Great job setting up online payment for your nonprofit — that's already a strong first step!
The next step is managing the transition. That means bringing both your board and volunteers who handle payments, and your members (members, donors, participants, etc.) along for the ride. The goal: get as many people as possible paying online. 💪
This article gives you practical tips to tackle that challenge:
- Help your team see the hidden cost of offline payments
- Choose form settings that encourage online payment
- Guide your members with tutorials
- Build an efficient, learning-driven process
These are suggestions, of course — adapt them to your nonprofit and your community. And if you've found something that works, share it in the comments: it might just inspire another organization! 💡
Help your team see the hidden cost of offline payments
The first mindset shift is about how people value volunteer time: the fact that it's unpaid doesn't mean it should be wasted.
Managing payments — whether by check, cash, wire transfer, or the inevitable refunds — takes real time. And that time is valuable.
How much time, exactly? 👉 Run the numbers and see for yourself. Then share that figure so people understand how they can help.
For Bastien, it was over 800 checks every year. Find out what he did with the time he got back (starting at 3'18") ⤵️
Choose form settings that encourage online payment
If you want most of your members to choose online payment, nudge them in the right direction by configuring your forms (membership, donations, etc.) the right way. We recommend two simple things.
Payment method settings
This is configured at step 4 - Payment and Confirmation of your form setup. You have two options: the straightforward approach and the more flexible one. Choose based on your community — you know them better than we do.
The straightforward approach
Offer only card payment, either in full or in installments, and leave all other options unchecked.
Keep in mind that even if you only offer online payment on your form, you can still manually add members and record their offline payments.
The more flexible option
If you're worried about losing members, you can also check "Other" and pair it with a message like this one, which leaves the door open to sending a payment link.
Set expectations right in your description text
We encourage you to explain the reasoning behind this choice in the description text, entered at step 1 - General Information.
Here is a sample text you can copy, paste, and adapt:
💰 About payment: we encourage you to pay your membership by card. You can choose to pay in installments to spread the cost over time.
Payment is 100% secure and takes just a few seconds. It saves our volunteers a huge amount of time, so thank you! 🙏
This short video walks you through the online membership and payment process, including one of the security verification steps. The exact step may vary depending on your bank, so yours might look slightly different.
Go full screen for the best view: https://assoconnect.wistia.com/medias/wb7y4taj9k If you don't have a card available, we can still accept checks on an exceptional basis.
You can embed the video directly in the description by clicking "Embed media" and pasting the video link: https://assoconnect.wistia.com/medias/wb7y4taj9k.
Help your members with step-by-step guides
If the video above isn't enough, or doesn't suit your audience, other formats may work better. We've put together step-by-step guides for your members showing them exactly how to:
If needed, you can also download them from this folder and adapt them for your nonprofit (the first slide explains how).
Once you've done that, feel free to share it:
- in the email campaign announcing your membership drive
- in the membership campaign itself, for example as an attachment or in the form description.
Building an efficient, learning-friendly organization
Finally, some of your members may need a little reassurance before taking the plunge. If a video and a step-by-step guide aren't enough, there's always… you! Human connection remains the best way to build confidence.
Some nonprofits organize training sessions to walk members through managing their account or profile, completing their membership, and paying online. You could simply offer a short meeting or an online training session.
Others set up an "online membership" station at membership events, where volunteers help members complete their membership and pay online (rather than entering everything manually on the form). Volunteers save time, members learn to use the tool: everyone wins.
A few tips for running an on-site membership station:
- bring a computer with internet access — a mobile hotspot works just fine,
- open the membership form link in a private browsing window, otherwise you may already be logged in as an administrator,
- consider having a printed copy of the guide(s) mentioned above on hand.
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This list is by no means exhaustive, and we have no doubt you'll come up with more ideas to encourage membership sign-ups and online payments. Feel free to share them in the comments below to inspire others.
Change can feel daunting and takes time, but stay the course and keep at it. The payoff: huge gains in time and efficiency! 🌟
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