How can I set up online registration on our web site for our non-profit's fundraising event?

March 8, 2008 8:20 AM

How can I set up online registration on our web site for our non-profit's fundraising event?

Our "friends of the animal shelter" non-profit group's annual Strut Your Mutt fundraising event is coming soon, and we would like people to be able to register through our web site, which I maintain.

Our wish list for this registration form is:

• Select one of three registration options: Strut for $10; Swim for $20; Strut and Swim for $25. (These are essentially donations.)
• Disallow registration for the swim when a certain number has been reached
• Force the user to check a box indicating they've read our waiver/release text before clicking Submit
• Pay using a debit or credit card
• Display a confirmation page with the details of the registration so they can print it
• Capture the registrant's name and address so we have a list the day of the event

I know HTML and CSS, but I am clueless about this kind of thing. I have the option to install CubeCart, OS Commerce and Zen Cart as part of our web hosting provider's Fantastico package. Will any of those satisfy our needs? What's the easiest way to do credit card payments? Thank you!

posted by DakotaPaul to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Response by poster: Crap, I just saw this question down the page. Still, would a Yahoo Store or Google Checkout work for a registration-type transaction, rather than a shopping cart purchase? Or is it basically the same thing?
posted by DakotaPaul at 8:26 AM on March 8, 2008

Probably the easiest way to do this is in PHP. I've written scripts that dump the results of a standard HTML form into a CSV file, that you can then open in excel. I can't show you any examples, since they've all been works-for-hire that I don't actually own anymore, but I learned how to do it just by Googling. This site got me started. You could also use the same technique to make the form send you an email, as with this ready-made one (or you could write it yourself; it's not that hard. (But I'd recommend against sending credit card numbers through email!)

Using an e-commerce package would automate the whole process of disallowing registration once the event is full and the whole credit card thing, but it would probably be more difficult to set up. If you want to go this route, I'd actually recommend the PayPal shopping cart. They take a little cut, but IMHO it's worth it to have the extra security they provide.

If you want to host your own e-commerce package, I'd recommend osCommerce because it is probably the most-maintained package out of any in your list, and there will be a lot of people online who can help you with it.
posted by fvox13 at 9:21 AM on March 8, 2008

Cost-wise, I'm not sure that the other question helps much. I think it'll end up being pretty expensive for a non-profit registration (at least it is for mine).

I've been looking into doing something similar (though the only limitation I have is the number of people registering for one event, not the tiered system you have). I've been looking at Acteva only because it's cheap. Though looking at the Plus version, it may have what you are looking for.

I'm really curious what answers you'll get to see what else is out there.
posted by schnee at 9:22 AM on March 8, 2008

I run ticketing for 1 NPO via a plugin on the main website accepting payments via paypal. Our big triathlon ($30,000 event) is done through active.com---but it's especially for pay-to-play sporting stuff. You can shoot me a mefi mail for a link to the NPO's duck race goodness.
posted by TomMelee at 12:14 PM on March 8, 2008

If you could setup ZenCart with Google Checkout, you could get the transaction fees waved with Google for NonProfits.
posted by advicepig at 4:20 PM on March 8, 2008