Message about payments to HSL

[David Lang]

Over the last 12 months HSL has paid paypal about $2500 in fees (3.49% + $0.49 per transaction) This almost matches our loss for the year.

We have now been recognized as a charity, which drops this to 1.99% + 0.49, which is an improvement, but still not good

This means that if paying by paypal, it's much better to pay large chunks than the same in many small amounts (especially for things like snacks)

We have now setup Zelle, fina...@heatsynclabs.org that charges us no per-transaction fees.
To switch to this you cancel your existing payment and then setup the zelle payment through your bank as a recurring payment.

We are looking at additional options (For example, Venmo is through paypal, but is 1.99% + $0.10, a very small improvement)

The board recognizes that some people dislike some payment options, so we are looking to expand the ways that people can give the lab money. There is not going to be any push to eliminate any option, but it would be nice to migrate to options that get more of your money to the lab.

Also, since this is the time of year to setup benefit enrollments for the next year, many companies allow you to specify donations to a charity that they will then match. Please consider doing that to pay your membership

David Lang