Democratic candidates should use Paypal on their website....

[Just-plain-Kathy]

I was just reading a thread posted by a Texan running for office. I liked him, so I followed his provided link to his website in order to make a donation to his campaign. ...When I got there, he had an address where donations could be sent via snail-mail. He also uses the method of electronic checks.

Where's it good to have a snail mail address, it gives people too much time to back out of their spontaneous desire to help.

A lot of people would rather NOT use the method of electronic checks. There have been reported problems with using that method.

Paypal seems to be a trusted method. Even with Paypals fees, it STILL would be worth it. ....If that Texan running for office used Paypal, he would already had twenty-five of my hard earned dollars. ...Now if I have time and a pen, I may go back and check out his website again.

I'm the voice of an ordinary voter....Middle class, High School grad, married, mother of two. I have a large circle of friends and family (some smart, some not so smart), I talk with anyone who's willing to listen to me about the corruption in our government. I want democrats to win!!

If you're a candidate or knows one...Please read the thread bellow. Good Luck. Peace. :patriot:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=296x6355

[Nickster]

1. I get the gist of what you're saying, but I wouldn't suggest PayPal.

All it would take is a bunch of "donors" to place donations and then call up PayPal and claim chargebacks, fraud, etc etc. PayPal would lock up a ton of the candidates money and credit card chargeback fees, bounced check fees, etc, etc. PayPal will not be on your side, they will clamp down hard on your bank account at the slightest mention of anything from a "customer". Not to mention the extra hassles of trying to figure out what happened to all of my campaign cash. Too much potential headache to work with PayPal.

I'd suggest something like ActBlue, they minimize the fees taken off the top, so more money gets to the candidate. They've got a great track record of moving tons of needed money to candidates.

[WePurrsevere]

2. Agreed. Although there is risk with PayPal there is some with most ways...

to get money quickly.

Other then ease of use another plus of PayPal is that if a person has at least a Premium account they would earn interest (currently about 5% I believe) on any money sitting in there plus they'd get cash back if they get a PayPal Debit card and use it as a credit card. With the cash back and the interest earned I don't really pay much in PP fee's at all... certainly less then if I used a credit card processing company and if I had the sales to upgrade to the Business one I'd pay even less. If a person is that concerned with PayPal freezing assets they can do as many eBay sellers I know do.. get the money out of PP and into a bank account that is not connected to PP in anyway. From what I'm hearing they're freezing less... might be a legal reason for that though.

Considering how many people use PayPal compared to how many "horror" stories you hear they're better then most banks I've done business with and worse then one or two. As an eBay seller (and occasional buyer) I've been using PayPal almost since it's inception.. I've been a very active member with a few larger online auction communities (similar to DU) and although I've heard from a couple that they've had slight problems and I personally have had one minor problem (they didn't freeze the account, there was a dispute process and I lost because I couldn't prove and item was shipped with customs doc's ::Sigh::) I'm still using them and so are they.

It would be great if there were something better but for now it's not as bad as all that, it gets folks money quickly and doesn't charge an arm and two legs. Google has a payment gig but I think is still in Beta... I'd have to Google search and I need to go check on a sick furkid.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

3. I know I paid my DU dues through Paypal....

Democrats could make a ton of money if only we had a simple safe way of charging it on our credit card, without passing around our private information.

[sfroamer]

4. How About ActBlue???

Hey Kathy,

Not sure if you're aware of the ActBlue website. http://www.actblue.com

You're not only able to contribute to your favorite Democratic candidates by credit card, but you can also set up a personal webpage to SOLICIT funds for your favorite candidates. I just finished setting up two webpages (one for Senate candidates and one for House candidates). And my good friend has set up one of his own. While each page has a unique focus, the common thread is supporting progressive candidates who will END THE CONGRESSIONAL RUBBERSTAMP of the FAILED POLICIES OF THE BUSH-CHENEY ADMINISTRATION.

Seize the Senate
http://www.actblue.com/page/carpesenatus

Take This House and Shove It
http://www.actblue.com/page/takethishouseandshoveit

House Homophobic Hotlist
http://www.actblue.com/page/house_homophobic_hotlist

Hope this helps out. Please check out the above links and show our candidates some financial love if you agree with their positions. And search for your OWN favorite candidates on the ActBlue website.


Regi (aka SFRoamer)

[Just-plain-Kathy]

5. I checked out actblue...

I'm sure it's fine. ...My thought of candidates going with Paypal stems from thinking that a lot of people already have Paypal, or they're familiar with it.