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Boost conversion by up to 7% just by enabling PayPal, a highly-popular wallet-based payment method

PayPal is a wallet-based payment method that has high adoption around the world. Roughly 50% of purchases made every year are processed using PayPal.

This is an article about connecting PayPal specifically as a payment method for your supporters. For more information on enabling PayPal as one of your payment processors, see our article about PayPal as a payment processor.

In the nonprofit space, PayPal can account for 20% or more of your online donations when it is available as a payment method. Simply adding PayPal as an option also increases conversion, on average, by nearly 7%.

Available for supporters in 190+ countries (view all compatible countries)
Accepted currencies 20+ (view supported currencies)
Refunds Yes
Minimum donation amount 1 USD
Recurring giving Yes (additional setup required)
Works with Checkout modal, Campaign Page, Donor Portal, Virtual Terminal (as a saved payment method)

Enable PayPal

 
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Below are the steps required to connect PayPal to Fundraise Up and activate it for recurring giving.

Prerequisites

 
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  • You must have a PayPal Business account to connect your PayPal Fundraise Up. Personal PayPal accounts cannot be used for this purpose.
  • You must have all account-level permissions for your organization’s PayPal Business account.
  • You must have Organization Administrator permissions in your organization’s Fundraise Up account.

Enable PayPal as a payment processor

 
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In Fundraise Up, PayPal is both a payment processor and a payment method. To implement PayPal as a payment method, begin by connecting it as a payment processor first.

Once PayPal has been connected as a payment processor, the Pay with PayPal payment method will automatically be active for your account in the Payment methods section of your main settings.

Activate recurring giving

 
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PayPal cannot be used for recurring giving unless Reference Transactions have been enabled for your PayPal Business account. Fundraise Up can help you enable Reference Transactions and activate PayPal for recurring giving.

Request Reference Transactions activation

International currencies

 
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By default, PayPal will create separate balances for donations received in currencies other than your account’s default currency. If you often receive donations in other currencies, we recommend configuring your PayPal account to automatically handle these types of donations.

Configuring currency settlement for international donations

PayPal nonprofit discount

 
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Eligible nonprofits qualify for PayPal’s charity status and can receive a discounted processing rate of 1.99% + 0.49 USD per donation. Learn more →

PayPal in social media browsers

 
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When supporters access your donation page through an in-app browser in social media apps, such as Facebook or Instagram, they cannot use PayPal as a payment method. This occurs because in-app browsers do not support the special authentication window that PayPal requires. Be sure to inform supporters that they must open your donation page in a standard web browser, such as Chrome or Safari, to complete their donation using PayPal.

 

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