3 options for collecting payments if you’re providing stuff for free
If you’re running free events or providing resources for free, you could still give your audience or community the opportunity to contribute towards it with one-off payment – if they want.
The three options covered here are: PayPal, Ko-fi and Buy Me A Coffee.
Having a payment button or link added to various contact points gives them options to support your work without you having to ask. They then choose to support if they want to and choose the amount they feel is relevant or can afford.
I first came across this style of collecting payment about seven years ago. I was reading some resources provided on a website, but it was some basic wording for T&Cs for freelancers that I needed. There were three different downloadable and customisable templates advertised as FREE resources. When it came to the checkout, to ‘buy’ the one I wanted, I was given three options*:
1 – checkout for free
2 – buy me a glass of wine – £4.95
3 – buy me a night out at the cinema – £9.95
*I can’t remember the wording exactly, but it was along those lines. And of course, even if I’d checked out for free, I’d have still provided my email address so would have paid in other ways.
I opted for option 2. It might seem strange to some that I would pay for something that I could otherwise have at no cost, but to me this item had value – it saved me working something out and gave me a solid starting point for my T&Cs (why reinvent the wheel) and there was an abundance of quality resources and information on this site that I found useful, so I was happy to support the work.
It doesn’t need to be as formalised as a checkout option. This was 7 years ago and I’ve not come across a similar set up since. Now they’re usually presented as Buttons either in an email or email footer, on a website page or blog article page.
Some example scenarios when this might be useful:
- You provide virtual events for free and want to give your attendees the option to contribute to costs if they want
- You have free downloads on your website and people have asked if they can buy you a digital coffee & cake to say thanks
- You’re hosting a live Q&A with a guest speaker and you’d like to give attendees the chance to support the work (or donate if you’re a charity)
- You write a blog that provides resources and information that’s free to access and supporters would like to be able to ‘tip’ or support your creative work
- You provide community resources such as a Facebook Group or community-based website that is free to use and your community wants to support the work you do for them
Collecting payments:
PayPal
If you’re a charity, you can set up a Donate link which you can use across your website, emails and social. This can be in the form of a Donate Button or simply linked text for something more subtle.
If you’re not a charity, a variable amount PayPal button can be set up in a similar way or a PayPal.Me link is another option to set up a unique and personalised payment link that you can share to collect payments.
Buy Me A Coffee and Ko-fi
Buy Me a Coffee and Ko-fi allow one-off payments simply via a link or button that you can put anywhere – on a blog, in an email footer. Unlike PayPal, Kofi and Buy Me A Coffee are specifically aimed at creators, the customers are your fans or supporters.
As well as collecting one-time payments, these both have options for creating membership subscriptions or monthly support. Subscribers can be rewarded with exclusive privileged content. At this point, there’s an overlap with Patreon which is specifically for monthly membership subscriptions to support creative work. There are also subscription options via PayPal. But subscriptions move away from the purpose of this post which was to look at options for one-off payments when you’re providing resources for free.
Where to put the payment options?
If you’re using any of these options as a passive request for non-specific contributions from your supporters, then you can add them wherever you have the option to add a link:
- website
- email signature
- newsletter footer
- social media profiles
- bios
- Facebook group
- Linktree
If your request is event-specific, then it’s worth giving some thought about where in the booking process to add the request. If the event is genuinely for free, then make that clear upfront. Adding a payment button too early might cause confusion about the cost of the event or about how to book. Make the booking or registering the primary call to action in your publicity (the initial email to advertise the event) and the payment can be secondary.