Challenge

HelloAsso was created to give French nonprofits an all-in-one platform for growing, attracting donors, and collecting money online. Nonprofits rely on fundraising to survive, and any friction in the donation process puts their fundraising goals—and their missions—at risk. As a free platform, HelloAsso itself relies on voluntary donations. Any issues with processing donations can lead to donors leaving the site without giving.

Also, due to complex onboarding requirements for European markets, 30% of the nonprofits were rejected by payment networks during the onboarding process, and ultimately failed to complete it. This caused financial concerns and reputational risk for those users.

To ensure HelloAsso could scale and solve these challenges for nonprofits, it needed a user-friendly payments platform that could achieve the following:

• Accept both one-time payments and recurring subscriptions, and offer tools to bridge the gap between offline and online donations
  
• Simplify the client onboarding process
  
• Provide reliability and stability, increasing acceptance rates and reducing service disruption
  
• Deliver unmatched quality and security, and the ability to manage substantial transaction volumes to attract high-profile clients
  

Solution

HelloAsso wanted a user-friendly payment solution to provide a smooth and efficient payment experience in addition to secure and high-quality services. It chose Stripe, which offered tailored solutions to meet HelloAsso's needs.

“Stripe's reputation for stability and performance made us choose this complete payment solution to navigate the specific challenges faced by nonprofits,” said Bérengère Alart, chief product officer at HelloAsso.

HelloAsso worked with Stripe's Premium Support team to solve its onboarding challenges. The Stripe team introduced the option to submit alternative documentation that clients could easily obtain. Stripe also helped HelloAsso expand by onboarding accounts from previously unsupported industries. The platform also updated its documentation with FAQs and best practices to make the onboarding process even easier for clients.

Stripe Connect, which is tailored for platforms and marketplaces, allowed HelloAsso to easily set up payment forms. It effortlessly handled both one-time payments and recurring subscriptions, making the donation process simple for associations and their users. The integration made the donation process straightforward, ensuring associations and their donors experienced minimal friction.

Looking ahead, HelloAsso is integrating Tap to Pay into its mobile app, a contactless method where users tap their devices to donate. This feature could transform smartphones into on-the-spot fundraising tools at live events, revolutionizing charitable giving.

With Stripe, HelloAsso also ensured a consistently high acceptance rate for transactions. When a nonprofit receives a donation, its details are instantly relayed to Stripe. Each donation is then tied to the association's wallet. This makes it straightforward for associations to monitor their funds through the HelloAsso back office by using Stripe’s efficient API integrations.

HelloAsso's operations were further strengthened by Stripe Connect's robust architecture, which drastically reduced service disruptions. Given HelloAsso’s €400 million annual transaction volume, Stripe's consistency was necessary. The company also benefited from Stripe's Know Your Customer (KYC) process, which ensures the legitimacy of transferred funds.

Results

With Stripe, HelloAsso can offer nonprofits a more sophisticated and reliable service. HelloAsso optimized its one-time and recurring payment management by using the integration, which led to tangible outcomes.

Streamlined user experience and innovative fundraising tools

HelloAsso's proactive approach to onboarding issues led to 120,000 charity accounts being activated and verified across Europe. Overall, its user verification rate rose from 50% to 80%. By using Stripe for onboarding and by partnering with the Stripe Premium Support team, HelloAsso was able to improve the experience for its charities and boost its internal efficiency.

With Stripe's advanced features and integrations, HelloAsso has transformed the donation experience. The platform's intuitive design ensures nonprofits can manage their funds easily, while donors enjoy a frictionless donation journey.

“Incorporating Tap to Pay into our existing mobile application goes beyond just adding a feature. It would bridge the gap between offline and online donations,” said Alart. “With this feature in our app, we would uphold our promise of free, state-of-the-art services.”

25% increase in payment acceptance rates

HelloAsso saw an uplift in its payment acceptance rate after collaborating with Stripe. Previously hovering at a rate of 75%, the adoption of Stripe's streamlined solutions propelled it to 94%. A higher acceptance rate is the measure of reliability for nonprofits, and it directly impacts HelloAsso’s business model of voluntary contributions.

99.2% reduction in service disruption

Before partnering with Stripe, HelloAsso faced an average of two-hour service interruptions every month, translating into considerable financial losses. With an annual transaction volume of €400,000,000 it was essential for HelloAsso to maintain consistent service. With Stripe's implementation, these disruptions have been drastically reduced, and now amount to just a few seconds per month. “The leap from two hours to mere seconds in service interruptions is not just a win in terms of revenue saved, but is indicative of the efficiency and dependability that Stripe brings to the table,” said Alart.

Attracting high-profile clients

Stripe's reliable framework has also paved the way for HelloAsso to gain the trust of noteworthy clients. Sports federations, which had previously been uncertain about HelloAsso, now view it as their go-to solution for handling payments and donations. Both the French Basket Federation and the French Tennis Federation have integrated HelloAsso into their operational structures.

“Our collaboration with Stripe has not only amplified our efficiency, but also elevated our stature in the eyes of potential clients,” said Alart. “Being the preferred choice for renowned federations speaks volumes about the trust and reliability we’ve fostered, in part thanks to Stripe.”