18 Oct Using Bank Products to Fend off Deposit Runoff Part 4 of a 5-Part Series: Non-Profit Accounts
Non interest bearing deposit accounts are the gold standard for most banks in the current market. Rapid fed rate increases have put many banks in a position where their current loans have not yet ballooned and were written when the fed rate was sub 1%. This means that if banks want to continue making a profitable net interest margin they need to continue to have as many deposits as possible in non interest bearing accounts. The problem is that many banks are now capturing deposit accounts by offering 4%+ on savings accounts so some of those sedentary accounts are being moved out of the bank to accounts where they can make money. The key to stopping this runoff is to keep those funds in motion. If the merchant uses their account to run their business they are less likely to move them off the balance sheet. Making deposits sticky and/or adding new accounts has never been more important and in this five-part series, we will expose five simple products and targets to help your bank add or retain deposit volume.
Part 4: Non-Profit Accounts
Donation Pages and Fundraising Accounts
We suggest setting up a separate fundraising account for big fundraising activities. If the fundraising organization has a goal, make that account its own deposit. These accounts cover a wide range of organizational needs, so we put together some examples.
- A hospital auxiliary raising money for a new $6 million MRI machine
- A fire company raising money for a new truck or building
- A local scholarship fund of $10,000
Raising these funds and keeping them in a separate account helps the bank depend on these non/low interest bearing accounts because as you know the funds will stay there until all the money is raised or the scholarship is paid out. Key products to help these accounts grow are payment/donation pages and the ability to collect mobile donations.
The purpose of a payment page is to make donating easy. Most modern website companies have easy access to the HTML code and a modern gateway will allow you to cut and paste a secure payment module into the non-profit’s website. This then allows the non-profit to market the ability to donate right on their website. Now, when the donator goes online to pay they are then given a tax-deductible receipt, and they can even be prompted to make their donation recurring. We often see this option added for religious organizations that want to see regular tithing.
Non-profits often have a few events per year and render the need to take in person payments. Collaborating with your processor to provide mobile card present devices or smartphone apps increases the speed at which attendees can spend at these events and by expanding their fundraising capabilities, it enables them to raise a greater amount.
Consider predicting the volume of the event and if the accounts are significant, evaluate whether your financial institution should carry “rentable/borrowable” device fleets. This way, these entities can take advantage of the opportunity and your institution can establish a lasting deposit relationship. This situation frequently arises in events such as Fireman’s carnivals, church yard sales, and county fairs where non-profit organizations operate food booths.
Banks can offer value to these customers and increase their ease of fundraising. The value added products make more than just a non-interest-bearing account to hold their funds.