Opinion Needed: Is Zencart Too Much For My Needs?

[laurenjj]

I am currently using Zencart for one of our clients and it's FABULOUS... Now we have a completely different client who is a non-profit organization and wants to be able to accept donations via their website. Now they have a merchant account with a credit card company that they already use so now they want to set it up on their website...Do I need a full-on shopping cart installation to make this as seamless as possible? I mean I literally want a 'click here to donate' link...

Perhaps someone on here has ever set something like this up and lead me in the right direction?????

[afo]

Does Zen Cart already have a module for the credit card processor they'll be using?

The way I see it, you can set up "products" with differing donation amounts and let people select the one that suits their needs. If the organization ever decides to sell products to support their efforts (like t-shirts, hats, whatever), it would be a snap to add those items to Zen Cart.

You can also use the other features of Zen Cart (like EZ-pages) to give donors more info about the charity/organization.

I'm sure someone has used ZC for donation purposes and will chime in soon.

[schoolboy]

For a simple donation scheme, it may be like using a 747 to travel to the corner shop!

However, ZC can open up some exciting possibilities for your NPO later on. Perhaps they may want to set up a range of donation options, or add products later....

If you start with ZC, adding this functionality later will be a breeze.

[schoolboy]

Amazing... AFO and I had identical thoughts!

[laurenjj]

Thanks so much or your replies...

As far as I know they JUST want to be able to accept donations so yeah, it might be kind of like taking a 747 to the corner store.... but I'm completely clueless on how to go about doing this.

I've been trying to research things and I'm just getting more confused... If they already have a merchant account that they use for in person/phone donations, then would I be looking at something like linkpoint or is that the same thing?

[afo]

Thanks so much or your replies...

As far as I know they JUST want to be able to accept donations so yeah, it might be kind of like taking a 747 to the corner store.... but I'm completely clueless on how to go about doing this.

I've been trying to research things and I'm just getting more confused... If they already have a merchant account that they use for in person/phone donations, then would I be looking at something like linkpoint or is that the same thing?

You could always use the Credit Card module to accept payments. They'll get part of the CC number by email and the rest from the database and can then process the donation as if it came in by phone.

I believe the module needed would depend on who the merchant account is with, but I could be mistaken about that.

[misty]

Are there different levels of donations or just one
set sum?
They may need SSL cert, depending on their Merchant
Account, but that would be recommended anyway..
People donating will want to feel secure their
dollars are going to legitimate source.

[afo]

Amazing... AFO and I had identical thoughts!

I saw that. We must be on the same wavelength today!