What makes Squarespace great for nonprofits is it allows users to build a website without having to hire a web developer. In addition, it has templates specifically designed for nonprofit organizations and tools that let you start accepting donations directly from your Squarespace website.
However, Squarespace has its limitations as well. For instance, its membership management platform isn’t robust and you may end up needing additional software to be able to accept recurring donations and manage donor’s database. To find out whether Squarespace is well-suited for your nonprofit website and what the workarounds are to some of Squarespace’s limitations, keep reading our in-depth guide below.
Contents
Squarespace For Nonprofits: Pricing Plan Guide
Accepting Donations
The Business and Basic Commerce Plans are excellent Squarespace plans for nonprofits
Squarespace’s intuitive interface provides an easy way to start accepting donations on your website. It lets you add a donation block on your website’s page/s that can be customized to fit your preferred copy or colors.
If one of your goals for your nonprofit’s website is to start accepting donations, Squarespace’s cheapest plan, the Personal Plan, won’t cut it. You’ll need to upgrade to the Business Plan to be able to accept donations or start selling products online. With that said, Squarespace charges a 3% transaction fee on the Business plan. This is on top of your payment processor’s fees, which can range from 2.2% to 2.9%. If your nonprofit has been raising higher amounts of donations, it might make sense to upgrade to the Business Commerce Plan so the 3% transaction fee is waived.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t accept recurring donations using Squarespace’s built-in tools. To be able to do this, you’ll need a more robust donation software or CRM platform for managing your donor’s data. The next section talks about third-party tools you can use to be able to accept recurring donations on your Squarespace site for your nonprofit organization.
Third-Party Tools
NeonCRM and Donorbox are among the top third-party tools for nonprofits with a Squarespace website
You miss the opportunity for your donors to consistently make donations if you don’t add a recurring donation option to your nonprofit’s Squarespace website. Even if it’s just a $15/month donation, that’s $180/year that’s lost for every donor. This is where certain third-party tools play a significant role in your organization’s fundraising efforts.
NeonCRM
Bigger nonprofit organizations with a larger donor database will benefit from NeonCRM‘s robust donor management and volunteer management systems. With just one software, you can track volunteers’ hours, send emails to donors, and even accept recurring donations through NeonPay, its own payment processor. NeonCRM has two pricing tiers: Essentials Light (starting at $49/month) and Essentials (starting at $99/month).
Donorbox
If you’re not keen on paying a monthly fee just yet, Donorbox is an excellent option for accepting recurring donations on your Squarespace website. It’s free until you surpass the $1,000 donation mark. Donorbox only charges a 1.5% platform fee on top of your payment processor’s fee. Donorbox also lets you ask your donor to charge the platform fee or have an employer match employees’ donations to minimize your nonprofit’s costs.
Templates
Squarespace is known for its stunning templates
Even if you’re not a web designer or you don’t have an in-house web dev team, Squarespace’s existing templates for nonprofits are already a good place to start. Among the Squarespace templates that are great for nonprofit organizations are the Malone, Bailard, Clarkson, Roseti, and Lusaka. You can also choose other templates and customize them to suit your needs.
Verdict
Squarespace’s plans and tools are excellent options for nonprofit organizations, especially when complemented with third-party software like NeonCRM or Donorbox
While Squarespace may have some limitations in terms of donor/volunteer management and accepting recurring donations, Squarespace remains a great choice for nonprofit organizations who want to start accepting donations or volunteers. Its blogging tools are also great for sharing news to stakeholders and showcasing the organization’s efforts and milestones.
For accepting recurring donations, Donorbox or NeonCRM will work seamlessly with your nonprofit’s Squarespace website. Integrating these tools don’t require extensive coding knowledge as well.
FAQs
No, Squarespace is not free for nonprofits, but they do offer a 14-day free trial.
Yes, Squarespace’s Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce plans let you add a donate block and button to your website.
If you’re on the Squarespace Business Plan, your nonprofit organization will be charged a 3% transaction fee. For higher-tier plans, the transaction fee is waived.
Yes, although it’s lower than their regular rate. PayPal only charges 2.2% + $.30 for every transaction for nonprofit organizations.
