How to Set Up a PayPal Fundraising Campaign With a Goal

Starting a fundraiser is easy when the goal is clear. You want to raise $5,000 for a community project. You need support for medical expenses. You are collecting money for a charity event.

The first thing most people think about is the payment part. But successful fundraising is not only about collecting money. Supporters usually want to know:

• What is the cause?
• Why does it matter?
• How much has been raised?
• How close is the campaign to reaching its goal?

This is where a fundraising campaign is different from a simple donation button. A donation button asks someone to contribute. A fundraising campaign tells a story, sets a target, and gives supporters a reason to participate.

To understand how PayPal handles this, I created a fundraising campaign from scratch and explored each step, from setting the goal to publishing and sharing the campaign.

In this guide, I will show how to create a PayPal fundraising campaign, what options PayPal provides, and where a dedicated fundraising platform may offer more flexibility.

What is a PayPal fundraising campaign?

A PayPal fundraising campaign is a goal-based donation page where organizations or individuals can collect contributions for a specific purpose. Donors see how much you are trying to raise, how much has come in so far, and a story explaining why.

It is one of three donation options inside PayPal. The other two are a shareable donation link and a website donate button. All three collect money the same way. What separates the campaign is the goal and the presentation around it. The campaign page can show:

• Fundraising goal
• Amount raised
• Progress toward the goal
• Campaign story
• Cover image

PayPal Donate Button vs Fundraising Campaign

When exploring PayPal’s donation tools, one thing becomes clear. A donate button and a fundraising campaign solve different problems. A button is designed to help people donate quickly. A campaign is designed to help people understand and support a larger goal.

How to Create a PayPal Fundraising Campaign Step-by-Step

I tested PayPal’s Start a Campaign option to see how the setup works, from the campaign goal to the final sharing options. The process is divided into a few steps. First, you define your fundraising target. Then, you add your campaign story, configure donation settings, and publish the campaign.

Step 1: Choose the “Start a Campaign” Option

Log in to your PayPal account. In the left sidebar, open Sales, then click Donations. You will see three donation options. For goal-based fundraising, choose Start a campaign.

Step 2: Set Up Your Campaign

This step defines the campaign.

Campaign Title: Enter your campaign title

Currency: Then select the currency in which you want to receive donations.. Depending on availability, donors may be able to donate using different currencies, and PayPal handles currency conversion where applicable. 

Set your goal amount: Next, enter the amount you want to raise. As donations come in, supporters can see how close the campaign is to reaching its target.

Add an end date: PayPal also provides an optional end date setting. You can use this when your campaign has a deadline.

Note: You’ll still be able to accept donations after the end date has passed

Configure Donation Amounts: You have three options:

• Any amount, an open field
• An exact amount, a single fixed figure
• Set 3 amount options, plus any amount

Fee-cover option: Toggle “Give donors the option to increase their donation amount to help offset the cost of fees,” and donors see a checkbox reading Add $0 to help cover the fees. The fee coverage option allows donors to contribute an additional amount intended to help offset processing costs. 

Step 3: Add Your Campaign Story and Branding

Cover image: Upload a cover image that will be shown at the top 

Display your logo: You can also add your organization logo to your fundraising page.

Tell your story: Here you get a proper rich text editor with heading and body styles, alignment, quote formatting, and list controls to share your campaign story.

Step 4: Set up your payment page

Collect donor mailing addresses: Off by default. Turn it on, and donors see a mailing address field during checkout. PayPal links to its Privacy Statement here and limits how you may use the addresses you collect.

Take donors back to your website: Also off by default, and worth enabling. It reveals a Cancel URL for donors who abandon partway and a Complete URL for donors who finish. 

Step 5: Customize the Campaign Embed Options 

Upload a campaign card image: It allows you to add a new image specifically for the embedded campaign card.

Add a campaign description: You can add a short description that appears inside the campaign card.

Create a Donate button for your website: It also allows you to create a button that links directly to your campaign. You can customize:

• Button size: Select the button size that fits your website layout.
• Country or region: Choose the campaign location settings.
• Language: Select the language displayed on the button.
• Show accepted card logos: Enable this option to display available card payment logos below the button.

Step 6: Publish and Share Your PayPal Fundraising Campaign

Once everything is configured, publish your campaign. After publishing, PayPal provides multiple sharing options. You can promote your fundraiser through:

• Shareable link: For social posts, email, and messaging apps
• Campaign card: An embeddable card that sits on your website and sends visitors to the campaign page
• QR code: For print, events, and in-person collection
• Donate button: Where Get a button code gives you HTML for your site

Two actions appear in the sidebar that you will not find on a donation link or button.

Post an update: It allows campaign creators to share updates with supporters. After publishing an update, You can share updates through:

• Email
• Text message
• Facebook
• X (Twitter)
• WhatsApp
• Copy link

Close campaign: You need to manually close the campaign when the goal is reached or the campaign is complete. 

You also get Edit, Preview, Duplicate, and Delete. Duplicate is worth remembering if you run the same appeal annually.

What a PayPal campaign costs

Nothing to create. You pay standard PayPal donation rates on what comes in.

Rates vary by country and currency, so check PayPal’s fee page for your region before you publish.

Two Things I Noticed While Testing PayPal Fundraising Campaigns

While creating and testing the campaign, I noticed two things that were not immediately obvious from the setup screen.

The fundraising goal does not stop donations after reaching the target

When creating a campaign, you set a fundraising goal, and PayPal displays progress toward that target.   However, the campaign does not automatically stop accepting donations after reaching the target amount. Supporters can still continue to contribute unless you manually close the campaign.

The campaign end date does not automatically close the campaign

PayPal allows you to set an end date during campaign creation. I expected the campaign to automatically stop accepting donations once that date passed. During testing, I found that the campaign page still remained available after the end date, and donors could still continue through the donation flow.

When a PayPal Fundraising Campaign May Not Be Enough

A PayPal fundraising campaign covers the basics well. You can set a goal, tell your story, collect donations, and share the campaign with supporters. For many small campaigns, that may be all you need. But fundraising usually becomes more complex as your audience grows.

At some point, organizations often need more control over the experience around the payment. For example:

• A nonprofit wants to collect additional donor information.
• A charity wants a campaign page that matches its website branding.
• A global organization wants to offer different payment methods.
• A team wants customized donor communication after every contribution.

Create a More Complete Fundraising Experience With a Form

If you need a simple goal-based fundraising page, PayPal can be a practical option. But if you want more control over the entire fundraising journey, this is where a fundraising form solution helps.

Several tools can help you create online donation forms, but many require you to use their own payment processing system. That means moving away from the familiar PayPal checkout experience that many donors already trust. The better approach keeps PayPal doing what it does well and rebuilds everything around it.  

PaymentForm.io works that way. Its Fundraising Module handles the goal, the page, the donor records, and the follow-up, while PayPal stays the payment gateway.

The differences show up exactly where PayPal stops. You set a target fund amount with a progress bar, and a fundraising end date that genuinely closes the campaign, complete with a custom Fundraising Closed message your visitors see afterwards. You choose which donor fields to collect from more than ten field types. You apply your own fonts, colours, and header, connect a custom domain, and write your own confirmation emails and receipts for both donor and team.

The visual drag-and-drop page builder wraps the form in a full landing page, with hero sections, impact statistics, testimonials, team blocks, FAQs, and calls to action. Donations land in a dashboard with built-in analytics covering views, transactions, and average gift size. PaymentForm.io charges 0% platform fee, so your only cost stays PayPal’s processing rate.

For the complete walkthrough, see how to start a fundraising campaign online.

Final Thoughts

A PayPal fundraising campaign is a simple way to start collecting donations toward a specific goal. It works well when you need:

• A quick campaign page
• A fundraising target
• Basic storytelling
• Easy sharing

But as campaigns become more advanced, organizations often need more control over branding, donor information, payment options, and communication. A fundraising platform like PaymentForm.io helps you build that complete experience while still allowing you to use PayPal as the payment gateway.

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