Why Cheddar Up is a Game-Changer for Donation + Payment Collections
For years the best way to collect payments online was to set up a website linked to a service like Square. However, the extra steps and fees made me look for a better alternative. Here’s a look at why I think Cheddar Up is changing donation collections (and improving online payments overall for non-profit organizations!).
Sign up is painless, there is a free level and you can customize the information that you need in no time at all. It truly is a quick and easy way to take payments for your PTO. Also, and this is huge, you can have your payers cover the cost of the transaction fees!
We subscribed to the Pro level for our main fundraiser. Now, we love it so much that we migrated everything over to Cheddar Up’s more convenient system.
Reasons I Recommend Cheddar Up
Here are some key things I was looking for in a new system and how Cheddar Up covers them:
Option for Payer to Cover Fees
I found that with our Square site, the fees were adding up quickly – which ate into our fundraising dollars and event budgets. I was thrilled to find that Cheddar Up not only gives options for the Payer to cover the cost — they’re super reasonable fees.
Easy to Customize Questions for Each Item/Payment
We needed an option that allowed us a lot of flexibility and ease when it came to collecting information with orders. I love that Cheddar Up makes it easy to add questions to each item to make sure you gather what you need to know.
Smooth User Interface/Experience
It was important that the site be painless to use so users wouldn’t get frustrated and click out. With Cheddar Up, payers don’t even need to create an account to check out! And if they’re on their phones, they can even use their digital wallets (like ApplePay) to complete the transaction. This is a HUGE win for fundraising!
Ability to Run Multiple Collections at Once
There’s a lot going on – being able to collect for multiple events at once is crucial. Our old system dumped all of the money brought in into one big pot and then we had to figure out what went where – Cheddar Up keeps it separated by campaign and makes it super easy to withdraw separately.
Cash/Check Tracking Options
You’re still going to have some people want to pay with cash or check. One of my favorite things about CheddarUp is that you’re able to enter these payments into the system so that you can still track all payments into one place! This is super helpful for the treasurer, but it’s also great to keep what’s visible accurate (like fundraising goal tracking).
Easy Withdraws
All it takes is a linked banked account to transfer your funds. What’s really nice too is the detailed breakdown that CheddarUp will show you of how much you’ve brought in and how much is cleared to be withdrawn.
The Bottom Line…
There are a lot of services available to help you collect online payments/process credit cards. My search history was filled with “easiest way to collect payments for PTO” and “cheapest way to collect money online” as I started looking for easier alternatives to our Square storefront. That’s how I found Cheddar Up.
Cheddar Up checked important boxes right off the bat: affordable and payers cover fees. It delivers on each of the above and is really simple to use. Additionally, it can operate independently from another site – so you don’t need to have a website or storefront; each event gets its own special Cheddar Up landing page automatically.
*Affiliate link – after all of my use, CheddarUp was kind enough to offer me a special link. If you do end up choosing a paid subscription, I will earn a small commission.