Venmo Donations for Nonprofits: How to Convert Support Into Fundraising Dollars

Venmo and PayPal donations are among the most popular methods of giving. 

Classy’s annual Why America Gives report found that one of the top reasons donors reconsider making a gift is because their preferred payment method isn’t available. This is a great indicator of the benefits nonprofits can see when leaning into user-friendly fundraising efforts in the age of social media and QR codes.

Additional data from Why America Gives shows us the social proof:

• The most popular digital wallet payments among U.S. donors are PayPal and Venmo. 
• The flexibility to choose an online donation payment method (e.g., Venmo, PayPal, and credit or debit cards) is a top factor for 35% of donors to return to donate again. 

Classy customers continue to see impressive results when bringing Venmo payments into their diversified payment processing options. This helps these organizations convert more donors and increase the likelihood that donors will return to give again. 

A great example is Many Hopes, which increased donation volume by 56% and individual donors by 53% year over year by introducing Venmo and PayPal into its embedded donation form.

Today, we’ll dive deep into what Venmo for nonprofits is all about and how to use it for everything from donations to event registration with Classy Pay. 

What Is Venmo?

Venmo is a popular mobile payment service known for fast, safe, social payments between friends and family. It’s captured the interest of 83 million customers as a seamless way to send, spend, share, and manage finances using their phone numbers.¹

How does Venmo work?

Venmo’s peer-to-peer model makes splitting payments and transferring funds easy without a physical wallet. When Venmo users receive money, they can transfer it directly into their bank account.

There are also options for instant transfers with a small fee, but most payments arrive promptly to the recipient’s account before being transferred elsewhere.

Over a million merchant websites and apps accept Venmo to simplify customer payments. The growing community of merchants that offer Venmo at checkout includes Uber, Ticketmaster, Stitch Fix, and Hulu.

Many nonprofit organizations followed the lead of these savvy for-profit organizations by offering PayPal and Venmo donations as part of a more modernized fundraising strategy. We’ll show you how these organizations do it and how you can too.

Benefits of Using Venmo for Nonprofits

Enabling donors to access the Venmo payment platform on your donation forms makes the supporter journey more relevant, engaging, and intuitive. Here are the top three benefits of using Venmo for nonprofits:

1. You Support the Conversion of Page Visitors to Completed Donations

Payment methods that feel familiar to page visitors can help improve conversion rates. As mentioned earlier, this simple payment reconciliation positively impacts donor satisfaction.

How do I make a donation using Venmo?

A donor who wishes to use their Venmo account to complete their gift of any donation amount can click on the Venmo button at checkout to open the Venmo app. Then, they can log in (if not already logged in through the app), choose which account their donation will come from, and confirm the transaction. Since many people already have their Venmo usernames and password stored on their mobile devices, donors save time and avoid friction.

Meanwhile, simply having the PayPal option on your donation pages can increase conversion rates.

2. You Encourage the Acquisition of New Donors

Venmo can help organizations reach more by tapping into new donor segments that feel more comfortable transferring money through the mobile app. Offering Venmo can also help increase donors’ trust in your organization because they’re confident they’re giving through a legitimate app. 

Which donors prefer Venmo donations?

Our Why America Gives report explored the importance of payment options among different generations of donors. It revealed that younger donors especially trust newer payment options. 

Additionally, the report consistently showed that PayPal and Venmo are in demand as preferred payment methods. With digital wallets becoming the standard, we anticipate this preference will only continue to grow.

3. You Have Help Managing Your Venmo Business Account

Venmo Charity Profiles and Venmo for Business are great ways for organizations to deliver a polished profile and professional experience when collecting payments through Venmo—PayPal offers similar benefits for PayPal business accounts. While business accounts don’t require monthly fees, there are transaction fees. 

You can skip the account setup and additional fees by accepting donations through both platforms via a seamless plug-in to your donation form, which Classy Pay offers. 

How to Set Up Venmo for a Nonprofit: FAQs

How can nonprofits accept Venmo donations?

Classy Pay integrates with Venmo to give organizations more flexibility and control. This gives supporters one of the best possible donation and checkout experiences through a single platform.

Venmo is part of Classy’s integration with the PayPal Commerce Platform. Once a Classy customer activates the PayPal processor, they can enable Venmo with the click of a button in Classy Manager. 

Classy’s Venmo integration offers individuals the choice to donate through their desired payment methods across many fundraising campaign types, including:

• Website donations
• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Fundraising events (virtual, hybrid, and in person)
• Crowdfunding campaigns

See Classy Pay in Action: Request a Classy Demo

How do I get started with Venmo on Classy?

You’ve seen the success of our PayPal and Venmo pioneers. Now, it’s your turn to offer these payment methods through Classy Pay. Organizations that have already activated PayPal in Classy Pay can enable Venmo by simply checking a box in the payment processing portal.

However, if you want to get started with Classy Pay for the first time, check out our detailed overview and follow up with an exploration of the entire Classy donation platform by requesting a demo.

Take Advantage of Forward-Looking Fundraising

Fundraising that scales in the modern age of giving and well into the future requires world-class conversion and simple transactions. At Classy, we’re all about empowering nonprofits with connected fundraising experiences that help them reach larger audiences, take advantage of new engagement opportunities, and grow supporter lifetime value. 

That includes everything from the functionality within our fundraising platform, like Venmo and PayPal payment options, to the seamless integrations we offer with your customer relationship management and email marketing platforms. We’re here to help you build a comprehensive fundraising experience from start to finish with the tools that convert passionate supporters into life-long advocates for your cause.

Copy Editor: Ayanna Julien

Article Source

1. “About Us,” Venmo, last accessed July 11, 2023, https://venmo.com/about/us/.