Effective online fundraising is more than a donate button. It's a complete path that moves people from casual visitor to recurring donor and dedicated supporter - all while minimizing overhead.

How does your nonprofit's path look? Is it a single donation page and a strategy involving crossed fingers and wishful thinking? Is it a cobbled together collection of tools that kinda sorta work together?

If so, not to worry! You're not alone - and we're here to help!

Seven essential facts every nonprofit fundraiser should know about the path to online donations:

On Monday, Google announced that it will retire Google Checkout in November 2013.

What does that mean for organizations using Google Checkout to accept online payments? As Google notes:

Last week, CyberSource, the "world's first eCommerce payment management company", became the latest payment option added to the Soapbox platform.

CyberSource joins PayPal Website Payments Pro, Braintree, and Authorize.net as options for accepting online payments through the Soapbox Engage and Non-Profit Soapbox platforms.

Each of the four options allow for seamless processing of payments for donations, member dues, and event registrations - all with the option of integrating with Salesforce.com.

Learn more about how Soapbox processes payments and integrates with Salesforce.com in real-time:

Not every organization looking to roll out a brand new web presence has the advantage Holy Trinity Church of Georgetown Pike (HTC) enjoyed: a volunteer leading the project who has been founder and CEO of several DC area technology startups.

Phillip Merrick knew the possibilities of a robust and integrated online presence and its importance to a startup, whether that be a business or a church:

"As a newly formed church preparing to launch our ministries and outreach, we needed more than just a website. We needed a platform to support a digital footprint spanning social media, web video and traditional email marketing, together with an integrated database on the back-end."