Intuit Offers Three Free Months of ACH Payments for Nonprofits and Tips to Make Those Donations Count

The Intuit PaymentNetwork team works with many nonprofits that come to us with a similar problem: How can I encourage more donations and maximize what is already being donated? In tough economic times when nonprofits are fighting for donors, Intuit PaymentNetwork makes it simpler than ever for nonprofits to accept bank-to-bank and credit card transactions, helping them never miss a donation again.

Now, in addition to Intuit’s Donation Program, the Intuit PaymentNetwork team is partnering with TechSoup to offer nonprofits three months of free ACH payment processing to help get an extra boost from donations.

To redeem this offer, TechSoup Global members should sign up for Intuit PaymentNetwork by April 15, 2013 — existing QuickBooks customers may sign up here. QuickBooks Online customers here. Don't have either? No problem - sign up here. Once signed up for Intuit PaymentNetwork simply email ipnoffer@intuit.com to let the Intuit PaymentNetwork team know you have signed up for Intuit PaymentNetwork through the TechSoup Global network. Once we have confirmed your signup, we will send you an email to notify you that we have turned off ACH fees for your account.

To help nonprofits utilize this partnership, the Intuit PaymentNetwork team has some quick and effective ways nonprofits can maximize donations and streamline the payment and donation collection process:

Make it easy to donate by adding an Intuit PaymentNetwork button to your website or Facebook page so customers have more ways to donate. Click here to find out how.

Save time by using QuickBooks, which is now easier to use than ever for nonprofits and charities. QuickBooks users can avoid double entry and bookkeeping errors through easy reconciliation of donations.

Know your peak donation season. Research from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University shows that forty-six percent of nonprofit groups receive a majority of their annual contributions in the fourth quarter alone (October – December). Your nonprofit may have a different peak season, so determine when you get the biggest boost and make sure to put an additional effort around collecting donations.

Lower your cost by encouraging donors to pay directly from their bank account to avoid high credit card fees. With Intuit PaymentNetwork, bank-to-bank (ACH) transactions only cost 50 cents – regardless of the amount (and are free for your first 3 months with this offer)! Below is a nonprofit user who lowered her donation costs for the benefit of the children at the Los Altos School District.

The Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF), an Intuit PaymentNetwork customer, is a nonprofit foundation that collects donations for the Los Altos School District to help support programs in library, music, PE & junior high electives that would not be possible due to state funding cuts. Shobana Gubbi, the executive director, started using Intuit PaymentNetwork to help lower their overhead costs and to help encourage donors to contribute online donations.

We spoke to Shobana about using Intuit PaymentNetwork to collect donations and she said, "Because our average donation is around $1,000 we generally pay about $25 of fees per donation so the 50 cent per transaction fee that Intuit PaymentNetwork offers is a huge cost saver for our nonprofit." LAEF can now use this additional money towards programs for students at the local schools, rather than paying for overhead costs.

Do you have any helpful tips for nonprofits that you'd like to share? Leave a comment in the space below!