Less than ten percent of the donations we have raised to support the bond referendum have been paid by cash or check. Almost half of our contributions have been paid via Stripe on our website, with the other portion paid through Venmo.
When we conducted the first round of advocacy in 2023, we were slow in accepting electronic donations because of the fees we needed to pay in order to do so. But we came around, as have most vendors today. From Girl Scout cookies to craft shows, to devotional candles in church, to the farm stand selling corn, it seems that you can’t conduct business without a way to process cashless sales. Yes, that convenience comes with a price — usually three percent or so — but what you gain in revenue far outweighs the surcharge.
Studies have shown that the further actual cash is from the transaction, the less real it seems, making people likely to spend more. (You spend more on your credit card than if you had to pull those bills out of your wallet.) Let psychology and convenience work in your favor by creating a cashless path for people to transfer their money to you.
