Which Payment Methods You Can Offer
The payment methods available to your supporters depend on which kind of campaign you are running. This is the question we get asked most often, so it is worth being clear about up front.
The short answer
Product fundraisers accept card, bank transfer and cash.
Crowdfunding campaigns, including colour runs and ongoing donation pages, accept card payments only.
Australian organisations: if your organisation passes fees on to supporters, only card payments are available on all campaign types. This is because fees are built into displayed prices under Australia's surcharge ban, and that only works with card payments. Organisations that absorb fees can still offer all three methods on product fundraisers. See How Pricing Works for Australian Organisations.
Why the difference
Product fundraisers involve you handing over goods, so there is a natural point where you can take cash at the door or check that a bank transfer has landed before you release someone's order. Raised gives you the tools to record those payments and reconcile them yourself.
Crowdfunding has no such moment. Donations arrive online from people you may never meet, often from outside your immediate community, and there is nothing to hand over. Card payments through Stripe are processed and reconciled automatically, which keeps the running total on your page honest.
If you need both
A single campaign cannot be part product sale and part donation drive. If you want to sell pies and also take donations, set up two campaigns and share both links.
Many organisers run a product fundraiser for their local community and a crowdfunding page for supporters further afield who cannot collect goods.
Setting up bank transfer and cash
On a product fundraiser, turn these on in your campaign settings under the payment options. Supporters then choose their method at checkout.
In Australia, card surcharges are not allowed, so fundraisers that pass card fees on have them built into their prices and are card only. To offer bank transfer and cash there, set your organisation to absorb card fees. See Fundraising in Australia.
Bank transfer orders arrive in your dashboard marked as unpaid, with a reference code the supporter should quote. Check the money has actually reached your account, then open the order and click Modify next to the payment status to mark it paid. See How to Mark a Bank Transfer as Paid.
Cash works the same way. Record the order, collect the money, then mark it paid.
If you see bank transfer on a crowdfunding page
Occasionally the bank transfer option has appeared on a crowdfunding campaign where it should not have. If you see it, treat it as a display error rather than a working option, and contact us so we can correct it.