Venmo for nonprofits: The complete guide to Venmo fundraising

With the rise of online donations and mobile payments, it's no surprise that nonprofits are looking for ways to expand their payment options. Venmo, a peer-to-peer payment service app, is one of the most exciting platforms leading this trend.

Venmo gives anyone a convenient, simple way to send and receive money right from their smartphone. With the right fundraising platform, supporters can now use Venmo to donate to the causes they care most about—like yours! 

We'll go over everything you need to know about Venmo for nonprofits—including what it is, how it works, and what every nonprofit should consider before creating an account.

What is Venmo and how does it work?

Venmo is a peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payment service that allows users to transfer money to other account holders. By linking their bank account, credit card, or debit card to the app, Venmo users can request, send, and receive payments without exchanging cash or checks—making it a convenient way to pay someone back.

Users can automatically withdraw payments with just a few taps, choosing either to cash out immediately to their bank account (for a small processing fee) or within 1–2 days (for free). Or, they can leave funds in their Venmo account, so it’s quick and easy to split the tab at a restaurant, send birthday money, or even divide up rent and utilities.

Purchased by PayPal in 2013, Venmo has broadened its scope in recent years, becoming more appealing for organizations with a PayPal business account to use as a payment processor for donations.

What nonprofits need to know before creating a Venmo account

For a long time, it was difficult for nonprofits to accept donations via Venmo. It wasn’t built with fundraising efforts in mind, so creating an account and soliciting donations had multiple restrictions and risks. Plus, Venmo didn’t provide support for user-created donation campaigns because it was difficult to verify organizations and clamp down on fake profiles across its massive network. 

Givebutter was one of the first major fundraising platforms to offer full integration for Venmo donations, making it easy for supporters to make a contribution with a simple donate button, custom-branded fundraising page, or fundraising event. Givebutter users don’t even need to have a Venmo account for nonprofits to receive donations—it’s that easy.

Plus, every donation on Givebutter is safe and secure thanks to PCI-compliant payments partner, Stripe. For another layer of credibility, Givebutter adds a verification badge to a nonprofit's profile if its 501(c)(3) is verified by the IRS—giving donors the ultimate peace of mind that their contribution is going to the right place.

Is Venmo really that popular among donors?

While Venmo launched publicly in 2011, it has grown exponentially in recent years—from over 40 million unique users in 2019 to 78 million users in 2022. In 2022, more than $244 billion in total payment revenue went through the platform. 

The app’s popularity has even transformed its name into a verb, as in, “I’ll Venmo you for those fries right now.”

Venmo charity profiles

Over the years, more and more fundraising platforms and business tools have started offering Venmo as a payment method for donors.

In October 2022, PayPal (Venmo’s parent company) announced the launch of “charity profiles” on Venmo. Any 501(c)(3) or charity organization with a confirmed PayPal charity account can now set up a verified charity profile on Venmo, which offers the potential for greater visibility on the app and other benefits like lower Venmo charity fees on transactions. 

Currently, Venmo nonprofit fees are 1.9% + $0.10 per donation. This means that if someone chooses to send you a $100 donation via Venmo, your nonprofit organization will receive $98 of those funds.

While lower fees are always a welcome change, there are some important pros and cons nonprofit organizations should consider before creating a charity profile or trying to fundraise directly through Venmo. 

Pros and cons of Venmo

Advantages of Venmo fundraising 👍

✅ It’s an easier ask.

Venmo users often leave money in their accounts and forget it’s there. For many, putting those funds toward a nonprofit donation feels less like a new expense and more like moving money for a good cause.

Plus, PayPal reports that most people use Venmo for small transactions of around $60. That’s attractive for donors who want to support your organization but may not have a lot of extra cash.

✅ Venmo is blowing up with younger donors.

Digital payments have become the norm for millennials and are also a highly popular choice with Gen Z (18 to 29-year-olds). In fact, 28% of Venmo users belong to this demographic.

With such a large number of young users opting into Venmo for mobile payments, this platform is clearly a perfect way to connect with a new generation of donors. 

✅ Venmo is ready-made for social sharing.

Take advantage of built-in social proof with Venmo’s social media-style feed that displays transactions and comments (for those who have public sharing turned on). Users can see when their friends donate to your cause—along with lots of emojis—and feel inspired to do the same.

✅ Venmo caters to the growing number of mobile givers. 

Most donors expect giving to be convenient and accessible from their smartphones. As a free mobile app for iOS and Android devices, Venmo is as mobile-first as it gets. Your supporters will appreciate being able to give on the go. 

Disadvantages of Venmo for nonprofit fundraising 👎

❌ Venmo limits user transactions and charity profile bank transfers. 

Venmo sets different weekly limits for peer-to-peer payments, purchases with the Venmo Debit Card, purchases from businesses, and so on. 

❌ Venmo charity profiles don't have a recurring giving option. 

Recurring givers are some of the most sought-after groups because they stick around. The retention rate for monthly nonprofit donors is 58.2%, while the retention rate for the average donor is just 18.5%. Organizations lose a large number of one-time donors, while monthly giving remains more sustainable.

❌ Venmo charity profiles can't send tax receipts. 

Most tax-exempt organizations must send donors a tax receipt for each donation. Unfortunately, there's no way to automatically email your supporters a tax receipt. Venmo states that charities are responsible for manually acknowledging donations and sending official tax receipts.

❌ Venmo charity profiles don't integrate with your CRM. 

Most donation platforms integrate with contact relationship management (CRM) software so that donor information (name, email, phone number, donation amount) is transferred to the database after the donation is made.

With Venmo charity profiles, you'll have to set aside time to collect information and manually enter data into your CRM. You can get access to the names and email addresses of donors who gave to your Venmo charity profile, but that’s about it.

The bottom line 👇

Rather than set up a Venmo account and charity profile for your nonprofit on the Venmo app, most clubs, teams, and other organizations will be better off using a different fundraising platform and enabling Venmo as one of several payment options donors can choose from.

How to set up Venmo for nonprofits the right way

We’ve provided a streamlined process for donors to give via Venmo in a few seconds on any Givebutter campaign—and you don’t even need a Venmo charity account.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1. Create a free account, and we’ll do the rest 🤩

All Givebutter campaigns have a Venmo payment option automatically built-in, so there’s no complicated setup. Simply create your free Givebutter account, enable Venmo, and get going.

Your organization doesn't need to have a nonprofit Venmo account to receive donations. These donations will be treated like any other donation on Givebutter—all major credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, cash, checks, and ACH—and can be withdrawn directly from your dashboard along with the other funds you raise.

Step 2. Launch your fundraiser and start accepting donations with Venmo 🎁

With Givebutter, you can collect donations, run fundraising campaigns, sell tickets to events, and track, grow, and manage everything through your Givebutter dashboard. Add a custom Venmo donate button on your website, and combine text-to-donate with Venmo for rapid SMS and text-enabled giving. 

You aren’t limited to one-off donations, either. Venmo may not support recurring giving, but with Givebutter, you can enable recurring donations through other payment methods (all major credit/debit cards and PayPal) on any of your campaigns, events, or donation pages. Donors can choose to give monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Step 3. Transfer your funds and let donors cover fees 🙌

You don’t need a Venmo nonprofit account to accept or transfer funds on Givebutter. All your donations are pooled together with other types of payments for fast campaign payouts. 

While charity profile users face additional Venmo nonprofit fees for instant payouts, verified nonprofits on Givebutter can set up automated nightly payouts for free. 

Givebutter is committed to providing a no-fee fundraising experience for nonprofits, giving your donors the option to cover the 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee, which 95% of Givebutter donors choose to do! The way Venmo for nonprofits fees work doesn’t give donors the option to cover transaction fees for charity profiles, so you’ll never get to keep 100% of your donations. 

Step 4: Thank donors and track your fundraising progress 💛

Givebutter sends automatic tax receipts to Venmo donors, and with the ability to customize your thank-you messages, you'll eliminate a time-consuming manual process and grow a relationship with your supporters at the same time.

All of your donation data and donor contact information is automatically saved in Givebutter’s built-in nonprofit CRM. You can also connect your account with a variety of top-notch CRMs using Givebutter integrations. Either way, you can say goodbye to hours of data entry.

Venmo limits you should be aware of

Personal payment limits

As of June 2024, verified Venmo users have a rolling weekly spending limit of $7K for payments to authorized businesses and charities (reduced to $299.99 a week for unverified accounts).

Even if your donors aren’t making gifts this large, they could run into this limit as their weekly spending adds up, as it includes payments sent to other Venmo users, too. 

‍🧈 How Givebutter helps: A common fundraising best practice is to give your donors multiple payment methods so they don’t run into roadblocks like the one mentioned above.

Fortunately, you can accept everything with a Givebutter account—all major credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, cash, and checks—so if a donor does encounter Venmo’s limits, there are lots of other options for them to choose from. 

Bank transfer limits

Venmo also has a weekly rolling limit on bank transfers for charity profiles. Currently, the weekly rolling limit is $10K on transfers to debit cards and $50K on instant transfers to your bank account. No organization wants to lose out on funding because donors are sending too much money.

🧈 How Givebutter helps: We know how important it is for you to access funds quickly and securely. That’s why we don't set any limits on when or how often you can withdraw—unlike Venmo’s charity profiles.

Venmo for charities and nonprofits: Best practices

Adding Venmo to your fundraising toolkit opens the door for your donors to give in this quick and easy way. Venmo captures the attention of young donors and streamlines the donation process for everyone. 

While you can simply add Venmo as a donation method and leave it there, you can get the most out of this new donation option with the following tips: 

• Promote using Venmo to donate 📣 Let your donors know they can now give with Venmo for an even faster way to support your cause. Promote the new option across your marketing campaigns, on fundraising pages, and on social media.
  
• Pair with other mobile giving choices 📱If you’re adding Venmo as an option to your donation forms, why not consider other mobile giving methods, too? Givebutter offers free access to not only Venmo but also PayPal, text-to-donate, and Tap to Pay.
  
• Use Venmo alongside Givebutter for even more benefits ✨ You can set up a charity account with Venmo yourself, or you can sign up for Givebutter and enjoy not just this user-friendly donation method but all the fundraising features you could ever need—and all for free!

Get the best of both worlds with Givebutter and Venmo for fundraising

Venmo has revolutionized the way we send and receive money, and it could open up new fundraising opportunities for your organization. As a payment method, it’s easy to use, popular with younger donors, and generates positive word-of-mouth through its social media-style feed.

As an online donation tool, Venmo shines brightest when your fundraising platform supports it. With Venmo added as a payment option, you can provide donors with multiple ways to give from one central hub while still retaining must-have features like recurring gifts, tax receipts, and other integrations.

If you’re ready to think beyond credit cards, expand your donor base, and raise more for your mission, sign up for your free Givebutter account and start accepting Venmo today.