Adding a Paypal Donation Button to your Website
81
Note. this guide can also be used to set up a payment (Buy Button) on your Website.
A Paypal button on your website allows people to pay money to you on-line in a secure way. It can be put on Personal or Business Websites. It could be a "Donation" button or a "buy" button.
Before I write any further, I would like to point out that this is not Cyber Panhandling. Donation button should only be put on Websites to support a good cause. (Some Business websites run under a Charity and it would be appropriate for them to use it.)
3 Essential things you need to Start are:
- A paypal account. (visit paypal.com)
- An email account.
- A Website.
You can start off with a Personal account but when you want to add a Donation button, you will have to upgrade to a Premier Account. This is done at the Click of a button on the website. (few seconds). So, if you already have a Paypal account, just upgrade to Premier.
Ps. For those new to Paypal, your email account is your Paypal Account reference.
Adding a button to your website takes approximately 10 –15 minutes, however if you do not have a Paypal Account, it could take up to a week as Paypal need to verify your bank details.
Creating the Button
Log into your Paypal account and Click on the Merchant Services Tab.
Click on Website Payments Standard – this is under Merchant Tools, on the left side of the screen. It will open up to the Screen below:
Click on Create a Donate button, the screen below will appear: If you don't want a Donation Button, click on a "Buy Button"
- Fill out the details.
- For Organisation you can put your business name or the name of your Website. Remember to change the currency to that of your Country.
- Steps 2 and 3 are optional. (I never used them when I created mine)
- To see what it would look like on your website, look at the Buyers view.
- Click on Create Button.
The next screen will create a code for you.
- Click on Select Code (this will highlight all the code)
- Copy it (Right click on Mouse and select Copy or Press Ctrl and C)
- Paste it in the HTML code Editor on your website. (Right Click on Mouse and Select Paste or Press Ctrl and V)
- As soon as you have pasted it, your Webpage will show the Donate button, as it is in Buyers view. (above)
I would advice you to open up your Website and test the button to ensure it works.
When people donate to your website and click on the buyers view, it opens up to the screen below: (you should also see this when you test the button)
Useful Books
|
The PayPal Wars: Battles With Ebay, the Media, the Mafia, And the Rest of Planet Earth
Price: $10.85
List Price: $15.95 |
|
PayPal For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))
Price: $7.63
List Price: $21.99 |
|
Pro PayPal E-Commerce (Expert's Voice)
Price: $33.32
List Price: $59.99 |
|
PayPal Hacks
Price: $7.20
List Price: $24.95 |
|
Professional Web APIs with PHP: eBay, Google, Paypal, Amazon, FedEx plus Web Feeds
Price: $19.95
List Price: $39.99 |
Ps. If you are not satisfied with it e.g maybe if the currency is in GBP instead of USD, go back and create the button.
Receiving Payments
To check if any payments have come in:
- Paypal normally send you an email to notify you of any payments that have been made.
- Log into your Paypal account and you will see a record of all transactions.
- Transfer Payments to your Bank Account, when it suits you.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Comments
Isn't that like cyber panhandling? Why would I want to ask for donations? I can see collecting for a cause but to just ask for money from people is a little funny to me.
Thanks Dohn. I notice you are a Professional Writer. You might want to consider maybe selling an ebook on your website but in this instance you will need the "add to cart" button or "buy now" button.
For Donations, maybe having a website that supports people to write books, publish books etc People need to get something out of it.
My Website is an ESOL one that supports people learning English as a second language. Lots of info, exercises and the advantage of me marking their grammar/writing/letters etc. I email it back to them with corrections and feedback at no Cost. Just thought I'd stick the Donation button on the Website.
Hope something comes to mind. Good Luck :)
Cheers Pete. It depends on the nature of Website. I have visited your website before and you definitely wouldn't require a Donation button.
There are people who maybe the work they do required some funding - in such situations this could be of benefit to them.
Glad you stopped by. I will edit the Hub so people do not get the wrong impression. Thanks.
This is just great.Though I have a paypal account, I was not knowing about the donation button.I think it is a very easy way to raise funds for many noble purpose if one has a noble intention.Thanks for sharing.
Cheers Andromida.
Its nice to see another person view it in a positive way.
Regards, E.
Lady-E - I love this hub. It is very detailed and educative. I have been contemplating having a site just for humanity but I am constrained by time. Presently, we organise village meetings and occasionally raise money for one project or the other. We are at present trying to raise money for borehole in my village. I think, if I have a site and a pay pal account I would have asked for donation. We need help and assistance in Nigeria especially in the rural villages where there is no good water, no good road, no electricity etc. Infact, there is total lack of basic amenities of life.
Paypal does not help issues either. For reasons I do not know , I was told they do not allow Nigerians to open an account with them.
Anyway, thanks for this hub. It is an eye opener.
This seems easy enough. But do people really donate to a website?
Thanks Philipo and Camping Dan.
Philipo,
its a pity Paypal doesn't accept Nigerians. My advice - When next you come to the UK, open a bank account here. Use the opportunity to quickly set up Paypal a/c and that should sort it. A lot of accounts are managed over the internet now, so when you travel back you can run it from there. Good Luck. :)
Camping Dan,
if its a cause close to people's hearts, they donate. E.g, I like the work Red Cross do and I donate to them monthly via D/Debit, but if you ask me to donate to RSPCA (charity for animals, but mostly dogs) I would see no reason to, as I have been bitten by a dog before and that put me of dogs for life.
So, people do donate. Cheers :)
Thanks for this hub Lady_E. I have a paypal account but not a premier one and I don't have my own website (except hubpages) so I didn't see the need to learn about donations. I'll keep this in mind when I put up my own website.
Thanks a lot, though I am not planning to travel to UK soon.
Informative Hub...
Thanks!!
you never stop being good, i mean providing good info
Hi, I just created my account last week and today I activated and upgraded to premiere.
Now I can't create create the donation button.
I tried to follow your step. But in the Website Payment Standard page, the Donation button is missing. The other three are there. Don't know what is wrong..
Hi Pica
I'm glad I pasted the photo's above - as you can see the donation button should be there. (I'm assuming you have also been verified with Paypal i.e Paypal send amount to your account and you go to the website and input the amount they sent you).
If you have been verified, then the problem is with the website and you should email them. I know it works as I have used it and have a Donation button on my website.
Best Wishes, Elena
Elena, bonjour from France.
Serendipidy... I was just thinking about how I might add a PayNow button to one of my web sites, and eureka. Thank you
Kevin
** Thanks Sutrapu.
** Merci Kevin.
If you do decide to, please note that paypal takes out 33p from every £1 that comes in - if you are using it to sell. i.e creating a Buy Button. Good luck.
dohn121 says:
3 months ago
This is really cool, Lady_E. This basically allows every website to consequently become an online store! Maybe even a charity organization for those of us that could use a little bread or pay back their student loans? The only question I have now is what do I want to sell? Thank you for this!