PayPal is one of the world's leading payment processors. Today it's used by major charities like Children in Need, Cancer Research, and the Blue Cross.
Being such a recognised brand worldwide, accepting payments through PayPal helps to build trust with your supporters.
Additionally, PayPal offer discounted processing fees (1.4% + 20p per transaction) for nonprofits; learn more here.
Create a PayPal merchant account
To accept payments through PayPal, you'll need to create a merchant/business account for your nonprofit. Note that this is not this same as a personal PayPal account.
You can sign up for a merchant account here.
Connect your PayPal account with Beacon
To connect to PayPal, you simply need to log into your PayPal account via Beacon:
Go to Settings > Payments in your Beacon account
Click the 'Connect with PayPal' button
Log in, and authorise Beacon to use your account
All done! You can now accept PayPal donations through your Beacon forms - the button will appear automatically on your forms when it can be used as a payment method.
Frequently Asked Questions
I can't see the PayPal button on my form, where is it?
What payments can PayPal be used for?
The PayPal button will show as a payment option on your forms in the 'Payment' section when it's able to be used.
PayPal can be used for:
One-off donations
Single year memberships
Event tickets
PayPal isn't available for:
Recurring donations or memberships
Memberships or event tickets with additional donations
These are PayPal restrictions rather than Beacon restrictions so we're unable to add these as functionality.