☝️ Updates to Donors Cover Fees coming in April
This article describes how Donors Cover Fees will function in April 2026. View legacy functionality here.
Donors Cover Fees (Custom), for flat rate plans, remains the same.
In this article
Platform Fee Model Options
Organizations on a premium plan have full control of the fee model they use and the fee model can be updated at any time. If you have questions about your fee model or would like to change your organization's fee model, contact your Growth Partner.
0% effective platform fee. Donors Cover Fees guarantees a 0% effective platform fee because a platform fee is only assessed if the donor covers it. When a donor does not cover fees, a platform fee is not assessed. This model is chosen by organizations that want to maximize revenue efficiency and reduce costs.
Flat Rate Platform Fee. For organizations who prefer a more predictable fee structure and full control over fee coverage amounts, display, or details on each Giving Form, Donors Cover Fees (Custom) enables a flat rate model that provides the most control.
🎉 With either model, ~90% of donors choose to cover fees.
Key Differences in Funraise's Platform Fee Models
| Donors Cover Fees | Donors Cover Fees (Custom) |
Platform Fee | 0% effective platform fee. | 1-4%. Based on your plan. |
Can donors add a tip to help cover fees? | Yes. Donors can use a slider to select the amount they'd like to add to help cover fees. | Yes. Donors can check a box to add a preset amount to help cover fees. |
Is Fee Coverage optional for the donor? | Yes. Always. | Yes. Always. |
Is a platform fee incurred for all online transactions? | No. A platform fee is only assessed if the donor adds a tip to cover fees. If the donor does not cover fees, Funraise does not charge a platform fee. | Yes. |
Can fee coverage be removed from a Giving Form? | No. Fee coverage will be displayed on all Giving Forms. | Yes. Fee coverage can be activated or removed per Giving Form. |
Can the default fee coverage amount be adjusted? | No. The default fee coverage amount (where the slider starts) is based on the transaction amount. | Yes. The default fee coverage can be configured per Giving Form. |
Can the language for the fee coverage amount be adjusted? | No. The language for the fee coverage area is not configurable. | Yes. The language for the fee coverage area can be configured per Giving Form. |
Is fee coverage preselected on a Giving Form? | Yes. | Configurable. You can choose whether the fee coverage checkbox is default to checked or unchecked. |
Fee Model
Donors Cover Fees
Funraise's Donors Cover Fees model is the most popular option and provides an effective Funraise platform fee of 0% for qualified transactions because Funraise only charges a platform fee when the donor opts in to cover fees. When the donor opts out of covering fees, Funraise does not charge a platform fee.
In a nutshell
The default fee coverage amount is variable and based on the transaction amount.
When a donor covers fees at any amount, Funraise assesses the
defaulted fee coverage %-3%as a platform fee.Any remaining amount from the donor added fee coverage (usually 3%) is received by your organization to help cover processing fees.
When a donor does not cover fees, Funraise does not assess a platform fee.
How it works: On the Giving Form
Donors can review their payment details and edit their fee coverage as a final step in the donation process. By default, fees are covered.
When a donor clicks to edit their fee coverage, they can learn more and increase or decrease their fee coverage. Donors can also slide down to 0% to opt out of fees entirely.
☝️ The amount and content in these images are examples
The default amount (and language) for fee coverage is managed by Funraise and can be variable based on the donation size. Our goal is to maximize opt-in and maintain the sustainability of this popular fee coverage model.
Where does the fee coverage go?
When a donor opts in to cover fees, Funraise will assess a platform fee of whichever is greater: the default fee coverage percentage minus 3% or the donor-selected fee coverage percentage minus 3% with a maximum of the donor covered fee amount. Your organization will receive the remainder (usually 3%) to help cover processing fees. The actual amounts assessed by both Funraise and received by organization are based on the amount chosen by the donor.
Example outcomes
Example outcomes
If a donor does not adjust the fee amount, Funraise will assess the default fee coverage percentage minus 3%. Your organization will receive 3% fee coverage to help cover processing fees.
If a donor decreases their fee coverage, Funraise will assess default fee coverage percentage minus 3%, and any remaining fee coverage is received by your organization. For example, if the defaulted fee coverage is 12% and the donor drags that down to 3% — Funraise will assess 3% and 0% will be received by you.
If a donor increases their fee coverage, Funraise will assess the donor-selected fee coverage percentage minus 3%, and your organization will receive 3% to help cover processing fees. For example, if the defaulted fee coverage is 8% and the donor drags that up to 12% — Funraise will assess 9% and 3% will be received by you.
If a donor decreases their fee coverage to 0%, Funraise will not assess a platform fee and you will not receive any amount to help cover processing fees.
Fee examples
The tables below show an example of a common $100 donation with Funraise Payments powered by Stripe and Donors Cover Fees where the donor covers the default fee amount. Keep in mind, other payment processors, like PayPal, have their own processing fees.
☝️ The amounts below are examples
The default amount for fee coverage is managed by Funraise and can be variable based on the donation size.
Card Payment
Donation Amount | Donor Covered Fees? | Processing Fees | Funraise Platform Fee (Tip) | Net Amount |
$100 | Yes (+$12.00) | $3.85 | $9.00 | $99.15 |
$100 | No (+$0.00) | $3.50 | $0.00 | $96.50 |
ACH Payment
Donation Amount | Donor Covered Fees? | Processing Fees | Funraise Platform Fee | Net Amount |
$100 | Yes (+$12.00) | $1.72 | $9.00 | $101.28 |
$100 | No (+$0.00) | $1.60 | $0.00 | $98.40 |
Not all transactions are eligible for Donors Cover Fees
When a transaction is not eligible for Donors Cover Fees, your contracted base Platform Transaction Fee will be assessed.
Examples of ineligible transactions
Examples of ineligible transactions
Historic subscriptions, Transactions from recurring subscriptions created before the activation of this feature.
Migrated subscriptions, Transactions from recurring subscriptions that were migrated to Funraise.
In-person donations (Funraise App), Transactions created through Funraise's App.
Subscriptions created in platform, Transactions created through Subscriptions that have been manually created in the platform.
Transactions created in platform, Transactions created from charges processed in the platform.
Subscriptions created in the Giving App, Transactions created through Subscriptions that have been created by a donor in the Giving Portal mobile app.
Commitment payments, Transactions created to fulfill a fundraising commitment.
Form V1 Transactions, Transactions created through Funraise's Form V1 (legacy form).
Fee Model
Donors Cover Fees (Custom)
For organizations who prefer a more predictable fee structure and full control over fee coverage amounts, display, or details on each Giving Form, Donors Cover Fees (Custom) enables a flat rate model that provides the most control. In this model, all online transaction incur a consistent Platform Fee.
How it works: Giving Form Settings
Donors Cover Fees (Custom) details can be configured by accessing a Giving Form > Settings > Payments > Operations Tip
You can configure the following options:
Whether or not the Giving Form has fee coverage
Fee coverage percent
Fee coverage title text
Fee coverage hover description
Whether or not the fee coverage is pre-checked
How it works — on the Giving Form
When activated, Donors Cover Fees (Custom) will appear on the checkout screen of the Giving Form.
Learn More
Why Ask Donors to Cover Fees?
Donors Cover Fees is a common strategy used by many nonprofit organizations to help cover the costs of online donation software and payments. Most often, this is a checkbox that encourages donors to increase their contribution amount to cover fees. The goal of organizations that use this strategy is to reduce the expenses of online fundraising by asking donors to chip in towards that cost.
This fundraising approach is not only popular with nonprofits—donors have also shown that they are happy to chip in. With Funraise, about 90% of donors cover fees.
What are Transaction Fees?
Whether it's processing fees from your processor (Stripe, PayPal, etc.) or platform fees from your fundraising platform, fees incurred with online payments are necessary to maintain the security and performance of online payment infrastructures. With online payments, you can incur two fees: processing and platform fees.
Processing Fees
Processing fees are required for online transactions because payment networks (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) charge the merchant (your organization) a fee to use the network. Processing fees can vary depending on the processor. Funraise Payments powered by Stripe enables 2.9%+60¢ for cards and 1%+60¢ for ACH payments.
Platform Fees
Platform fees help cover the cost of the software, not just payment infrastructure. Platform Fees enable fundraising platforms to offer lower upfront subscription costs and ensure a fair pricing model for organizations of all sizes because costs are aligned with how much an organization actually uses the platform. Smaller organizations pay less in platform fees and larger organizations pay more.
Although no organization loves fees, Platform Transaction Fees are one of the most equitable methods of providing nonprofits of all sizes with high-quality, secure fundraising software.