Best Practices for Using Square as a Non-Profit or Donation Based Organization

Helen — Fri, 10 Apr 2020 18:22:43 GMT

Non-profit organizations are critical to the overall growth and development of any community, and donations are what ensure these groups are able to fund their work. The operations of running a non-profit, and collecting donations, shouldn’t distract from the critical work at hand. To help out, we’ve put together a list of best practices used by many non-profit organizations to power their operations with Square.

Processing Fees

Square charges the same processing fees for all customers. Familiarize yourself with the fee structure to make sure your organization is taking payments effectively. For example, contactless forms of payment or cards that are inserted are charged a lower fee than manually keyed in payments since they are a less risky form of taking payment.

Tip: Refer new sellers to Square, and receive credits on processing fees of up to $1000 in sales as our thank you!

Methods of Accepting Payment

You can accept payments in a number of different ways with Square: in-person using Square’s hardware and Point of Sale app, or virtually through Invoices, Virtual Terminal, or a Square Online Store. The fees noted above align with the different methods of payment, so you’ll want to make sure you choose a payment method that works for your organization.

Here are a few options we tend to recommend for non-profit organizations:

The Contactless Chip + Card Reader is highly recommended for in-person payments to protect against donor disputes.
Magstripe readers are also available. The first one for your account is free and subsequent readers are $10 a piece.
Donation buttons are available for your Square Online Store (Square charges a per transaction processing fee). You’ll set donation levels in your item library and that will show up on your online store.
You can also have donors make recurring payments with card on file and invoices.

Empower your Staff

Taking payments simultaneously and the easy sharing of credentials is a must for nonprofits with many volunteers.

Use Team Management to share account credentials.
Use multiple locations to track different types of events.

Track + Keep in Touch with Donors

Donors are the lifeblood of nonprofits. Here’s what you need to do to stay in touch with them.

Send email receipts to donors for a record of contribution.
Review how to add a customer to a sale to keep track of donors.
Collect donor emails and to keep in touch with donors.

Leverage Data

Use reporting tools to track patterns in your donations and donors.

Make custom reports to see a list of biggest donors, busiest time of year, and other useful insights.

Final Thoughts

Speak with a tax consultant prior to taking payments to prepare on reporting taxes, if any, at the end of the year.
Privacy is incredibly important to Square and we keep both your account and your donors’ information secure. Read more about security and privacy here.