Nonprofit Credit Card Processing: Everything You Need to Know
Not too long ago in the culture industry, setting up a credit card processing system as a nonprofit would be unheard of. The additional costs and fees simply didn’t make sense for a nonprofit institution with limited resources.
As we enter the third decade of the twentieth century, however, things have changed.
Expectations in today’s technological era have made credit card processing, both online and in-house, a necessity. Your guests, members, and donors may be turned away by the inconvenience of sending a check in the mail or being expected to have cash on hand every time they wanted to make a visit to your venue.
As demands and expectations change, so are the way that nonprofits are handling their ticketing and transaction technology. Below is everything you need to know about credit card processing as a nonprofit.
Benefits of Credit Card Processing
The largest deterrent to implementing a credit card processing system as a nonprofit are the fees that come with each transaction. With a 2-3% transaction fee on every payment, that’s a pretty large slice of your income that you might need to keep doors open, especially if you’re a smaller institution.
So why would you implement a system that will weigh you down on your costs?
- Credit card processing systems can actual build guest attendance, memberships, and donations. Moving your platform online will help grow attendance, memberships, and donations because online credit card payments are easier to make and easier to market.
- Less time and money spent opening donation letters, cashing in checks, or handling member and guest records. Through an online platform, all transactions will be logged automatically and much of your guest/member management processes will be streamlined through your software.
- You can bolster your guest experience by making it easier for your visitors to manage all of their tickets and membership profiles online.
- The process is easier and simpler for everyone involved. Especially if you’re implementing an advanced ticketing software application, you’ll be able to include a credit card processor along with a number of other useful features to help streamline your ticketing process.
Credit Card Processing Options for Nonprofits
- Third-party Processor: If you’re a non-profit with a fairly low transaction rate, say less than a hundred per month, a third-party processor might be the right choice for you. Third-party processors typically provide very few supplementary services, but they can be set up in minutes and will get you operational with the least amount of hassle. One important thing to note is that you cannot accept on-site credit card payments through a third-party service, so they might be limited to certain events or donor drives. Expect a fee of about 3% with an additional base charge through most third-party systems.
- Merchant Account: Merchant accounts are for larger institutions with hundreds of transactions a month. Merchant accounts are more customizable in terms of fees and payments, and there are more options for institutions to brand their donations. If you plan on doing offline credit card processing, a merchant account is almost always necessary.
- Advanced Processing Software: Advanced ticketing and credit card processing software will provide for an advanced solution to your payment, ticketing, membership, and donation needs. Fees will depend on the software you select, but you will be provided with a number of important features to help you manage and build strategies out of your transaction and ticketing history. These systems can provide all-in-one back-end solutions that will assist you in automating the ticketing process, accruing valuable analytics, building better customer and visitor relations, and streamlining every step of the ticketing process.
Final Thoughts: Non Profit Credit Card Processing
With the shift toward AI and all of the supplementary features provided through advanced processing software, ACME ticketing has built their ticketing technology to provide any cultural institution, non-profit or otherwise, with everything they’ll need to save time, money, and simplify their ticketing system.
ACME’s cloud-based technology will ensure the most reliable ticketing technology for nonprofits today. Updates to the system are automated, and because your servers are provided through a cloud, you don’t have to deal with the hassle of setting up your hardware. Choose a credit card processing system that will maximize your capabilities as a nonprofit and see the ACME demo today.