If you sign up for google grants, get accepted, and then link your adwords account to your google checkout account, it becomes free again.  That may change in 2010.

That is the only free option I am aware of.

For the automation you speak of, slcbikecollective.org uses Joomla, and there are plenty of free components that can do the class scheduling, but you would have to sign up for one of the supported payment gateways like authorize.net or even paypal.

Make sure your prices cover your fees. 

Sincerely,

Jonathan Morrison
Executive Director
Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective
2312 S. West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
w: 801-328-2453
c: 801-688-0183
f: 801-466-3856
www.slcbikecollective.org

On Dec 31, 2009, at 12:28 PM, Jason Moore <moorepants@gmail.com> wrote:

This isn't free but one of the better groups we've found so far:

https://www.justgive.org/

They do:

  • Free set-up
  • No monthly fees
  • Free online donor reports
  • Low transaction processing fees-- ninety-seven cents of every dollar donated goes directly to your organization.  
  • Automatic tax receipts for your donors
  • Recurring billing feature for your donors


On Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Sharlyn Grace <sharlyngrace@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all,
 
I remember some groups talking at bike!bike! about a free service they used to take in money online. Right now, we use google checkout, and we lose a portion of our donations this way. What free services to folks have that don't take a percentage of the donation?
 
Also, are their any good systems for setting up an automatic payment for classes? For example, sometimes people who sign up for our paid eight-week classes don't end up showing up and giving us a check on the first day, and then we're either under-filled or scrambling to make up the student. I would like to get their inquiry emails, answer their questions, and in my replies, include a link to a secure site (not open to the public, so we can monitor class enrollment) where the soon-to-be student pays the class fee upfront, when they sign up. Then the option to back out will be gone, and people won't reserve seats they don't actually end up using or paying for. It might be okay to have a "store" for classes, alternately, as long as we can only "sell" a certain number at each time. However, I like the secret page idea because then we can keep an eye on if four buddies sign up for the same class or it's six men, no women, etc. and control enrollment (as well as directing people towards classes we now will fill on-time).
 
Thanks!
Sharlyn

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