Cover the fee

Introduction

Digital payment methods have fundamentally simplified fundraising. Donating is now fast, easy, and secure, even on the go. This benefits both donors as well as charities.

To further support charities and create more transparency for donors, we’ve introduced the "Cover the fee" feature. It allows donors to voluntarily cover transaction or other related fees, ensuring that their full intended donation amount reaches the charity.

In this article, you’ll learn how the feature works and how to activate it.

How the Feature Works

When the feature is activated, donors will see an additional, optional checkbox during the self-checkout process. By selecting this checkbox, they can choose to cover transaction costs and other fees. The amount of the fees (EUR 0.70 in the example below) as well as the accompanying text can be customized.

Hint: This feature can be used not only to cover transaction fees but also other costs such as administrative or shipping expenses.

RaiseNow Hub Views

All our online payment methods are processed via RaiseNow. Therefore, both donation insights and an overview of the fees are available directly in the RaiseNow Hub.

Subscriptions Overview

This view shows the full donation amount, including the fees covered by the donor.

RaiseNow Parameters Overview

This view displays the transaction fees. These are customisable and determine the amount donors will be asked to cover:

• cover_fee_fixed: Fixed fee per donation (regardless of donation amount)

• cover_fee_percentage: Percentage fee calculated based on the donation amount

• cover_fee_amount: Total sum of fees covered by the donor

Transaction Detail Overview

This section provides further details about each transaction:

• Fees covered: Fees paid by the donor

• Fees: Actual fees incurred

• Net amount: Final amount transferred to the charity

IMPORTANT: As shown in the example image, the full fee may not always be completely covered (e.g. actual fee: EUR 0.72 vs. covered fee: EUR 0.70). This happens because payment providers calculate their fees based on the total amount (including the covered fees).

Views in Formunauts:

In our software solutions, there are also different views for the "Cover the fee" feature available.

Admin View

In the Backend, under the "Donations" section, the amount covered by the donor is displayed directly (Amount covered in cents).

Cover the Fee as a Widget:

For a simple and clear presentation, e.g. for fundraisers or coaches, custom widgets can be created. These can, for example, display the total amount of covered fees, the total number of donors involved, or the percentage of those who chose to "cover the fee".

How to Activate the Feature

To activate this feature and give your donors the option to ensure their full donation amount reaches the charity, simply contact us at support@formunauts.com and provide the following details:

• For which campaigns would you like to activate the feature?

• Do you want to activate the Widgets? If yes, which and where?

• What fees should be covered?

  • Fixed amount

  • Percentage

  • Fixed amount and percentage

• Desired text for the checkbox in the donation form