that mix. Then we look at which payment methods and processing structure fit it.
1
Processing fees can look small when you look at one transaction.
2
Across hundreds or thousands of donations, they become part of the economics of fundraising.
3
That does not mean the answer is automatically finding the processor advertising the lowest rate.
The real question is: What is your nonprofit paying across the donations it actually accepts?
A processing statement may include more than a headline percentage. Depending on the setup, costs can include:
Card-network costs
Processor markup
Transaction fees
Gateway fees
Monthly fees
Card-not-present costs
Other account charges
USA Payments can review the current processing structure and show where those costs are coming from. The objective is not to promise that every nonprofit will save a specific amount.
It is to determine whether the pricing and payment mix still make sense for the organization.
A $30 online donation and a $5,000 contribution do not automatically need to travel through the same payment rail.
Cards offer convenience.
Bank-based payments may be worth evaluating for certain recurring or larger contributions.
The right mix depends on how donors give and what experience the nonprofit wants to provide.
USA Payments can evaluate cards, ACH and Pay by Bank together instead of assuming every donation belongs on a credit card.
A large part of modern fundraising happens without the donor standing in front of a terminal.
Donations may come through:
Websites
Campaign pages
Payment links
Mobile devices
Via phone calls
Another supported online giving experience
These are generally card-not-present transactions when the physical card is not presented.
USA Payments can review how those donations are currently processed and whether the payment setup supports the online fundraising experience your organization wants to provide.
The goal is simple:
Make it easy to give without losing sight of what happens after the donor clicks the button.
Monthly donors can be some of the most important relationships a nonprofit builds.
The payment setup behind those relationships matters.
Cards can expire
Account information can change
Payments can fail
And once a recurring gift stops, somebody on the team may have to spend time trying to recover it.
USA Payments can help evaluate recurring payment options as part of the overall donation-processing setup.
That includes looking at how recurring donations are accepted, how payment credentials are handled and whether the current processor and platform are appropriate for the program.
Cards are convenient. They are not the only way donors can contribute.
Depending on the donation amount and giving relationship, bank-based payments may be worth evaluating for:
Larger contributions
Certain institutional payments
Recurring donors
Other appropriate bank-funded transactions
The point is not to push every donor away from cards.
It is to give the nonprofit another option when a bank payment makes more sense.
Fundraising does not only happen online.
Nonprofits may need to accept payments or donations at:
Galas
Benefit dinners
Community events
Auctions
Registration tables
Fundraising drives
Other in-person activities
USA Payments can help evaluate card-present payment options alongside the nonprofit’s online donation setup.
Your annual event should not require rebuilding the payment strategy from scratch every time the doors open.
Getting someone to become a recurring donor is valuable.
Keeping the payment relationship working matters too.
A recurring donation program can depend on:
Appropriate donor authorization
Securely stored payment credentials
Clear billing information
Card updates
Failed-payment handling
Cancellation processes
Reporting that the nonprofit can actually use
The payment processor is only one part of that experience. Your donation platform, gateway and fundraising tools may be involved too.
USA Payments looks at how those pieces connect before recommending unnecessary changes.
Because the goal is not simply to turn on recurring billing.
The goal is to make recurring giving easier to maintain.
Switching the payment processor should not automatically mean replacing everything else.
Most nonprofits already have tools they use to run fundraising.
A donation form.
A website.
A CRM.
An event platform.
A gateway.
Some combination of them.
USA Payments reviews the current payment flow and technology first.
Where the existing platform and gateway can work with an appropriate processing solution, we can evaluate that path.
Where something needs to change, we want to understand why before recommending it.
The nonprofit should not have to rebuild its fundraising operation simply because someone wants to sell a different merchant account.
We do not begin with: “Which terminal do you need?”
We begin with: “How does your nonprofit actually collect money?”
| What We Review | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| One-time vs. recurring donations | Helps determine the right payment and recurring-payment structure |
| Online vs. in-person giving | Different fundraising environments need different payment tools |
| Monthly processing volume | Helps evaluate the current pricing and account structure |
| Average and larger donation amounts | Different transaction sizes may benefit from different payment rails |
| Current processor and pricing | Shows what the nonprofit is actually paying today |
| ACH and bank-payment usage | Identifies where additional payment options may make sense |
| Fundraising platform and gateway | Helps determine what can remain in the existing setup |
| Events and seasonal campaigns | Helps account for changes in transaction volume and channel |
| Chargebacks and refunds | Helps identify avoidable payment issues |
| Membership, event or program payments | Clarifies activity beyond charitable donations |
| Future fundraising plans | Helps build around where the organization is going next |
| Only then do we recommend the payment setup. | |
A nonprofit collecting mostly recurring online donations has different payment needs from an organization that raises a large portion of its funds at annual events.
USA Payments looks at the fundraising model first.
That gives us a better basis for recommending the processor, payment methods and account structure.
Cards may be the easiest option for many donors. They do not need to be the only option.
Depending on the organization, USA Payments can evaluate:
Credit and debit cards
Online and card-not-present payments
Pay by Bank
In-person and event payments
ACH
Recurring payments
Other supported payment options
The payment method should fit the donation.
A low advertised rate does not tell you what the nonprofit is actually paying across every transaction.
We look at the current statement, transaction mix, payment methods and account structure.
Then we can evaluate whether there is a more appropriate way to process the organization’s donations and payments.
No blanket savings promise. Just a clearer look at the economics.
Fundraising does not always happen during a normal support window.
Events happen
Campaigns launch.
Questions come up.
Payment issues need answers.
USA Payments provides human support so your nonprofit has someone to contact when the payment setup needs attention.
You should not have to explain your entire fundraising operation from the beginning every time you need help.
Depending on the organization and payment setup, nonprofits may be able to accept credit and debit cards, ACH, Pay by Bank, recurring payments and other supported payment methods.
USA Payments can evaluate the payment mix based on how your donors currently give and how the nonprofit wants to collect funds.
Yes, when recurring payments are supported and appropriately configured.
Recurring donations may be useful for monthly, quarterly, annual or other ongoing giving programs.
The exact options depend on the processor, gateway and fundraising platform.
Potentially.
ACH allows eligible donors to contribute directly from a bank account and can be worth evaluating for recurring or larger donations.
Cost, settlement timing and the donor experience differ from card payments, so the right choice depends on the transaction and fundraising model.
Potentially.
Pay by Bank can provide another bank-connected payment option where supported.
It may be worth considering when the nonprofit wants to offer donors an alternative to card payments for certain contributions.
Often, but compatibility depends on the fundraising platform, gateway and processor.
USA Payments reviews the existing setup before recommending that a nonprofit replace technology it may already rely on.
If the current platform can work with an appropriate processing solution, keeping it may be the better option.
Potentially.
The opportunity depends on factors such as processing volume, transaction size, card mix, current pricing, payment methods and how donors contribute.
Adding ACH or another payment rail may make sense for certain transactions, while cards may remain the best option for others.
USA Payments can review the current setup before recommending a change.
Potentially.
A nonprofit may need card-present or mobile payment options for events, registrations, auctions or other in-person fundraising activity.
USA Payments can review those needs alongside the nonprofit’s online payment setup rather than treating event payments as a completely separate system.
Tell us.
Not every transaction received by a nonprofit is necessarily a charitable donation.
Memberships, event registrations, merchandise, program fees and other payments may create different transaction flows.
We want the processor to understand the activity the organization actually handles rather than assuming every transaction looks the same.
Every dollar you raise has a job. Your payment setup should not make that job harder than it needs to be.
USA Payments will review how your nonprofit accepts donations, what you are currently paying, how recurring giving is handled and where additional payment options may make sense.
If the current setup fits, we will tell you.
If there is a better structure for how your organization raises funds, we will show you where the opportunity is.
