One of the keys to creating a successful donation form is to reduce friction and make the donation process as easy as possible. By integrating with PayPal, you can offer your donors an easy, secure way to donate directly from their PayPal account.
Note: PayPal cannot be used as your primary, or only, gateway. PayPal can only be added to a donation form as an additional payment option.
Sounds great, right?
Then let's get started.
Configuring PayPal Integration
To begin, log in to your RaiseDonors account. Then, click on the Settings icon in the upper right and select "Manage Account." Then, on the settings screen, select "Payment Providers" from the navigation menu on the left.
There, you'll see a list of all active gateways for your account. Near the top of the screen, you'll see a button to add a new provider. Click that to add PayPal as a new payment provider.
This will bring you to the Gateway setup screen. Select "PayPal" to continue.
Next, you'll be asked to provide your PayPal API Client ID and the API Client Secret in order to connect to your PayPal account. You can learn more about finding these codes in this support article.
Be sure to copy and paste the codes exactly!
For testing purposes, you'll also have the option to enter Sandbox or testing API codes. These codes are not required in order to set up the integration, but they can be awfully handy for testing your donation forms before they are live.
Once you have entered all of your codes, click Save to return to the main Payment Providers screen. You should see your new PayPal gateway listed.
If you'd like to customize the gateway name , click edit, and then click on the first edit button to provide a new Nickname.
You can also change the default currency when editing the gateway. Just make sure to save your changes to see them reflected on the main Payment Providers page.
Required changes in your PayPal account
Something we've recently become aware of is, by default, PayPal does not return your donor's billing information with a payment through PayPal. Odd? We completely agree. And this is really important information because without the billing information, RaiseDonors can only record minimal information about your donor with the donation. Good news is, there is a way to fix this.
PayPal is requesting that you contact them and request that "billing information to be returned by default - is enabled" on your account. Here is a support article explaining the matter. And here is the place to contact PayPal and ask them to enable this feature. We highly recommend referencing the support article in your request - to ensure PayPal has a proper understanding and context for your request.
Please note, your PayPal integration will work without this step - but the donor information PayPal gives to RaiseDonors is very limited. Completing this step ensures RaiseDonors has more information about your donor.
You're all set! Now you can start offering PayPal as a payment option. Check out this article to learn how you can add PayPal to your donation forms.