WinRed accounts can be made well in advance of your launch date. This guide will help you understand how to do that and most importantly how to keep your account private until you are ready to launch.
Please make sure you are in contact with our team so we can make sure everything is done right. Contact us at support@winred.com.
Create a New Account
Onboard a new WinRed account like normal:
Submit an application at winred.com/register
When approved, you will receive a registration email to complete your account setup. Click that link.
Follow the guide below to understand how to address each step. You can click "I'll do this later" on any step to come back to it when you have the right information.
Organization Type
This determines whether you have a conduit account or a merchant account. It's important to know because the requirements to go live are different for each.
If you set up a "State Level" account you will have a merchant account. Any other organization type is a "Conduit Account."
FEC ID
Conduit accounts need an FEC ID to operate on WinRed, however you can launch without one and add it later. To do so check the "I do not have an FEC ID" box when onboarding:
WinRed will need your FEC ID within 48 hours of beginning fundraising. Merchant accounts do not need an FEC ID.
Tax ID / EIN
Conduit accounts can launch without a Tax ID, but we will need it as soon as you have it available so we can verify and payout funds. Once you get your EIN please send that to our team along with your SS-4 or 147c letter.
Merchant accounts need a valid EIN before they can go live. Likewise, we will need the SS-4 and 147c to verify the account.
Bank Account
You don't need a bank account added to start fundraising, but to receive your funds you need to add one.
For conduit accounts we require bank accounts be added within 10 days so we can pay out in an appropriate timeframe.
Confirm with Our Team
Let our team know once you created the account so we can help with the remaining configuration.
Keep Your Account Private
If any piece of your account is publicly viewable there is a chance someone can come across it or it can appear in search results. Its important to follow these steps to avoid that.
Keep Pages In Draft Mode
To ensure your pages are not searchable, keep them set to Draft or Password Protect them.
When set to Draft mode, the only people who can see your pages are users on the account. When they are set to live, they are active pages and can be found via search engines should someone search your candidate.
Password Protect Pages to Share
To share a page with someone who is not added to your WinRed account, set a password. That way, only people with the password can view it.
To enable Password Protection, go to the page set up a tab in page builder, and you will see this to the right. Toggle Password, set a password for the page and click Save.
WinRed Directory
Storefront
Merch products can be set-up prior to launch, but if you add them to your store the store will be publicly viewable.
Make sure your let the merch team know when you are setting up your products that you do not want them to go live yet.
Once your products are added to your account, its critical you do not select the active box when configuring the store until you are ready to go live.
Go Live
Once you are ready to go live, there are a couple of steps you will have to take.
1. Make sure your pages are toggled to Live and that you remove the password protection if it was added.
2. Toggle Yes in the directory settings. To appear on the directory, you will also need to go to the pages tab in settings and make sure you have a default page set up. This must be a live, non-password-protected page.
3. On your storefront, you will need to go back and toggle the "Active" check box next to each product you want to display. This will set your storefront live.
Once you have done these things, you will be good to go!
Questions?
Our team is happy to assist! Feel free to reach out by clicking the red chat box at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.