Non-Profits and Payment Options
Businesses today are finding new and creative ways to use the growing pool of available technology in order to reduce their time, effort, and overhead so that they can earn more money. And non-profit organizations, although notoriously late to the game, are also jumping on the bandwagon in order to see more money going to the worthy causes they support.
But while there are certainly more options than ever for businesses of all types to connect with the consumer public in order to separate them from their hard-earned money, there may be ethical concerns about the ways in which funds are gathered. And while corporations might be willing to brave unhappy customers or even lawsuits concerning proper disclosure of billing practices, non-profit organizations generally try to steer clear of any whiff of indecent activity.
The best way to pay these days is electronic. While many non-profit organizations still accept “real” money (cash, checks, money orders, etc.), this old-school method of taking payment is substandard for a number of reasons. For one thing, it gives people the time to changes their minds. The point-and-click method of payment means that patrons of the cause can make impulsive donations rather than pledging and then taking the time to think about all the other things they could be doing with their money (eventually opting not to donate). And any organization that is stuck in the mentality of a one-time payment is not living up to their earning potential.
These days it’s all about monthly recurring charges (MRCs). Even tech-savvy teens are familiar with the concept as most have been lectured about overages on their cell-phone usage (leading to costly bills for parents). It is for this reason that most carriers offer service plans that include unlimited packages for talk, text, pix, and data download. These are MRCs. And many apps and games operate under the same principle, offering either a one-time payment for limited service or lower monthly payments for ongoing, expanded services.
The only problem with these payment options is that people rarely read the fine print and then they fail to look through their monthly cell phone bill to see what their MRCs are (even though they are generally clearly listed). So when they find out they’ve been paying monthly for charges they didn’t really know about, they are understandably angry. Unfortunately, this has given MRCs something of a bad rap.
However, that doesn’t mean that non-profits can’t use these modern payment methods to their advantage; they simply have to present them in a clear and straightforward manner. And luckily, many non-profit merchant account services can provide for such payment options via websites and click-through from social media outlets. So if patrons would like to pay $10 a month (billed to a credit card, for example) rather than their annual donation of $100 a year, a non-profit organization stands to gain money while offering contributors more desirable options. And if you look at it from a purely psychological standpoint, nearly everyone feels that they can afford to give ten bucks (even monthly), while a larger one-time donation can seem overwhelming. Even though non-profits will certainly want to avoid the stigma of dishonesty that often surrounds MRCs, the potential profitability of offering patrons more payment options (that will concurrently benefit the organization) is too great to deny.