Bitcoin usage has not only become popular but also versatile in the way it works. Making payments is no longer restricted to single buying and selling transactions, but funds can now be donated directly to your website involving multiple people. If you have a cause that requires a fundraiser, what you first need to do is to tell your story on the website. Donations are not usually taxed so the receiver gets the benefit of receiving the full amount as donated.It is important to note that in your story calling for donations, the name of the beneficiaries must be available and their brief backgrounds.
How to get bitcoins to your website
There are two ways to get bitcoin donations to your website. The first method involves afairly easycopy and paste process and the second method entails creating a donations button on the website. Let us look at each specifically:-
Copy and Paste method
This is the easiest way to receive donations. All one has to do isgo to request bitcoin tab. You will then get a bitcoin address. Copy your bitcoin donation address to your website which creates a link on your website just like an email address. Instead of ‘Mail to’ you put ‘bitcoin’ and you have a label which you can put donations. Indicate the amount you want to put and you are done!. The process is complete. As you can see, you do not need any middlemen to be able to do this.Donations are,therefore, anonymous. However, for enhanced security and privacy, a new address can be generated with every transaction with a little programming.
Creating a donations button
- Sign up for a bitcoin donation button. Once you are signed up you will get the ‘Receive the donation’ button and ‘bitcoin QR code’ image to add to your site. Inside the QR code image is a bitcoin address containing a string of numerals and letters in both upper and lower case. This should be saved as one cannot memorize
- Go to ‘donations’ button and click on it. You will be automatically taken to a payment page where payment can be done without the interruptions of pop-ups. Type in the amount of donation and the process is over.
- You can also get a wordpress plugin. The donate Bitcoin plugin adds the tiny button below every post on the website or blog. The only thing you do is to install it, reset it and you are ready to go.
Both ways are easy to use and convenient. Bitcoins can also be added to your blog sites using the same procedure as we have on the website. It is interesting to note that Blockchain has also added a feature to Facebook with “pay a friend”.
You can learn about other ways of getting bitcoin here.
Advantages of receiving bitcoin donations
- Censorship resistant. Bitcoin is a decentralized platform for making transactions so no central authority can usurp its use,unlike the central system where a central authority controls all currencies and can stop their use at will.
- Accessible worldwide. There is no discrimination in the use of bitcoins. As long as one has internet access, one is eligible. This is truly an open-source forum. Smartphones have made it even easier asabusiness can be conducted by anyone with a smartphone. There are 2.2 billion users of smartphones worldwide so this is a potential market.
- For accountability purposes, all donations can be publicly viewed. However, there is an option of protecting the donor’s identity by engaging the private option if so desired.
- There is no real identification required to transact unlike platforms like PayPal where both parties have access to each other’s names and addresses.Also once a transaction is done, no one person can reverse it unlike in the PayPal case where if an anomaly is detected, the account can be suspended or completely locked.
- Blockchain phenomenon. Several people become custodians together so no one person can embezzle funds singly. Attempting to do so would break down the entire chain.
- No time frames. A business using bitcoins is transacted 24 hours a day. There are no opening hours, closing hours or holidays in between.
- Quick setup. To get started, all one needs to do is download bitcoin wallets and install. No prior bank statements required or even owning a bank account.
Disadvantages of receiving donations
- People may not be willing to donate when they know the funds will go a single person’s wallet. To correct this, a wallet shared amongst a certain number of spenders must be used. The purpose of the donation must be clearly stated and must be captivating. The beneficiary(ies) must also be clearly indicated and brief backgrounds are given.
- The reuse of a single donation address may be good for accountability purposes as every donor is viewed across the blockchain. However, it is disadvantageous in that not all donors would desire to be known publicly. If this is the case, multiple addresses can be resorted to by setting up a web server that would generate unique addressed with every donation.
- The fact that bitcoins have no fixed value make them very prone to making gains or losses. Bitcoin value is volatile. It is possible to receive an ‘x’ amount of donations only to have it finally as ‘y’ amount which would probably be less than actually donated. Nothing can be done to ease this as that is the decentralization effect where money is not centrally regulated.
- There is no liability protection with bitcoins. If a transaction goes to the wrong address, there is no legal redress to this as no one person can be held accountable. Utmost care needs to be observed while copy-pasting as the omission or inclusion of one letter or number changes the whole scenario.
It is not a matter of debate that getting bitcoin donations is fast, convenient and easy. Worthy causes can be funded and supported making life easier for the needy in society. Also, development programs can be aided which can come along with a host of other benefits. Campaigns for injustices can also be funded easily using this kind of payment. Getting bitcoin donations through the website really works. Many worthy causes have benefited from such an engagement as attested to by the various websites supporting donations.
