Many nonprofit organizations rely upon fundraising events to meet their annual budget. Much hard work and planning goes into launching a successful event in which young and old alike can come and support one of their favorite institutions or causes.
With Purim right around the corner, many Jewish organizations have various fundraising events and activities that revolve around this joyous holiday. One such example is that schools and institutions host a Purim carnival that brings the entire community together for an afternoon of fun and fundraising.
When it comes to accepting credit card payments at events, nonprofits run into a problem.
You see, your typical nonprofit is not a retail store that is set up to easily swipe and process the credit cards of their guests or customers.
Plus, many nonprofits would like to not just have their volunteers or staff stay in one place. Instead, they would prefer that they walk around the crowd to see if people would like to purchase soft drinks, snacks, or make an additional donation.
But, without an expensive portable credit card processing machine, they aren’t able to use their staff or volunteers in this manner.
Enter the Square Reader.
The Square Reader totally negates the need to purchase a computer (or cash register). This tool easily attaches to an iPod, iPhone or iPad and allows any volunteer or member of your PTA to stand outside at carpool drop-off or at the entrance to your Purim carnival and sell tickets by swiping credit cards right into their smartphone with a Square Reader.
You can also mobilize your staff or volunteers to maximize your donations and purchases at the event by giving them a Square reader for their smartphone as well. Square is designed in such a way that your volunteers and staff can accept payments on your behalf without allowing them to view sensitive account information. Best of all, these payments will be smoothly deposited into the bank account associated with the organization’s Square account.
Please note: At this time, there is no formal way to capture donor information through Square. Square’s standard fees apply to non-profits and there are no special rates available. However, you can easily add your organization’s EIN to your Square account. By adding your EIN, IRS reporting will be associated with the organization, rather than you or the individual who created the account. Keep in mind that at any time, you can edit the email address and business name associated with the account.
All things considered, if you are looking for a way to not just receive peoples pledges—but their payments—the Square Reader will allow you to easily collect payments for your Purim fundraiser or for your upcoming initiative in which you sell flowers for Shavuos while parents are waiting to pick up their kids from your school.
Below, are two short videos that explain how easy it is to use Square:
Where else could the Square reader come in handy?
Consider this piece of advice from The Bell Strike Blog:
Fund-raisers know that many significant donations happen over a cup of coffee or a handshake. Fund-raisers, live auctions, charity galas, concerts and other live events raise millions of dollars in on-the-spot contributions. Where credit cards are accepted at such events, contributions rise dramatically.
To learn more about how you can use Square in your fundraising efforts and certainly at your next event, see here.
Happy Purim and much hatzlacha in your fundraising drives from all of us at NLEResources.com!
