How to Add a Donation Button to Your Podcast – And Why You Should Do It

In addition to the time it takes to create a great show, podcasters invest in equipment and software, as well as pay for hosting, domain fees and other costs. 

By accepting donations from listeners, podcasters can reduce or even eliminate the need to seek outside funding or sponsorships and can cover the costs of podcasting.

That’s why many podcasters turn to crowdfunding platforms like PayPal, Patreon or Kickstarter to cover costs and even make money from their shows. 

In this post, you’ll learn about:

• Platforms that will enable you to accept donations for your podcast   
• How to add a donation button to your podcast’s public website
• Ways to get the word out that you are accepting donations

The Top Donation Platforms for Podcasts

Let’s start with your options for accepting donations. 

There are several platforms podcasters can use to sign up for podcast donations. 

Below are the most popular along with the pros and cons of each:

PayPal

Pros

• Easy to set up. You can create a donate button to embed into your website or use a a PayPal.Me link that allows people to send you money instantly
• Quick to set up. You can create your donation link and customize it to your podcast name within minutes.
• The platform is very user friendly for donors too. They just click, and send you funds via their PayPal account
• Options for instant transfer of donated funds to you bank for an additional 1% fee (No fee for standard transfers of 1-3 business days)

Cons

• Both parties must have a PayPal account to send or receive money, and not everyone likes PayPal
• The podcaster will incur fees of 2.89% plus a fixed fee (varies based on currency received), and international donations will have an additional fee of 1.5%
• If you have multiple podcasts you can’t get additional links – you’re limited to one paypal.me link per PayPal account

👉🏽 Get started with PayPal here.

Patreon

Pros

• The podcaster won’t incur any upfront costs
• Accounts can be linked with PayPal for quick and easy transfer of money received
• Podcasters will get recurring monthly donations from Patrons
• Memberships can be as low as $1 per month
• You can build a strong and loyal audience because you can connect directly with listeners

Cons

• Creator fees are higher than PayPal 5-12% depending on the features you choose for your account
• Payouts can take up to 30 days
• Securing recurring payments is…