What can my organisation do about the phasing out of cheques?

I’m writing today about the withdrawal of cheques from the Australian Banking economy and how that will impact many small to medium charities and suggest some things that you can do to minimise the effect of your fundraising.

Firstly, if you are not already, begin to track the number of donations that are coming in via cheque through the mail.  This will enable you to understand your reliance on this payment type and measure the reduction in that reliance through the introduction of additional payment types and frequent communications to your loyal donors about the change.

This tracking can be a simple daily table of incoming donations split by cheque and other. Both number and amount, this over time will show you the percentage of donations coming in via cheque.

Second, explore all the various payment options that are available to you via your online platform/payment gateway. Consider moving to one that will allow Paypal as well Apple Pay and Google Pay.  Have a conversation with your finance team about introducing BPAY.  Note that is not a short term fix as there is considerable toing and froing before you can initiate BPAY, so start the conversation ASAP.

Points to consider when implementing BPAY (and I’ve been part of the process for two different organisations now):

·       BPAY provides only the BPAY reference number and the dollar value of the transaction, so you will need to manage internally how these transactions are tracked and when BPAY information is given out to donors. If you have two major fundraising  programs, consider investing in a second BPAY account to keep the transactions separate.

·       The guidelines provided by BPAY for the design and appearance of the BPAY logo and information will need to be followed exactly.  Do not be looking at other organisations response forms and use their layouts, as this will add to your frustration when you are asked to redo the design over and over.

·       Begin the search for the program that will create the BPAY reference number and store it in your CRM. Ensure that not only can you create the reference number for all your existing donors but can easily and automatically allocate it for all new donors

·       Remember that your bank will require samples of both the response form with the BPAY info included as well at least 10 examples of the BPAY reference numbers.  Your bank needs to work with BPAY to have these approved and this can take a little while, especially if you are not managing the process directly but are having to run through your finance team.

·       You will also need to ensure that your donor processing and finance team have procedures in place to upload the transactional data from the bank account and upload it into your CRM, allocation the appropriate Appeal and package/segment code and send out the receipt within 24 hours.

·       Remember to include these transactions when reporting your organisations the decrease of reliance.

Other things you can do include:

o   Including an article in your regular newsletter regarding the phase out of cheques and the steps you are taking to make continuing to donate to your organisation easy. If you present this as an upgrade step in your cyber security process, then it may resonate with your supporters.

o   Include a flyer with the receipt for those people who are still using cheques to remind them that you don’t want to lose them and there are other ways to securely make a donation.

o   Do not include your bank details on your website, but offer the information via email. Have a flyer or comms document ready to go so that it can be emailed out as soon as requested. Make sure that your team are familiar with the document and can give the information over the phone or email as requested.

Good Luck and let me know if there is anything I can assist with!