PayPal Donate Button vs. Nonprofit Donation Page
A PayPal donate button seems like an easy win for small nonprofits. Read on to learn why you may be better off with a more robust donation page.
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A PayPal donate button seems like an easy win for small nonprofits. Read on to learn why you may be better off with a more robust donation page.
Join the fundraising movement! Join the fundraising movement!When I work with small and start-up nonprofits, I always get the inevitable questions about PayPal’s donate button. Does it work? Is it worth it?
I understand that to many nonprofit leaders who are new to the world of fundraising, going with a trusted brand like PayPal – one that makes secure payments quick and painless – seems like a no-brainer.
However, there are significant shortfalls to consider, and choosing the easy option now might put your organization’s fundraising behind the curve.
In this article, I’ll take a closer look at the PayPal donate button and explain why I think a donation page will ultimately better serve your mission.
First, let’s review the differences between these two options.
| Donation Page | PayPal Donate Button | |
|---|---|---|
| What Is It? | A dedicated page to collect donations via a built-in donation form while telling your story | A standalone button that links to a PayPal transaction form to collect donations |
| Set Up | Can be more complicated; more customization options | Easy 3-step process |
| Payment Options | Many, depending on platform (Donorbox offers 22+) | PayPal or credit card only (Venmo sometimes available) |
| Recurring Giving Options | Monthly, weekly, annually, etc., depending on platform, with easy self-service donor portals | Monthly only |
| Customization | Many customization options, including customized donation receipts | Limited customization options; can’t customize receipts |
| Donor Data | Usually flows automatically into a donor management system for easy stewardship | Manually retrieve donor information from PayPal for ongoing stewardship |
| Fees (as of 2026) | Vary depending on platform. Donorbox fees are 2.95% + standard payment processing fees for Stripe or PayPal. On Donorbox, donors can choose to cover fees so more of every donation goes toward your cause. | 2.89% + $0.49 per transaction. Discounted fee of 1.99% + $0.49 for confirmed nonprofits. Donors can’t cover fees. |
| Best For | Nonprofits of all sizes looking to grow their fundraising and build better donor relationships. | Small organizations like neighborhood associations looking for the easiest possible option to collect minimal payments. |
While advantages of the PayPal donate button include easy setup and instant PayPal brand recognition (which can increase donor trust), there are several disadvantages to consider. These include:
Short answer: it depends.
A PayPal donate button might be worth it for small nonprofits who are accepting regular amounts and aren’t looking to significantly grow giving.
For example, let’s say you run your neighborhood association, which has a 501(c)(4) designation. As such, donations to your association aren’t tax-deductible and you don’t plan on receiving many. You plan to collect annual dues from neighborhood members and require them to renew every year.
In this case, a PayPal donation button makes sense. You don’t need to encourage more giving and recurring donations aren’t necessary. While you should steward your members, that will look more like sending them your regular newsletter, as part of their membership benefits.
But let’s say you eventually decide to run a special campaign to support the nature preserve in your neighborhood. Suddenly, you need an attractive, branded option to collect as many donations as possible, which means you need multiple payment options and an easy way to steward donors for more donations. That’s when you would benefit from a traditional donation page.
As I mentioned above, there are a few cases where a PayPal donation button might come in handy.
However, the majority of fundraisers will see a better return when investing in a PayPal donate button alternative.
When you need to do the following, it’s time to make the switch.
Donor trust starts with your giving process. Think about it – it’s the first time most donors interact with you. When you need to make a better impression, skipping PayPal donate buttons is the way to go.
Donation platforms like Donorbox allow you to customize the giving experience from start to finish.
With Donorbox, create custom themes to make your donation form perfectly match your branding, which can result in 38% larger donations on average. Add images and multiple tiers to your form to further enhance giving, then polish it off with a fully customized receipt thanking your donors for their gift.
Switch to a real donation page when improving donor trust becomes a necessity.
A PayPal donate button might be attractive because you assume everyone has a PayPal account. While many people do – PayPal boasts over 439 million accounts worldwide – that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s their preferred way to pay.
Capturing more donations means giving donors the easy, quick giving options they want to use.
With a PayPal donate button, you can accept donations via PayPal, credit and debit cards, and sometimes Venmo.
While those are good options, going with a trusted donation platform like Donorbox gives your donors access to the same options plus additional popular methods, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay, Stripe Link, and more.
The Donorbox OmniGive™ Donation Form dynamically displays dozens of payment options, so your donors always see the best options for their region and device type.
Getting a one-time donation is nice. Getting donations again and again, on a regular schedule, is how you build a sustainable organization.
Donation pages like Donorbox provide more recurring giving options. Donorbox supports one-time, daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual giving – meaning you can offer your donors the giving interval that best fits their needs.
Plus, look for donation platforms that offer an easy-to-use donor portal that empowers recurring donors to pause, increase, and cancel their gifts themselves.
While PayPal’s fees may come in lower than some donation platforms, you have to remember that donors don’t have the option to cover transaction fees for you. That means that you’re missing a little bit of every donation, which can add up.
On the other hand, tried-and-true donation platforms like Donorbox allow donors to cover those fees for you. It costs them just a couple dollars more to ensure you receive more of their donation, making every donation (and every dollar you spent to earn that donation) go further.
Increase your cost per dollar raised and skip the PayPal donate button this time.
PayPal donate buttons help you collect payments in the here and now. But as many of us know, fundraising is all about the future: meaning it’s all about relationships.
How can you get this donor, who just gave you $15 of their hard-earned money, to support you again in the future? The answer is stewardship.
With a PayPal donate button, your stewardship is all manual. That may be fine for smaller organizations. But if you want to steward at scale, you need to use a donation page on a platform like Donorbox, which has a built-in CRM that can organize and automate your stewardship outreach.
Fundraising is all about strategizing for the future. Setting up a donation form will grant you the best possible relationship-building tools.
When choosing between a PayPal donate button vs. nonprofit donation page, it can be tempting to pick the easy route and go with what you know.
For some nonprofits, the PayPal donation button has the simplicity you need to collect one-time payments. For nonprofits looking to grow, they may get frustrated by the limited options.
If you’re looking to grow your fundraising, it’s time to invest in a real donation page with a trusted platform like Donorbox. Build a customized Donorbox donation form and embed it right on your website’s donation page, or create a Donorbox-hosted page with an easy-link donation button. Get your donation page set up and ready to accept donations in just fifteen minutes.
Lindsey Bower is a writer, content strategist, and nonprofit consultant. She specializes in helping nonprofits craft compelling messaging for websites, blogs, social media, and email marketing, with a strong focus on SEO and AEO strategy. With a background in fundraising and membership management, she knows firsthand what it's like to juggle priorities and wear many hats in the fast-paced nonprofit world.
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