Online payment systems for donations

Wells Fargo, Yahoo, other banks: online payment 1-time or monthly

See Online billpay to schedule monthly donations - user can set up and send a 1-time payment to the org. Need to email org probably, with heads-up.

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Ideally this page will cover a list of online payment systems and credit-card front ends, rated by:

Quality
Availability (24x7, little down-time)
Ease of setup
Setup charges
Monthly charges
BigStep is a free system. Other options charge outrageous percentages (10% + service fees), or monthly charges and huge setup fees. Most are very cumbersome to setup.
Will the credit servicing company work with a drug policy reform organization?
What features are desirable?

Key info needed

What stops people from donating to an organization
How much effect does having to sign in with BigStep have, for example.
Does the idea of gifts/incentives turn some people off?
Getting feedback from people who donate and, specifically, who don't donate would be great. Have a form that is linked to the donations form. When considering a donation, user can click "What your donation will accomplish", "Progress report", or especially, "Feedback form regarding donations". Also needed is "Feedback form about this site." An email address dedicated to donations, such as donations@smith.org is good, but it's nice to specifically have a feedback form for a structured communication channel.

CYBERGIFTS, PARTS 4-6 - at the Online Fundraising Resource Center

Helping.org (Guidestar.org)

When a donation is made, the donor gets a thank you email. If the charity organization is set up for EFT electronic funds transfers with Helping.org, the org's first donation will still arrive by check. On this initial check stub will be a PIN & Web site address. The charity can track any future donations that go into their EFT account by using their pages at the Helping.org site. Helping.org mails checks twice a month, the 15th and the last day. The checks come from California. The charity organization does not receive a notification any other way.

Bigstep - online commerce site

Erowid uses Bigstep. It has some bugs. It is down a lot. You have to 'create an account' with them before you can donate to Erowid. Doesn't allow reform org to customize the ordering pages much; the org can't add checkboxes for whether people are interested in receiving physical mail or email for the org's listserv. The org has to create a separate page for each size of shirt or other incentive-item, because BigStep doesn't have any features in their shopping cart.

Custom secure page

Many orgs do this.

Non-secure form

Don't encourage users to send credit card number via non-secure form. However, the form can gather all info including phone number, but not credit card number. Then call donor for credit card #.

Print and mail form

NORML's approach: user fills in the HTML form, then print that HTML page and snailmail it to the org.

Charity mall

For profit.

Charity Portal

Full setup at Helping.org - for 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Free. 501c3's are already set up there. Alchemind.org will likely be the first Reform org with a full setup there. User can make anonymous donation: all your info is needed by Helping.org and the bank for the credit card payment to go through, but the payment received by the org is anonymous -- the org doesn't know who contributed the payment.

Helping.org takes about 2%, for credit card processing. According to Hitdonate.net, that's lower than if the org did the credit card processing themselves.

PayPal System

This Reform page offers PayPal as one option: Orange County Hemp Council - Membership/Donations

[todo: properly integrate into site]

Edward Forchion has set up an online donation channel using the PayPal system.

Date: 29 Nov 2000 07:19:33 -0000
From: njweedman at yahoo.com
To: restore at crrh.org
Subject: EDWARD "njweedman" Forchion has sent you an Auction Payment Request with PayPal

EDWARD "njweedman" Forchion has just sent you a payment request for an auction item with PayPal.
Buyer: restore at crrh.org

PAYMENT INFORMATION

Winning Bid: 10.00
Shipping: 0.00
Insurance: 0.00
_________________________
Total: 10.00

AUCTION INFORMATION

Auction Site: Other
Item URL: http://www.tlmp.org/Forchion_Defense_Fund.htm
Auction Title: EDWARD FORCHION DEFENSE FUND
Close Date: November 28, 2002

Here is a message from EDWARD "njweedman":

On Dec. 1st 2000, I will turn myself in to the Camden County NJ Authorities.

On Nov 22, I also sought Politicial Asylum at the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa Canada, I wanted to deliver the request in person. Regardless I have a motion hearing on Dec to with draw my guilty plea as well as a sentencing hearing.

I believe I will be sentenced to prison time but wouldn't it be interesting if the Cuban government grants my request after I'm imprisoned one of America's WAR GULAGs.

I have set up a paypal account at www.paypal.com , as a defense fund. My wife will have the only access to this fund at our local Commerce bank. If anyone wants to support my defense, this is where to contribute, or mail to:

Forchion Defense Fund
P.O. Box 444
Browns Mills NJ , 08015

Any amout will help. Thank-you!
We the free peoples of the world will win this war on us eventually.

To pay for this auction item through PayPal, just click here.

PayPal lets you send and receive money by email.

For a limited time only, every new user who signs up with PayPal and activates their account receives a $5 New Account Bonus! (U.S. members only)

PayPal's backers include Nokia Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Madison Dearborn Partners, Qualcomm, Sequoia Capital and idealab Capital Partners. Our state-of-the-art encryption provides the highest level of security.

For more information about PayPal, check out http://www.PayPal.com/.

Note: If you already have a PayPal account, log in at https://secure.PayPal.com/login and click the Profile subtab to add this email address to your account to receive this money request.

Please verify that the recipient of your auction payment is the seller you intend to pay. For security purposes, you may want to email the seller first and receive confirmation of the seller's email address.

----------------------------------------------

"Best of the Web"
- Forbes

"Using the service is actually safer than a check or money order."
- Wall Street Journal

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"This is truly one of the easiest services to use. Setting up an e-mail account at Yahoo! takes longer!"
- Internet.com

*************************************************************************
Confirm your requests for payment:

In order to confirm your requests for payment, please log in to your PayPal account and check your Inbox for proper receipt of a money request from a sender. If you have received a money request for an auction, be sure to check that the requester's email address matches the auction seller's email address.

If there is a discrepancy between the money request you received in your email and what is reflected in your Inbox, please contact us at service at paypal.com.

Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 22:41:04 -0800 (PST)
From: The Legalize Marijuana Party - njweedman at yahoo.com
To: restore at crrh.org
Subject: Off to Court and probably Prison Tomorrow.

In just a few hours I will be heading to the Camden County NJ - Hall of Justice,the Superior Court. In the last three years I have made a point to create as much media attention to my fight against the "war on Drugs". Tomorrow will be no different.

MAPINC news articles about Edward Forchion

I believe most of the media in South Jersey will be in the courtroom. My arguments for the use of Jury Nullification should will be heard, eventually everyone in this area is going to know what I'm talking about.

Jury Nullification a "we the people weapon of war". Eventually this is how it's going to be won by US. - If the events in Florida or the last 4 years since 8 states legalized marijuana for medical purposes is any indication of how hard a politician will hold onto power, you're blind. The politicians (lawyers) aren't just going to let us take their cash cow, the marijuana laws. We will have to take them. I say to do this no blood or violence has to be shed, simply openly advocate to juries that the law is wrong marijuana is not a Schedule 1 drug. We have the proof.

Anyway, I'll going to bed, this will probably be the lasttime I sleep in it for a while so I must go. This has been a very interesting week, a visit to Rev. Tucker, and Balassaro and the embassies in OTTAWA.

Yes, I did request Asylum hearings to several countries, which is a right we all have in accorrdance with article 14 of the Universal Human Rights declaration our countries signed in 1947, in conjunction with the UN Charter. I didn't wait for answers, I had to be in court today in New Jersey. Wouldn't that be a big kick in the pants if one of these countries grants me Asylum, but I'm in a Gulag.

Continue to visit my website: tlmp.org - If any of you are willing send a donation to my defense/family fund. P.O. Box 444, Browns Mills, NJ 08015.

I believe I will be jailed tomorrow. The address of the jail is : Camden County Jail, 4th & Federal Sts., Camden City, NJ 08101 - write me please.

-- Edward Forchion - NJ Weedman
The Legalize Marijuana Party

http://www.tlmp.org/ - home
http://www.tlmp.org/general_info.htm - About
http://www.tlmp.org/LMPgoals.htm - Mission
http://www.tlmp.org/Forchion_Defense_Fund.htm - Donate