Fundraising ideas/Donation options

These proposals regarding Donation options have mostly been submitted via Wikimedia site feedback; they've been transferred to this page from Fundraising ideas.

Means by which funds are transferred

Euro Bank Transfer

It should be pointed out that a transfer to the belgium bank account from a euro account within the EU will not incur any higher charges than an inside-the-same-country transfer if the IBAN and BIC are used (up to €12.500). E.g., with in Germany I pay no charges for transfers in Euro, so will also pay no charges to send money to the Belgium account.

This could encourage more EU people to pay money, and also reduce the charges paid to the 3rd party, e.g. paypal. Anyway, have to go any transfer the money now :-)

Accepting donations via credit card

I am with a Credit Card payment processing company called Optimal Payments, and I think we have a couple great solutions to the issues raise don this page. Being a full service international payment processor (gateway, merchant account, reporting, chargeback management) and eliminating multiple vendors, we typically can save our merchants 10-30% in processing fees. Our website is www.optimalpayments.com.

There is also a company that we partner with called Mobio Identity Systems that may be of interest to you, as it would enable you to collect donations right on your website with the quick scan of a 2D barcode (eliminating the time consuming task of filling out forms on the website). Here is a brief overview of the technology they offer:

Mobio uses the iPhone, Android (and soon Blackberry)platforms and leading edge 2D ‘barcode’ technology that allows you to instantly receive payments from anywhere. With a wave of an iPhone over a special 2D Mobio barcode, customers can buy your products and services from any media you choose including print advertising, billboards, TV and the Internet. There is no hardware or infrastructure required. Account set-up is simple.

https://www.mobioidentity.com/, http://www.cbc.ca/video/player.html?category=News&zone=technology&site=cbc.technology.ca&clipid=1638877569.

It would simply be my goal to provide the Wikimedia Foundation with a better overall payment solution than you currently have. Please let me know what you think, and if you are interested in hearing what we are able to do for you we can schedule a time that would be convenient to discuss this opportunity. Brent.iverson@optimalpayments.com

An old suggestion, really: I, like many other people, don't an account on have PayPal or any similar other online payment system. So, I haven't yet given money to any of the past fundraisers. I'd do it in a flash if you accepted credit cards.

This has been talked about for several fundraisers, but it still hasn't happened yet. I would guess that it would raise takings from fundraisers by at least 20% if the Foundation made payment easier, so it might make sense to throw some money at setting this up before the next fundraiser.

You might want to set a lowerbound for credit card donations, say $5 or $10, in order to keep processing charges down. T

And, of course, once CC processing has been set up, you can accept CC donations all year round, not just at fundraising times.

A very old answer: You DO NOT need a PayPal account to give a one time donation to the foundation using a credit card through PayPal. --Daniel Mayer 21:55, 16 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

You may not need to have a paypal account to pay with a credit card through pay pal. The costs however would increase and I do not like to make the man in the middle happy. GerardM 12:32, 17 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Also, after some limit they require you to do the nasty verification thing. So, you can donate once or twice, but then they want you to subscribe etc. Happened to me, I now give to the European account directly. --Magnus Manske (too lazy to log in)

I wish there was a way to donate with a credit card while side stepping paypal -- paypal has been controversial in its user agreement; something I don't want to contribute to.

rearange donation page

I suggest one single icon for paypal that links to a page with the ones for each country. --24.94.190.164 02:09, 17 December 2005 (UTC) Gbleem[reply]

make a detailed report about MoneyBookers too

There is a report for Paypal donations, but not for MoneyBookers. I really think MB should recieve more attention, as it's much cheaper than Paypal, is supported in more countries (e.g. Paypal only recently opened in Poland, while MB was there for a couple of years) and doesn't seem to be so evil. --Wanted 13:47, 18 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Google Checkout

https://checkout.google.com/seller/fees.html

I really think this should be looked at hard, and soon. I wrote to Anthere at length at User_talk:Anthere#Some_obvious_suggestions_about_Wikimedia_Foundation_finances. Google is offering no fees for 2007 - I also wrote to google asking if this offer was even open to the wikimedia foundation with the volume of donations they receive (and if they'd offer a discount). Here's the verbatim answer I got:

Hello Aerik,

Thank you for your email. I understand you have a question about using
Google Checkout to process donations for the Wikimedia Foundation at a
reduced cost. I also understand you have a question about Wikimedia
Foundation affiliated organizations using Google Checkout at reduced cost
as well.

Google Checkout does not provide discounts for 501c3 non-profit
organizations, though this may be introduced at some point in the future.
We will be taking your thoughts into account as we move forward with our
product development.

However, Google Checkout is currently offering a free transaction
processing promotion, which works as follows:

- From now through December 31, 2007, you can process Checkout
transactions for free, even if you aren't an AdWords advertiser. If you're
already an AdWords advertiser, you can process your Checkout transactions
for free regardless of your AdWords spend.

Please remember, in order to use Google Checkout to process donations,
your organization:

- Must have a legitimate tax-exempt status.
- Must clearly display the tax-exempt status on its website.

For more information about Google Checkout content policies, please visit
http://checkout.google.com/seller/content_policies.html.

Thank you for your interest in Google Checkout, Aerik, and please feel
free to reply to this email if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Chris
The Google Checkout Team

---

No processing fees through the end of 2007 when you use Google Checkout
http://checkout.google.com/seller/freetransactions.html

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
From: <snipped>
Subject: Google Checkout Fees - discounts for nonprofits?
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 15:54:51 -0700

Visible_URL:
Question: I'm researching costs of accepting donations (on my own
initiative) to the Wikimedia Foundation, and I was wondering if Google
would consider providing this service at a reduced cost?  Also, regarding
the promotion where there are no fees through 2007 - is this also
available to organizations with the throughput of the Wikimedia
Foundation?

Thanks,
Aerik Sylvan
(a private individual trying to find ways to save the Wikimedia Foundation
some money)

So, I think we're crazy for not offering Google Checkout as a donation option as soon as possible for those interested in using it... we could easily save a few thousand dollars in fees!

--Aerik 19:35, 30 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Amazon

It may be worth asking Amazon if they'd be willing to either:

(Preferred) add a "Donate this much to Wikipedia" section to the shopping cart on Amazon.com, or,
Add a set of "Wikipedia Donation" items, possibly even kickstarting an entire "Donations" online store on Amazon that other non-profits can use also.

Feedback welcome. Ash Black 23:21, 29 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

E-commerce frameworks

Less immediately, there are a couple of open source storefront frameworks: w:OsCommerce and its most widespread fork, w:Zen Cart.

Donation particulars

Why are you emphasising the Euro?

There is no need to show Euros as well as Dollars on the fundraising report. If we must have it, can we also have British pounds, the second most used currency in the English speaking world? And what about Canada and Australia etc? And Japan, which has an important currency and provides lots of traffic. No, just go back to how it was please. Wikipedia's budget is in US dollars, so that is the relevant currency. The new version is offensive because this is the English language Wikipedia, but it degrades the status of the second most important Anglophone currency. The Pound/Euro issue is a sore and sensitive point for millions of us in the UK, and I will try to avoid Wikipedia for as long as this is thrust in my face on every page. CalJW 02:26, 28 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I have to say, I disagree that Euro are a bad thing to have on the English encyclopaedia. The two global currencies are USD and Euro - sterling are miniscule by comparison. If the sterling value is no more than a link away, I don't see the issue. To say that Sterling is really a major currency is foolish cutural imperialism (note: I am British). Sam Korn 21:30, 16 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Anon. vs. real name

When making a one-time donation, it only gives me the option of making an anonymous donation or using my real name. I don't mind using paypal to make a donation, but prefer to attribute my donation to my wikipedia name, Kmf164, instead. Can you add this as an option for donations? Thanks. --Kmf164 05:13, 16 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Just keep the 'Anonymous' option ticked but put your user name in the comment field. :) --Daniel Mayer