Accepting credit card payments or bank transfers through your system requires a payment gateway (and merchant account). The systems we evaluated vary greatly in how they support these needs.<\/p>\n
Some vendors integrate with several payment processors, while others have their own custom solutions. Fees vary by processor and are generally charged on a per transaction basis, and some vendors charge an additional per-transaction fee in addition to processor fees. Many systems allow you to add a checkbox to online donation forms that gives donors the option to cover the processing costs for their gift, which can help defray some of those costs.<\/p>\n
In addition to asking about processing fees, there are additional questions you should ask about payment processing. Can you set up an automatic process for charging cards on a recurring basis? Does the system store credit card numbers in the database? If so, ask about how they protect credit card data and make sure that the system is PCI compliant at a minimum.<\/p>\n
Some vendors that allow you to choose from several payment processors will also allow you to connect multiple payment processors to the system for different types of transactions. This can be a benefit for adding quick payment solutions, such as Apple Pay, to your donation forms or for accepting onsite payment at events. In addition, different processors provide different services\u2014in some systems you may need to select a specific processor if you want to accept recurring donations or if you want to automatically update expiring credit cards in the system. Finally, what happens if someone asks for a refund? Some systems will require you to use a different interface to make a refund, and then log the refund separately into the system.<\/p>\n
Because donor management systems track incoming money, it\u2019s critical to be able to easily sync transactions with your accounting system. When considering this, look for two different things. First, what controls and support are provided to make it easy to reconcile donations with your accounting system? Second, what kind of support does it offer for actually communicating with your accounting system?<\/p>\n
Nonprofits vary in the ways they reconcile donations with accounting. Some group a bunch of donations together into a single entry in their general ledger. Others (usually smaller nonprofits) prefer that each transaction be entered individually.<\/p>\n
Many systems support the idea of a \u201cbatch\u201d of donations\u2014a set of payments for a particular time frame that\u2019s grouped and considered as one for accounting purposes. Sometimes you\u2019ll need to enter gifts into a batch, or sometimes you can create the batch afterwards by grouping existing gifts. Once a batch is closed, a few systems let you mark it as \u201cposted\u201d or reconciled to accounting for tracking purposes.<\/p>\n
But the systems vary in how they approach making changes to a payment after the batch to which it is assigned has been reconciled. Many systems offer no controls to prevent someone from changing a donation after the fact, which could throw your books out of whack. Others offer the opposite extreme\u2014there\u2019s no way to make any change to a payment once it\u2019s been reconciled. The best approach may fall somewhere in-between\u2014for instance, the ability to un-post and then re-post batches.<\/p>\n
Having a donor management system that speaks directly to your accounting system can come in handy. A number that we reviewed offer pre-built integrations with common accounting systems. But every system has the ability to export transactions, and vendors will often work with clients during implementation to create a custom report that will export transactions with the information the finance department needs (and, in some systems, you can schedule that report to run automatically and be sent directly to the accounting team). In fact, some organizations prefer the control that a more manual process allows compared to an automated process.<\/p>\n
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