Does College Student Donations collect any fees?

No, College Student Donations charges no fees and does not get paid any portion of a donation.

How do I make a donation?

Donating is easy! Simply search the posted profiles for someone you know, or browse all profiles for someone you do not know. Once you have located a student to whom you wish to donate, you may make a donation via PayPal in any amount with a minimum of $5.00. Please note that in most cases, PayPal allows you to use your credit card or write an e-check without the need for you to have a PayPal account. If you do have a PayPal account, you may naturally use it as a payment option.

In some cases, students also accept paper checks (i.e. personal checks, bank checks, money orders, etc.) where noted in their profile. Donations made by paper check are sent directly to the student's collection address. Students are advised to not divulge their residential address for privacy and security considerations. Donations made electronically via PayPal have the advantage of being received quickly by the student and do not require the student's address, but incur a payment transaction processing fee charged by PayPal to the student receiving the funds.

To donate to any student, start by clicking the button located next to each student's picture on the student's profile page.

Why is the minimum donation $5.00, rather than say, $1.00?

Quite simply, this is to ensure that more of the donation goes the student, rather than to processing fees. The transaction processing fees potentially consume a substantial portion of a donation at the $1.00 level, depending upon the transaction type.

Do I need to join College Student Donations or create a College Student Donations account to make a donation?

No. You may make a donation to any student at any time without joining College Student Donations or divulging any personal information to College Student Donations. The donation transaction is strictly between you and the student. College Student Donations is not party to the transaction, as you either make this directly via PayPal or privately by check.

There are no fees or charges to sign up and post your profile.

If you receive donations via a PayPal account, however, PayPal charges a transaction fee based on the type of account you have, the form of payment and the amount of money being received. This fee is charged by PayPal, not College Student Donations. As another option, you may elect that donors send you a paper check directly for which there are no transaction charges.

Will I get rich from donations?

Possibly, but probably not. On the other hand, you won't receive any donations if you don't sign up. It is reasonable to expect that most donors will be someone who knows you, who works with or is acquainted with your parents, or a relative. But you also have an excellent opportunity to receive donations from total strangers who are impressed with your profile and your appeal. That is why you want to keep your target audience in mind when generating your profile. You are not trying to impress your classmates, as they are not likely to be a source of substantial donations. You want to reach out to adults who are in a position to help a worthy student. Keep in mind that anyone in the world can view your profile. It is entirely possible that some unknown person in a foreign country could send you a donation!

Does asking people for help via donations really work?

The answer is definitely Yes! Here is a perfect example from an article that appeared in Time Magazine. Creating a College Student Donations profile is quick and easy and it comes pre-packaged with tools and aids to promote your profile. Plus you benefit from the publicity and exposure that the College Student Donations website generates.

Can I link my College Student Donations profile to my Facebook, Myspace or Twitter accounts?

Yes. You may link to Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. Additionally, you may link to a YouTube video of yourself.

I do not see my college listed. Can I add my college to the list?

Yes. Most major colleges and universities are already listed. As part of the profile creation process you may add your college to the list if it does not already appear. Any legitimate college, university, junior college, technical college or other post-secondary education institution may be added.

Do I need to have a PayPal account to post my profile?

No. You may post your profile and receive donations without a PayPal account. A PayPal account is recommended, however, as this makes it easy for a donor to send you a donation with just a few clicks of the mouse. You may create a PayPal account at any time after posting your College Student Donations profile. There is no charge to create a PayPal account.

Do I need any special browser settings for the College Student Donations website?

No - just make sure that you have JavaScripting enabled, which is a default setting on all modern browser versions.

Why are my profile pictures "fuzzy"?

If you uploaded an original picture that was smaller than 400 pixels wide by 300 pixels high, it will have been distorted, in that all uploaded pictures are "stretched" to 400 x 300 pixels if the original is smaller. This can be corrected by deleting the distorted picture and re-uploading a full size version. There is no issue with uploading a picture larger than 400 x 300 pixels, as reducing the size does not produce the same negative distortion.