How Can Your Nonprofit Use Squarespace for Donations?

A well-designed website not only helps your nonprofit share its mission and connect with supporters but also serves as a critical tool for fundraising. Making the donation process simple is one of the most important aspects of any nonprofit website.

Squarespace is a website-building platform that offers a range of features to support your nonprofit in establishing a strong online presence while helping you facilitate donations. 

In this guide, we'll discuss Squarespace's donation features, pricing, third-party integrations, and best practices to help your nonprofit expand its online fundraising efforts. You'll also learn about a 100% free alternative to build your online store.

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Table of contents

• What is Squarespace?

• Squarespace discounts for nonprofits

• How to accept donations on Squarespace

• What are the limitations of Squarespace?

• 5 best practices for accepting donations on Squarespace

• Best alternative to Squarespace: Zeffy

• ‍Final thoughts on Squarespace donations

• FAQs on Squarespace donations

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What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is a user-friendly website-building platform known for its templates and intuitive design tools. For nonprofits, it offers an accessible way to build professional-looking websites for sharing their mission, engaging supporters, and facilitating online fundraising. It simplifies website creation, but its primary focus remains on aesthetics and usability rather than nonprofit-specific tools.

Squarespace can be a good choice for nonprofits with minimal needs, such as creating a basic donation page or showcasing their work online. However, organizations looking for advanced fundraising features, like donor management or fee-free donations, may find it limited.

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Squarespace pricing for nonprofits

Squarespace offers several pricing plans based on functionality and payment frequency, each with different features.

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Squarespace discounts for nonprofits

Squarespace offers nonprofits a 10% discount on their first year of payment, making it more affordable to create a professional website. You can access this discount by:

• Selecting a nonprofit template: Start by browsing the "Community & Nonprofits" section in Squarespace's template store to find a design that fits your requirements

• ‍Applying the discount code: During checkout, enter the code "NONPROFIT" to receive 10% off your first payment

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How to accept donations on Squarespace

With Squarespace, you can add a donation block directly to your site. Embed it on any page of your choice – the homepage, a dedicated fundraising page, or a blog post. Once you have a squarespace account, here's how you can set it up:

Step 1: Connect a payment processor: Link Squarespace Payments or to third-party processors like Stripe or PayPal to accept donations.

Step 2: Add a donation block: Open the editor, navigate to a page, and add a "Donation" block.

Step 3: Customise fund settings:

• Edit the donate button text to align with your mission

• Set donation amounts (fixed or variable)

• Enable recurring donations through Stripe (if needed)

Step 4: Collect donor information: Use form fields to gather names, emails, or other essential details.

Step 5: Set up thank-you emails: Customise automated donation receipts for donors.

This donation block will display a simple form for visitors to make a one-time donation. You can set suggested donation amounts or leave it open for donors to decide. After completing the donation form, donors can use Squarespace Payments, Stripe, or PayPal to make payments. 

These steps are easy for new users, but advanced donation needs—like recurring payments and donor segmentation—require additional tools or workarounds.

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What are the limitations of Squarespace?

1. Transaction fees on the business plan

The Business Plan carries a 3% transaction fee on all donations, which can add up if your nonprofit receives a lot of contributions. While the basic Commerce plan eliminates these fees, it is priced higher.

All plans incur payment processing fees via Stripe or PayPal, typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

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2. Recurring donations are limited

Squarespace doesn't support recurring donations natively. Donors must rely on external tools and third-party integrations like Stripe to enable this feature, which adds complexity and extra costs.

By contrast, Zeffy enables 100% free recurring donations, helping nonprofits retain every dollar raised.

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3. No advanced donor management

Donor management is vital for building relationships and retaining supporters. While Squarespace allows nonprofits to export basic donor data, it lacks tools for tracking contributions or engagement.

Platforms like Zeffy integrate donor management with fundraising tools, allowing nonprofit organizations to streamline their operations without additional costs.

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5 best practices for accepting donations on Squarespace

1. Make your donation form visible

Your donation form should be easy to find on your website. Add donation blocks to high-traffic pages, like the homepage and thank-you pages. Clearly communicate how donations support your mission and include a strong call to action (CTA).

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Tip: Use Zeffy's 100% online donation forms to embed forms directly into your Squarespace website, improving visibility and accessibility while saving every dollar that you raise.

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2. Offer multiple donation options

Your nonprofit should allow donors to choose their donation amounts and, if possible, give them the option to set up recurring donations. Offering suggested amounts (e.g., $25, $50, $100) can guide donors and make the process easier.

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Note: Due to Squarespace's fundraising limitations, your nonprofit will need Zeffy's 100% free fundraising platform for recurring donations, advanced donor management, or fee-free transactions.

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3. Promote matching gifts

If your nonprofit offers corporate matching programs, promote this on your donation page. When donors see their gift will be doubled through matching, they often feel more motivated to contribute and make a bigger impact.

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4. Use social media

Integrate social media buttons to allow donors to share your donation campaign. You can also run social media ads to target potential supporters and increase visibility.

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5. Test your donation process

Before launching your donation page, test the donation process by making a small test donation, checking payment processing, confirming emails, and verifying error management to ensure everything works smoothly.

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Best alternative to Squarespace: Zeffy

Squarespace is a good choice for nonprofits looking to create visually appealing websites to share their mission and engage supporters. If you're already using Squarespace, you can still integrate Zeffy's powerful donation tools directly into your website to simplify fundraising.

If you want to manage donations, fundraising, and even an online store in one place, Zeffy offers a specialized solution tailored specifically for nonprofits. It eliminates the need for separate tools, offering everything you need to raise funds efficiently and at no cost.

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Key features of Zeffy that replace Squarespace's limitations:

• 100% Free: Zeffy is completely free to use with no platform or transaction fees, ensuring nonprofits keep every dollar they raise.

• Fundraising tools in one place: Zeffy lets you manage donations, run campaigns, and set up recurring contributions—all built into the platform without third-party add-ons.

• Online store: Whether you're selling merchandise, event tickets, or memberships, Zeffy's online store feature allows nonprofits to keep 100% of their sales revenue, avoiding Squarespace's transaction fees.

• Built-in donor management: Track donor contributions, send thank-you emails and build stronger relationships—all without relying on external CRM tools.

• Recurring donations: Zeffy makes it easy for supporters to set up regular donations without extra setup or integration costs, ensuring a steady source of funding.

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Final thoughts on Squarespace donations

Creating an online donation system through a website doesn't need to be complicated. While Squarespace has many website-building features, it may not suit nonprofits who want to collect donations through their websites.

Zeffy offers nonprofits a better option – a completely free platform to set up a professional donation page that simplifies fund collection at zero cost. Beyond donation features, our platform offers many tools to help you engage with donors, all while ensuring you keep every dollar you raise.

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FAQs on Squarespace donations

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