How to Accept Credit Cards at a Fundraiser Event

Picture this:

A fish fry committee ran their annual fundraiser and accepted only cash. They made $1,200. The next year, one volunteer brought his personal Square reader and they started accepting cards. Same event, same attendance. They made $1,650.

The $450 difference came from one thing: people who showed up with $40 in their wallet didn't have a ceiling anymore.

That's the whole case for accepting cards at a fundraiser. People spend more when they're not limited by what they happened to pull from the ATM before they left the house. The mechanics of setting it up are simple — simpler than most organizations expect.

Quick answer: Square is the easiest option for a one-day event — free app, $10 chip reader, 2.6% per swipe, next-day deposit. Test your reader and cell signal at the venue before the event. Have offline mode enabled as a backup. Export your transaction report at close and add it to your cash total.

Which Card Reader to Use

Three platforms dominate for small nonprofits doing in-person fundraising events:

For a first-time setup or a single annual event: Square. The free app, same-day setup, and the largest network of tutorials and support make it the lowest-friction option. The free magstripe reader is fine to get started, but buy the $49 chip reader — many credit cards no longer have a magstripe, and chip readers are now the standard expectation at any payment terminal.

If your organization already accepts online donations through Potluck: consider Stripe Terminal for your in-person events instead. Potluck runs on Stripe, so your event card payments and your online donations all land in the same Stripe account — one dashboard, one deposit, one reconciliation at the end of the month. The Stripe Terminal Reader S700 ($299) is a standalone touchscreen terminal that works on wifi with no phone required.

Don't use personal Venmo or Zelle for fundraiser payments. Money received through personal accounts may not be distinguishable from personal income, creates confusion for your treasurer, and some payment platforms prohibit using personal accounts for business or organizational purposes.

Setting Up Your Account

1. Go to squareup.com (or your chosen platform) and create a free account
2. Enter your organization's name and banking information
3. You'll need an EIN (Employer Identification Number) or a responsible party's SSN for identity verification — this is standard for any merchant account
4. Download the Square Point of Sale app on your phone or tablet
5. Order or pick up the card reader (Square readers are available at Target, Walmart, and Best Buy if you need one same-day)

Deposit timing: Square deposits funds to your bank account the next business day by default. Instant deposit is available for a 1.75% fee — not worth it for a fundraiser.

Testing Before the Event

Do this at the venue, not at home.

Cell signal is the variable most organizations don't check until it's too late. A building with thick concrete walls, a basement venue, or a rural location can have dead zones that make card processing impossible.

What to test:

• Process a $1 test charge on a volunteer's card at the exact spot where your payment station will be
• Confirm the transaction completes in under 15 seconds
• Enable offline mode in the app settings and confirm it's active

Offline mode: Most card reader apps can queue transactions when there's no signal and process them when connectivity is restored. Square's offline mode holds transactions for up to 24 hours. Enable it before the event, not when you discover you have no signal with 40 people in line.

Bring a mobile hotspot as backup. A $10/month hotspot plan or a phone with a strong carrier signal at the venue can save an event.

Day-Of Setup

One device per payment station. A phone running the Square app with a reader plugged in is one station. If you're expecting a busy ticket table, set up two stations — two phones, two readers.

Keep your device charged. Card readers draw power from your phone's headphone jack or USB-C port. Heavy use drains the battery noticeably faster than normal. Arrive with 100% charge and bring a portable battery pack.

Post a sign. "We accept credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay" — this sign alone will increase card transactions at your event. Many people assume small org fundraisers are cash-only and don't ask.

Have a backup plan. If the reader fails: take the buyer's name and contact info on paper, confirm the amount, and process the payment later via invoice (Square can send email invoices) or arrange cash follow-up. Don't turn buyers away.

Fees — What You Actually Keep

At 2.6% per transaction, the math is straightforward:

These fees are lower than you might expect — and lower than the alternative of losing the sale because someone only had a card.

ACH / bank transfer for online donations: If your organization collects donations through an online platform rather than in-person card swipes, ACH bank transfers (what Potluck uses) cost significantly less — typically 0.8% capped at $5, versus 2.6% for card. For recurring donors giving online, this difference compounds over time. In-person swipe at events, card processing fees are unavoidable — they're just the cost of accepting cards.

Closing Out

At the end of your event, export the transaction report from your app before you close out:

• In Square: go to Reports → Transactions → export to CSV or PDF
• This shows each transaction, the fees, and the net amount deposited

Add your card total to your cash total. This is your full event revenue figure. Keep the export with your treasurer records.

What to document:

• Total card transactions
• Total card fees
• Net card revenue (what actually deposits)
• Combined with cash total = full event revenue

Common Questions

Can we accept cards without a smartphone? Yes — Square and Stripe both offer standalone terminals that work on wifi. The Stripe Terminal Reader M2 ($59) connects via Bluetooth to a tablet and works without a smartphone. For a recurring annual event, a dedicated tablet or terminal is a cleaner setup than using a personal phone.

Do we need to report card sales differently than cash for taxes? Card processors issue a Form 1099-K if you process more than $600 in a calendar year (as of 2024 IRS rules). Your treasurer should know about this and report it on your annual return. The transactions are income either way — the 1099-K just means the IRS already has a record of it.

Can donors get a tax-deduction receipt for a card payment at an event? Yes — your donation receipt process is the same regardless of payment method. For 501(c)(3) organizations, donations are deductible when the total gift exceeds what the donor received in return (food, tickets, etc.). Issue a receipt documenting the charitable portion.

Potluck's online donation pages use ACH bank transfer by default — which costs a fraction of credit card fees for online donations (typically 0.8% capped at $5, versus 2.6%+ for cards). And because Potluck runs on Stripe, organizations that also use Stripe Terminal for in-person events keep everything in one place: one Stripe account, one payout schedule, one set of records for your treasurer. If you're looking to lower your processing costs on recurring or online gifts while keeping in-person events simple, that's the setup worth considering. Free to start.

Looking for more ideas? See the full list: Fundraising Ideas for Small Nonprofits and Community Clubs.