How to Take Payments for Activities, Events and Room Hire

The most effective way to take payments for activities, events, and room hire is through an integrated platform like Plinth that combines online booking with automatic payment collection via Stripe Connect — eliminating manual reconciliation and reducing no-shows by up to 40%. This guide walks you through every method available, from integrated platforms to standalone payment tools, helping you choose and implement the right approach for your organisation.

TL;DR

• Use an integrated booking and payment platform like Plinth to collect payments at the point of booking — reducing no-shows and admin.
• Connect your own Stripe account via Stripe Connect so funds go directly to your organisation.
• Set clear pricing and cancellation policies before collecting payments to prevent disputes.
• Offer concessions and free places alongside paid bookings for accessibility.
• Automate reconciliation so every payment is matched to a booking, saving 5-10 hours per week.

Who this is for: Activity coordinators, community centre managers, and charity administrators who collect fees for sessions or events.

Why Collecting Payments Properly Matters

Community organisations across the UK run thousands of activities every week — from yoga classes and art workshops to youth clubs and community cafes. Many also hire out rooms, halls, and sports facilities. Yet a surprising number still rely on informal payment methods: cash in a tin, bank transfers with no reference, or simply trust.

According to NCVO's Civil Society Almanac, there are over 166,000 voluntary organisations in the UK, and the majority of those running activities and services struggle with payment collection. A 2024 Charity Digital survey found that 67% of small charities still reconcile payments manually using spreadsheets, costing an average of 6–10 hours per week.

Poor payment collection leads to:

• Lost income from no-shows and forgotten payments
• Administrative burden from chasing payments and reconciling records
• Cash flow problems when income is unpredictable
• Compliance risks from inadequate financial records
• Reduced capacity as staff spend time on admin instead of service delivery

Getting payment collection right is not just about efficiency — it directly affects your organisation's ability to deliver its charitable mission.

Method 1: Integrated Booking and Payment Platform (Recommended)

The most effective approach is to use a platform that combines activity listing, online booking, and payment collection in a single system. Plinth is designed specifically for this purpose, using Stripe Connect to process payments that are automatically linked to bookings.

How It Works with Plinth

Step 1: Set up your activities Create your activities, classes, events, or room hire listings in Plinth. Set the price, capacity, schedule, and any concession rates.

Step 2: Connect your Stripe account From your Plinth dashboard, connect your organisation's Stripe account via Stripe Connect. This is a one-click authorisation process. If you do not yet have a Stripe account, you can create one during this step — verification typically takes 1–2 business days.

Step 3: Publish and share Your activities are now live and bookable. Share the booking links via your website, social media, email newsletters, or printed materials with QR codes.

Step 4: Payments flow automatically When someone books an activity, payment is collected via Stripe and deposited directly into your organisation's Stripe account. The payment is automatically linked to the booking in Plinth — no manual reconciliation needed.

Step 5: Manage and report View all bookings and payments in your Plinth dashboard. Generate reports by activity, date range, venue, or instructor. Export data for your accounts.

Benefits of the Integrated Approach

Community sports organisations report that integrated booking and payment systems can increase participation rates, partly due to the convenience of 24/7 online booking and partly due to reduced barriers to entry.

Setting Up Pricing

When configuring payments in Plinth, consider these pricing structures:

Per-session pricing: Charge for each individual session. Best for drop-in activities where attendance varies. Example: £5 per yoga class.

Block booking: Offer a discounted rate for booking multiple sessions in advance. This improves cash flow and commitment. Example: £40 for a 10-week course (saving £10 vs individual sessions).

Concession rates: Offer reduced pricing for specific groups — pensioners, students, benefit recipients, or members. Plinth allows you to set multiple price tiers for each activity.

Free places: Some activities may be fully funded and free to attend. You can still use Plinth for booking management without enabling payment collection, maintaining the attendance tracking and no-show reduction benefits.

Room hire rates: Set hourly, half-day, or full-day rates for room and facility hire. Include options for different room configurations or additional equipment.

Method 2: Standalone Payment Links

If you do not need a full booking platform, you can create payment links using Stripe, PayPal, or similar services and share them with your community.

How to Set Up Stripe Payment Links

1. Log into your Stripe Dashboard
2. Navigate to Payment Links
3. Create a new link with the activity name, price, and description
4. Share the link via email, social media, or your website

Advantages:

• Quick to set up (minutes)
• No monthly fees beyond transaction costs
• Can be shared anywhere a link can be posted

Disadvantages:

• No automatic link between payment and booking
• No capacity management (you cannot limit places)
• No attendance tracking
• Manual reconciliation required
• No cancellation or refund management

Payment links work for simple, one-off collections but quickly become unmanageable for organisations running multiple regular activities. For anything beyond occasional use, an integrated platform like Plinth is significantly more efficient.

Method 3: In-Person Card Readers

For walk-in payments and in-person collections, portable card readers from providers like SumUp or Zettle (iZettle) offer a simple solution.

Setting Up a Card Reader

1. Purchase a card reader (from approximately £19 for SumUp)
2. Download the provider's app on a smartphone or tablet
3. Create an account and link your bank details
4. Start accepting contactless and chip-and-PIN payments

Best uses for community organisations:

• Reception desk payments for walk-in attendees
• Community cafe and tuck shop sales
• Event day ticket sales
• Room hire deposits collected in person

Transaction fees: SumUp charges 1.69% flat; Zettle charges 1.75% flat. Neither has monthly fees.

Important consideration: In-person card payments do not create booking records automatically. If you are also using Plinth for online bookings, you will need to manually add walk-in attendees to sessions to maintain accurate attendance records.

According to Barclays data (processing nearly 40% of UK card transactions), contactless payments accounted for 94.6% of all eligible in-store card transactions in 2024, with the contactless limit at £100 since 2021. Most community members expect card payment to be available.

Method 4: Bank Transfers and Standing Orders

Some organisations collect payments via direct bank transfer, particularly for room hire and larger bookings.

When Bank Transfers Work

• Large room hire invoices (£100+) where transaction fees would be significant
• Regular hirers who pay monthly by standing order
• Organisations booking facilities for their own groups

Best Practice for Bank Transfers

• Always provide a unique reference for each payment (e.g., "YOGA-JAN26" or "HALL-SMITH-0221")
• Send a formal invoice or booking confirmation with payment details
• Set clear payment terms (e.g., "payment due within 7 days of booking, at least 48 hours before the event")
• Follow up on overdue payments promptly
• Reconcile bank statements against bookings at least weekly

Disadvantages:

• Manual reconciliation is time-consuming and error-prone
• Payments without references are difficult to match
• No automated confirmation to the payer
• Chasing overdue payments is staff-intensive

Bank transfers are acceptable for high-value, infrequent transactions (like room hire) but are impractical for high-volume, low-value activity payments.

Setting Up Cancellation and Refund Policies

Clear policies are essential before you start collecting payments. Without them, you will face confusion, complaints, and potential disputes.

Recommended Policy Framework

For activities and classes:

• Full refund if cancelled more than 48 hours before the session
• No refund for cancellations within 48 hours (place can be offered to waitlist)
• Credit for future sessions offered at the organisation's discretion for illness

For events:

• Full refund if cancelled more than 14 days before the event
• 50% refund if cancelled 7–14 days before the event
• No refund within 7 days of the event

For room hire:

• Full refund if cancelled more than 28 days before the booking
• 50% refund if cancelled 14–28 days before the booking
• No refund within 14 days of the booking
• Deposit (typically 25–50%) required at time of booking, balance due before the event

Key principles:

• Display your policy clearly at the point of booking
• Apply it consistently — exceptions undermine the policy
• Consider offering credits rather than refunds where appropriate
• Remember that Stripe does not refund its processing fee when you issue a refund

Plinth allows you to configure cancellation policies that are displayed to bookers at checkout, reducing disputes and ensuring transparency.

Handling Concessions and Subsidised Places

Community organisations often need to offer reduced or free places to ensure services are accessible. Here is how to manage this alongside paid bookings.

Approaches to Concessions

Tiered pricing: Set different prices for different groups (e.g., standard £8, concession £5, under-18s free). Plinth supports multiple price tiers per activity.

Subsidy codes: Create promotional codes that reduce or eliminate the cost for eligible individuals. Distribute codes through referral partners, social prescribers, or outreach workers.

Funded places: Reserve a portion of places in each activity as funded (free) places, supported by grant funding or cross-subsidy from paid places.

Pay-what-you-can: Some organisations offer flexible pricing where attendees choose what to pay. This works better for community events than regular activities, and is more easily managed through in-person collection.

Research suggests that tiered pricing can significantly increase participation from low-income groups compared to offering a single price with informal concessions. Structured concession systems also provide better evidence for funders.

Tax and Legal Considerations

VAT

Most small charities and community organisations are below the VAT registration threshold (currently £90,000 in taxable turnover). However, be aware that:

• Activity fees and room hire charges may be considered taxable supplies
• Some charitable activities qualify for VAT exemption (e.g., education and welfare services)
• If your total taxable turnover approaches the threshold, seek professional advice
• Stripe's transaction fees are subject to VAT regardless of your own VAT status

Gift Aid

Gift Aid applies to donations, not payments for services. If someone pays £5 for a yoga class, this is a payment for a service, not a donation, and Gift Aid cannot be claimed. However, if someone makes an additional voluntary donation beyond the service cost, that donation element may qualify for Gift Aid.

Financial Records

The Charity Commission requires charities to maintain adequate financial records. Digital payment records through platforms like Plinth and Stripe provide a complete, automatic audit trail that satisfies these requirements with minimal effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we need to be registered to take payments?

You do not need specific registration to collect payments for services, but you do need a bank account in your organisation's name and the appropriate legal structure. If you are a registered charity, your existing registration is sufficient. Unregistered community groups can still accept payments but should ensure they have a proper constitution and transparent financial management.

What happens if someone's payment fails?

When using Plinth with Stripe, if a card payment fails at the point of booking, the booker is immediately notified and asked to try again with a different payment method. The booking is not confirmed until payment succeeds, so you never have unpaid confirmed bookings. For recurring payments, Stripe automatically retries failed charges.

Can we take payments without a website?

Yes. Plinth provides hosted booking pages that work independently of your website — you can share direct links via email, social media, WhatsApp, or printed QR codes. You do not need a website to start accepting online payments for your activities and events.

How do we handle group bookings?

For activities, group bookings can be managed by having one person book and pay for multiple places. Plinth supports multi-place bookings where the organiser books on behalf of their group. For room hire, treat the booking as a single transaction with the hiring organisation.

What about safeguarding and payment data?

Payment platforms like Stripe handle all sensitive card data — your organisation never sees or stores card numbers. When a parent books and pays for a child's activity through Plinth, the payment record is linked to the parent/guardian's account, not the child's, maintaining appropriate data protection boundaries.

Conclusion

Taking payments effectively for activities, events, and room hire is essential for any community organisation that wants to reduce administrative burden, improve cash flow, and deliver better services. The most efficient approach is to use an integrated platform like Plinth that combines booking management with automatic payment collection via Stripe Connect.

The key steps are:

1. Choose an integrated booking and payment platform
2. Connect your Stripe account
3. Set clear pricing and cancellation policies
4. Communicate the change to your community
5. Maintain cash and alternative options for accessibility

Ready to streamline your payment collection? Book a demo of Plinth to see how integrated activity payments work in practice.

Recommended Next Pages

• Best Payment Solutions for Charities – Compare the top payment platforms for UK charities and community organisations.

• The Complete Guide to Stripe Payments for Charities – Everything you need to know about Stripe fees, setup, and nonprofit discounts.

• Online Payments vs Cash Collection for Charities – A detailed comparison of digital and cash payment approaches.

• Payment Reconciliation for Charities – How to simplify financial reporting with automatic reconciliation.

• Plinth Payments Features – Explore Plinth's integrated payment processing in detail.

Last updated: February 2026

For more information about taking payments for your activities, contact our team or schedule a demo.