Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Defining Micro-donations<\/h2>\nIncremental amounts anywhere up to ten dollars are typically considered micro-donations, and are making micro-philanthropy a significant portion of the fundraising landscape.<\/p>\n
Historically, businesses effectively used micro-donations through the collection of spare change at the checkouts of their brick & mortar locations. However, with the growth of the internet and increased time spent on the web, online and mobile donations have become the dominant source of this form of philanthropy.<\/p>\n
Millennial and Gen-Z donors top the leaderboard when it comes to micro-donations. Thanks to the popularity of smartphones and social networks constantly within reach, these younger donors can be tapped into through effective use of social media.<\/p>\n
<\/a>A Fraction of Your Funding<\/h2>\nAn interesting phenomenon is that most individuals are more willing to give a little bit a lot of the time, than to give a lot all at once.<\/p>\n
Consider this coffee shop example\u2026 If a friendly, skilled barista asked for a $35 monthly donation upfront, most people would balk. However, those same customers buy a cup of coffee every morning for $3.50, pull out a five dollar bill, and toss the remaining change into the jar. Let\u2019s say after taxes they\u2019re tipping $1.25 each time. Add that up over 4 weeks \u2013 and there\u2019s your $35.<\/p>\n
This is the benefit of micro-donations; small, incremental amounts that become significant over time, especially if they come from a number of people, and\/or are given on a repeated basis.<\/p>\n
Using this same formula, many of you who are running WordPress websites could also benefit from micro-donations, whatever type of businesses they might be.<\/p>\n
Perhaps you want to support philanthropy on your site by collecting and contributing to a charitable cause. Or, maybe you\u2019re a writer hoping to get a little financial bonus for the time-consuming creative content you produce for your readers. Or, could be you\u2019re a coder who could really use supplemental funds to cover the development & distribution of your plugin.<\/p>\n
Most hard-working online creators are appreciative of a little boost in income. Why not present the opportunity to your audience? They might be ready and willing\u2026 you just need to make them able.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Qualities to Look for In a Micro-donation Solution<\/h2>\nWhat exactly makes for a good micro-donation platform?<\/p>\n
Most importantly, it has to be simple to use, quick to submit, and recognizable. Any transaction method that requires significant time to complete will cause potential donors to bounce. Likewise if the payment platform they\u2019re considering opening up their wallet for is something they\u2019ve never heard of.<\/p>\n
Secondly, transaction fees should be relatively low. If the user is only contributing a few bucks, it\u2019s important that most of that isn\u2019t eaten up by a processing fee \u2013 or worse, actually costs you money.<\/p>\n
So which micro-donation plugins fit the bill? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Recommended Micro-donation Plugins<\/h2>\nWe researched what was available in the arena of WordPress donation plugins, and are sharing the ones we thought were best. Bonus: they\u2019re all free.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the list of reviewed plugins:<\/p>\n
\n- Forminator<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- GiveWP<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Accept Donations with PayPal<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Paymattic<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Charitable<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Seamless Donations<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Forminator<\/h3>\n
Forminator is much more than a simple donation plugin, but earns a spot here because it handles this specific task quite well. And hey, why not use a plugin that has more than one function? You\u2019ll cut down on resources, and your learning curve.<\/p>\n
In addition to being an all-around form building wiz, Forminator does feedback widgets, interactive polls (with real-time results), buzzfeed-style quizzes (no wrong answer), and service estimators \u2013 including the option to include payment elements.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to use, appealing to look at, and has a proven track record for successful leads and conversions.<\/p>\n![\"forminator](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/000-forminator-forms-summary-section-1050x1051.png\")
Forminator\u2019s<\/strong> dashboard provides a lot of detail in a concisely summarized section.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWe have some great articles on the blog specific to Forminator<\/em> on form creation walkthroughs<\/a> and details on its other fantastic capabilities<\/a>, so I won’t go through the setup in detail here.<\/p>\nInstead, I’ll just quickly demonstrate how things look on the front end using a donation form I created.<\/p>\n
An interesting phenomenon is that most individuals are more willing to give a little bit a lot of the time, than to give a lot all at once.<\/p>\n
Consider this coffee shop example\u2026 If a friendly, skilled barista asked for a $35 monthly donation upfront, most people would balk. However, those same customers buy a cup of coffee every morning for $3.50, pull out a five dollar bill, and toss the remaining change into the jar. Let\u2019s say after taxes they\u2019re tipping $1.25 each time. Add that up over 4 weeks \u2013 and there\u2019s your $35.<\/p>\n
This is the benefit of micro-donations; small, incremental amounts that become significant over time, especially if they come from a number of people, and\/or are given on a repeated basis.<\/p>\n
Using this same formula, many of you who are running WordPress websites could also benefit from micro-donations, whatever type of businesses they might be.<\/p>\n
Perhaps you want to support philanthropy on your site by collecting and contributing to a charitable cause. Or, maybe you\u2019re a writer hoping to get a little financial bonus for the time-consuming creative content you produce for your readers. Or, could be you\u2019re a coder who could really use supplemental funds to cover the development & distribution of your plugin.<\/p>\n
Most hard-working online creators are appreciative of a little boost in income. Why not present the opportunity to your audience? They might be ready and willing\u2026 you just need to make them able.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Qualities to Look for In a Micro-donation Solution<\/h2>\nWhat exactly makes for a good micro-donation platform?<\/p>\n
Most importantly, it has to be simple to use, quick to submit, and recognizable. Any transaction method that requires significant time to complete will cause potential donors to bounce. Likewise if the payment platform they\u2019re considering opening up their wallet for is something they\u2019ve never heard of.<\/p>\n
Secondly, transaction fees should be relatively low. If the user is only contributing a few bucks, it\u2019s important that most of that isn\u2019t eaten up by a processing fee \u2013 or worse, actually costs you money.<\/p>\n
So which micro-donation plugins fit the bill? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Recommended Micro-donation Plugins<\/h2>\nWe researched what was available in the arena of WordPress donation plugins, and are sharing the ones we thought were best. Bonus: they\u2019re all free.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the list of reviewed plugins:<\/p>\n
\n- Forminator<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- GiveWP<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Accept Donations with PayPal<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Paymattic<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Charitable<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Seamless Donations<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Forminator<\/h3>\n
Forminator is much more than a simple donation plugin, but earns a spot here because it handles this specific task quite well. And hey, why not use a plugin that has more than one function? You\u2019ll cut down on resources, and your learning curve.<\/p>\n
In addition to being an all-around form building wiz, Forminator does feedback widgets, interactive polls (with real-time results), buzzfeed-style quizzes (no wrong answer), and service estimators \u2013 including the option to include payment elements.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to use, appealing to look at, and has a proven track record for successful leads and conversions.<\/p>\nForminator\u2019s<\/strong> dashboard provides a lot of detail in a concisely summarized section.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWe have some great articles on the blog specific to Forminator<\/em> on form creation walkthroughs<\/a> and details on its other fantastic capabilities<\/a>, so I won’t go through the setup in detail here.<\/p>\nInstead, I’ll just quickly demonstrate how things look on the front end using a donation form I created.<\/p>\n
We researched what was available in the arena of WordPress donation plugins, and are sharing the ones we thought were best. Bonus: they\u2019re all free.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the list of reviewed plugins:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Forminator<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- GiveWP<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Accept Donations with PayPal<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Paymattic<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Charitable<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n
- Seamless Donations<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Forminator<\/h3>\n
Forminator is much more than a simple donation plugin, but earns a spot here because it handles this specific task quite well. And hey, why not use a plugin that has more than one function? You\u2019ll cut down on resources, and your learning curve.<\/p>\n
In addition to being an all-around form building wiz, Forminator does feedback widgets, interactive polls (with real-time results), buzzfeed-style quizzes (no wrong answer), and service estimators \u2013 including the option to include payment elements.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to use, appealing to look at, and has a proven track record for successful leads and conversions.<\/p>\n
Forminator\u2019s<\/strong> dashboard provides a lot of detail in a concisely summarized section.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n We have some great articles on the blog specific to Forminator<\/em> on form creation walkthroughs<\/a> and details on its other fantastic capabilities<\/a>, so I won’t go through the setup in detail here.<\/p>\n
Instead, I’ll just quickly demonstrate how things look on the front end using a donation form I created.<\/p>\n
- GiveWP<\/strong>: Review<\/a> | Download<\/a><\/li>\n