If you run a newsletter, a small charity, an open-source project, or a creator site where your audience wants to support your work, adding a donation option is simpler than most people expect. The harder part is picking the right approach — there are three workable options, and they suit different situations.
Most tutorials skip straight to plugin recommendations without explaining when a PayPal button is enough and when a full donation plugin earns its place. Alongside other revenue streams like affiliate links, donations are one of the least disruptive ways to monetise a content site — there’s no product to sell and no subscription for visitors to commit to. You’re simply giving people who already value your work a way to say so.
This guide covers the most practical setup using a free donation plugin, and explains when the simpler PayPal button approach is a better fit.
Quick Answer
Install the free GiveWP plugin, create a donation form, and embed it on any page using the block editor. GiveWP handles variable donation amounts, payment processing through PayPal or Stripe, donor confirmation emails, and a donor database inside your WordPress dashboard. For a basic donate button with no donor management needed, a manually embedded PayPal button is the faster route.
Why This Matters
The difference between a payment button and a donation form matters more than it first appears.
A standard payment button expects a fixed amount. Donors want to choose what they give, and if you’re raising money for a cause, an ongoing project, or simply your own creative work, you also need a record of who donated and when. A dedicated donation plugin handles variable amounts, sends thank-you emails automatically, and stores donor records — none of which a plain payment button provides.
For non-profits and creator sites, a purpose-built donation form also carries more trust. Visitors who see a clear form with recognisable payment options are more likely to complete the transaction than when they’re redirected away to an unfamiliar checkout flow.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up GiveWP
1. Install and activate GiveWP
From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins → Add New Plugin and search for GiveWP. Click Install Now, then Activate. The free version supports PayPal Standard and offline donation methods (bank transfer, cheque). Stripe support is available through a free add-on in the GiveWP add-on library.
2. Connect a payment gateway
After activation, a GiveWP menu appears in the left sidebar. Go to GiveWP → Settings → Payment Gateways.
Select PayPal Standard as your default gateway and enter your PayPal business email address. Before going live, enable Test Mode — this lets you submit test donations without processing real payments, so you can confirm everything works end to end.
For Stripe, download the free Stripe gateway add-on from the GiveWP plugin page on WordPress.org. Once installed, go to GiveWP → Settings → Payment Gateways → Stripe and connect your account using the API keys from your Stripe dashboard.
3. Create a donation form
Go to GiveWP → Donation Forms → Add New.
Give the form a descriptive name — this appears as the form title that donors see. Set your donation levels under the Goal & Donation Options section. Offering preset amounts alongside a custom entry field works better than a fully open input; it anchors donor expectations without removing flexibility. Common presets: $5, $15, $25, $50.
Set a minimum donation amount to protect against processing fees swallowing small contributions. $2 is a sensible minimum for most setups.
Under Form Fields, the default name and email fields are sufficient for most use cases. Add a Donor Comments field if you want supporters to leave a message.
In Email Notifications, customise the confirmation email. Keep it concise — confirm the donation amount, thank the donor by name, and explain what their contribution supports. This one email does most of the relationship-building work.
Save the form. The shortcode shown at the top of the editor (for example, [give_form id="123"]) is what you’ll use to embed it.
4. Embed the form on a page
Create a new page — Donate or Support Us works well — via Pages → Add New.
In the block editor, add a Shortcode block and paste your form shortcode. Alternatively, search the block inserter for the GiveWP Form block, which lets you select your form from a dropdown without using a shortcode at all.
Before the form, add two or three short paragraphs explaining what donations support and what donors can expect. This context consistently improves conversion rates.
Publish the page and preview it to confirm the form displays correctly.
5. Test the donation flow
With Test Mode active, submit a test donation using the live form. Verify that:
- The thank-you page appears immediately after submission
- The confirmation email arrives in the inbox you entered
- The donation record appears in GiveWP → Donations
Disable Test Mode once you’re satisfied the flow works correctly.
Practical Tips
Where you promote your donation page matters as much as the page itself. A link in the main navigation and a brief prompt at the end of relevant posts — with a single, specific call to action — consistently performs better than a donation page that only appears in the footer.
A short explanation of what the money goes towards increases conversions measurably. “Help cover hosting and writing costs” is more compelling than a generic “support this site.” Specific is always better than vague.
In most sites I help set up for content creators, recurring donations are worth enabling early if you expect an engaged readership. GiveWP’s free tier handles one-time donations; the Recurring Donations add-on (paid) handles monthly giving. For many small sites, one-time donations are enough to start with.
If you already have a payment button configured on your WordPress site, adding GiveWP for donations still makes sense — the confirmation emails, donor records, and variable amounts are separate features that a standard payment button doesn’t replicate.
Common Mistakes
Using a fixed-price payment button for donations. Donors expect to choose their amount. A mandatory fixed price creates friction and reduces total contributions.
Skipping the confirmation email. Donors need immediate acknowledgement that their payment processed. Without it, expect support requests — and occasionally chargebacks from people who weren’t sure the transaction went through.
Leaving Test Mode active on a live site. Donations submitted in Test Mode don’t process real payments. Double-check your gateway settings before you start promoting the page.
No donation page in the navigation. If the only route to your form is a footer link, most visitors will never see it. Add it to the main menu or at minimum to your About page.
When to Use This vs Alternatives
GiveWP is the right choice if you want variable donation amounts, in-WordPress donor records, confirmation emails, and support for multiple payment methods — all without writing code.
A manual PayPal button is faster to set up and requires no plugin. The trade-offs: donors are redirected to PayPal’s site, you get no in-WordPress donor records, and the default button accepts only fixed amounts unless you configure a hosted PayPal button.
A membership plugin is the better option when you want recurring revenue tied to access — private content, a community, or premium resources. That’s a distinct model from donations; setting up a membership site in WordPress involves significantly more configuration but creates subscription income rather than voluntary contributions.
Conclusion
GiveWP is the most practical starting point for donation functionality — the free version covers the core use case cleanly, and the full setup takes under an hour. If your needs are minimal, a PayPal button handles it. Either way, if your audience has shown genuine interest in supporting your work, giving them a way to do so is worth the setup time. The process fits naturally into building a WordPress website step by step once your content and audience are in place.
Etienne Basson works with website systems, SEO-driven site architecture, and technical implementation. He writes practical guides on building, structuring, and optimizing websites for long-term growth.