Introducing Donations/Pay It Forward with Subscriptions

At Subscribie, we are passionate about helping businesses collect payments in a simple and flexible way. We believe that every business deserves a chance to grow and thrive, regardless of the challenges they face. After speaking with several clubs and understanding the cost of living crisis both in the UK and around the world, we wanted to make an easy way for sports clubs, charities, and any organisation an accessible and simple way to accept donations. That's why we are excited to introduce our new feature: Pay it Forward.

Introducing Donations (Pay it Forward)

Pay it Forward (also known as donations) is inspired by thoughtful conversations we had with clubs that shared with us how some coaches would cover the fees of their players who were struggling financially. We've done a lot of listening, and are working out ways to approach this complex topic. They suggested that we could create a feature that would allow people to donate to the club, which could help those who need it the most. That is why we came up with the idea of a "pay it forward/donation feature", a way for supporters to show kindness. We think this is a wonderful idea and we are happy for you to test it out.

If you run a sports club, a charity, or any other organisation that relies on the generosity of your supporters, the donate feature (also known as Pay it Forward) feature allows your supporters and generous givers to help out your business or members who might be struggling financially.

Why is it Important?

We know that many organisations face challenges when it comes to collecting payments and donations online. You might not have the time, the skills, or the budget to set up a complicated system that requires coding or maintenance. That's why we created Subscribie: a simple and affordable platform that lets you create your own website and collect recurring payments from your members without burning a hole in your pocket and without any coding required.

But we also wanted to do more than that. We wanted to help you create a community of people who care about your cause and who are willing to support each other. That's why it's important we added a donate feature, which lets you accept one-time donations from anyone who visits your shop. We made it simple so that it's accessible right with your usual payment collection in your shop.

How to Enable Donations?

The donate feature is easy to set up and use. You just need to enable it in your dashboard then donors can visit your page, choose how much they would like to donate and finish the payment of the donation. We also added the option for donors to add a note to the donation in case the person donating wants to make a comment of their choice, for example, if they wish their payment to go to a particular person. In the case of a club we spoke with, some players who can't afford a membership are paid by coaches from their own pocket. So for example, in the case of clubs, a donor can mention in the donation notes that the donation should go towards covering the fees of a member who is facing financial difficulties due to the cost of living crisis or other circumstances.

How Does it Work?

Once you enable the donate feature, a button will appear on your website that says "Donate". When someone clicks on it, they will be taken to a payment page where they can choose how much they want to donate and can also leave a note. After filling out your information you can continue to checkout to complete the donation. Once the donation is complete, they will receive an email confirmation of their generous contribution.

As a shop owner, you can see all your donations in your dashboard under “View Transactions / Manage Refunds” and export them as a CSV file for your purposes. You can use these donations however you see fit for your organisation.

We hope that our Pay it Forward Beta will help you overcome some of the challenges you face as a charity/business and make a positive impact on your community. Please feel free to test out the beta of our Pay it Forward feature by signing up to Subscribie and creating your shop to collect donations today.