PayPal as a Payment Method
Guidelines for integrating PayPal to boost donation conversions on your platform
Boost donation conversion by up to 7% with PayPal, a popular wallet-based payment method.
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PayPal is a wallet-based payment method renowned for its worldwide adoption, processing about 50% of purchases annually. In the nonprofit sector, when PayPal is available as a payment method, it can contribute to 20% or more of online donations, increasing conversion by nearly 7% merely by being an option.
This article focuses on connecting PayPal specifically as a payment method for your supporters. For enabling PayPal as one of your payment processors, see our article about PayPal as a payment processor.
PayPal Features
- Available for supporters in: 190+ countries
- Accepted currencies: 20+
- 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
Below are the necessary steps to connect PayPal to Givetly and activate it for recurring giving.
Prerequisites
- A PayPal Business account is required. Personal accounts cannot be used.
- You need account-level permissions for your organization’s PayPal Business account.
- Organization Administrator permissions in your organization’s Givetly account.
Enable PayPal as a Payment Processor
Within Givetly, PayPal serves as both a payment processor and a method. To enable PayPal as a payment method, connect it first as a payment processor. Once connected, the Pay with PayPal method is automatically activated in your Payment methods settings.
Activate Recurring Giving
PayPal requires Reference Transactions enabled to support recurring giving. Givetly can assist with enabling Reference Transactions for your PayPal Business account.
Request Reference Transactions activation here.
International Currencies
PayPal creates separate balances for donations in currencies different from your account’s default. If you frequently receive international donations, configure PayPal to automatically handle these currencies.
Check our how-to guide for configuring currency settlements for international donations.
PayPal Nonprofit Discount
Eligible nonprofits can receive a discounted processing rate of 1.99% + 0.49 USD per donation. Learn more