Getting started by becoming a part of bitcoin
Downloading a bitcoin wallet or buying a hardware wallet is one of the first steps for your nonprofit. If you are not good with computer security, it is best to use a hardware wallet. This wallet is separate from your computer and has security protocols that most hackers can not breach. The Trezor Model T wallet is one such hardware wallet. It comes with a touch screen and the ability to use cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin. A passphrase protects the wallet from unauthorized entry.
For those who are adept at keeping their computer secure from unwanted entry, there are wallets for you as well. The good old “Bitcoin core” wallet is still available for the purists out there. For those who do not want to download multiple gigabytes of data, there is a more lightweight wallet from Electrum. The Electrum wallet is supported by other servers and requires a seed password to use. Your “seed” will be a randomly generated set of 12 dictionary words that you must guard. They are the password to the Electrum wallet. Because this wallet connects to other servers, it has a small chance of being hacked.
Follow the largest nonprofit in accepting bitcoin.
The United Way is one nonprofit that is not taking a backseat to technology. They accept bitcoin donations. Your nonprofit can easily follow in their footsteps. Especially if your nonprofit is sending people across the country, bitcoin can be delivered to them in seconds. Give them each a bitcoin wallet with payments routed by the Lightning network. This makes payments arrive just as quickly as using a merchant account connected to a bank. More than 4000 merchants now process fast bitcoin payments using this network.
Taking donations on your nonprofit website
Bitcoin is not as slow as it uses to be. But the aforementioned Lightning network requires building a bitcoin node. While building a node is beyond this article’s scope, it allows payments to be received in seconds. The speed is faster than using the bitcoin core wallet method. A website can be set up that connects to your node. This connection takes donations from website visitors. This novel approach makes donations as easy as other online payment methods.