Brad,
We are considering having each of our classmates pay a $10 registration dontaion when they register on the site to get some start up money for the reunion committee, and we also have considered requiring dues to be paid (should the committee decide to subscribe to ClassCreator to take advantage of new features). Having said that, is there any way for classmates to pay a registration donation and/or dues or would the only option for them be using the 'Donate' button? I just don't want them to have to pay a processing fee to pay these funds...I know that they could mail in the money, but in this day and age, everyone wants to do everything electronically.
Help!
Thanks,
Vicki

Currently the only donate module we have works through PayPal. We could actually integrate our own payment gateway for something like this, especially since we're about to provide ACH (direct deposit) abilities, but there is a 4.9% fee for processing crdit card payments and then ACH'ing the money back to you.

In this particular scenario, PayPal is even more expensive due to your low $10 figure. The standard PayPal Business Account processing fee is 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. In this case, that 30 cents adds another 3% to your fees, bringing your total PayPal processing fees per transaction to 5.9%.

I'm afraid you're not going to beat electronic processing fees, although I certainly can't blame you for wanting to. In this case, your best bet is to ask for a check, or make electronic payments an option and accept the fact you're going to lose a small %tage to processing fees.

One way to avoid paypal (and we Canadians certainly want to avoid US Paypal) is if you'd allow an "item" on our Reunion Store that could have a user-adjusted price.

I put an item on my Reunion Store called "Not Attending, But Like To Support the Website". I wish I could leave the price blank, and let them fill in how much they wanted to give. They would then pay using one of my accepted payment methods.

As it is, I had to fill in a price, and hope those who were going to give less are willing to give "my price"; those who were going to give more, I lost out.

Here's two alternatives:

1) Activate the Donate module on your home page. And on your Reunion Page, in your main info area, include a blurb about donations and link it right to your home page so people can use the Donate Box.

2) Put a Donate Now button right on your Reunion page. To do this:

1. Log into your PayPal account and click on Merchant Tools
2. Click Buy Now buttons
3. Select the Donate button
4. Follow directions on screen to configure the button
5. When done copy the button code to your clipboard
6. Return to your Class Creator site
7. Go into edit mode for your reunion page
8. Click the Source button to enter source mode
9. Paste your Donate button code
10. Add any additional text and/or images above or below your Donate button.