Signing up for online donations

Community groups are increasingly using online donations as a way of supplementing traditional methods of fundraising. Online donations do not necessarily replace existing fundraising methods but they can allow your group to attract new donors - and research shows that online donors generally give double the average donation. Using an online donations service can also increase your potential to engage, involve and interact with donors, who will benefit from around the clock and around the world access to your group.

To help Nillumbik community groups tap into these benefits, Nillumbik Shire Council and ourcommunity.com.au have set up the Nillumbik Gives Donations Centre. This is a secure, commission-free online donations service established through the ourcommunity.com.au's Australian Giving Centre. Signing up for this service will allow your group to accept donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

And the best thing is that it is the only free online donations service meaning there are no commissions or fees charged for this service. The only charges that will be incurred by your group are the credit card fees and a bank transaction fee.

You also retain ownership of all your data - neither the Nillumbik Shire Council nor Our Community (which powers the service) will use any of your donor details.

There are four simple steps involved in signing up your non-profit organisation to receive online donations:

• Step 1: Register your organisation
• Step 2: Send your appeal or fundraising details
• Step 3: Sign and return the donations agreement
• Step 4: Receiving your funds

Step 1: Register your organisation

You only need to register once for online donations with this service no matter how many appeals you post. Skip this step and go straight to Step 2 if you are already registered to receive online donations.

Note: If you have already registered for online donations at ourcommunity.com.au, you do not need to register again through the Nillumbik Gives Donations Centre.

Complete the following registration form to register:

• Organisation Registration Form

Step 2: Send your appeal or fundraising details

To tell people about what you are fundraising for, you will need to fill in an Appeal Sign up Form. We will then put the appeal up on to the appeals listing. (You will need to fill out a new Appeal Sign up Form every time you lodge a new appeal, but you do not need to repeat Step 1).

To make your appeal page more attractive and instantly identifiable with your organisation, you may electronically send to Our Community your appeal or organisation logo. This will be used to make a banner for your appeal page.

Tip: Campaigns that are “punchy” and outline specific causes are more successful in generating donations. Appeals for donations to cover general administrative costs, for example, usually do not perform very well.

Complete the following appeals sign up form:

• Appeal Sign up Form

Step 3: Sign and return the donations agreement

Your next task is to sign and return the Online Donations Agreement, which outlines your organisation’s responsibilities. (You will need to sign a donations agreement for every appeal that you conduct but you do not need to repeat Step 1.)

The agreement includes the following key points:

• Our Community is a fundraising agent for your organisation. That means they do not take responsibility for ensuring that your organisation has completed the necessary communication with the Office of Fair Trading. It is your responsibility to make sure you have all the necessary government approvals.
• This is a non-exclusive agreement between your organisation and Our Community. You may both work with other organisations to do the same sort of fundraising exercise.
• When people make online donations to your organisation Our Community will pass the payments on to your organisation directly to your bank account.
• You will be the owners of the donor details.
• Our Community takes NO percentage of the donations collected online. You receive 100% of the donations collected, less credit card commission and bank fees only.

Fill in the Online Donations Agreement and fax or post to the address on the form.

• Online Donations Agreement

Step 4: Receiving your funds

Congratulations! If you've followed all of the steps above you are now set up for online donations. Your appeal will remain active on Nillumbik Gives and www.ourcommunity.com.au sites until your nominated expiry date, or 12 months from the activation date, whichever is sooner.

You will receive your donated funds in the following manner:

• Our Community will send a monthly email and letter detailing all of your donations for that period, including donor details and addresses.
• Our Community will deposit the donations into your nominated banking accountmonthly.

The guidelines are outlined in greater detail in the Online Donations Agreement. Again, it is important to reiterate that Our Community DOES NOT take any fees for this service. 100% of the donation is given to your organisation, less bank fees only.

Now all you need to do is promote your online donations appeal.

Where to send your forms

Completed forms and other documents can be sent to:

Australian Giving Centre
Our Community
PO Box 354
North Melbourne VIC 3051

Or faxed to:

(03) 9326 6859

If you have any queries or need help with your registration, contact Amy Johannsohn at the above address and fax numbers, telephone (03) 9320 6806 or email to donations@ourcommunity.com.au.

STOP! Before you lick the stamp, please check off from the following check list, that you have completed everything:

• Donations Check List Form

Resource links

• ourcommunity.com.au Australian Giving Centre
  www.ourcommunity.com.au/giving
• Consumer Affairs Victoria
  www.consumer.vic.gov.au
• Australian Taxation Office ATOassist
  http://www.ato.gov.au/nonprofit/

This help sheet has been prepared by www.ourcommunity.com.au, a national resource for Australia's 700,000 community and non-profit organisations.