Donor Covered Fees
Donor Covered Fees, also known as a fee on top, help nonprofits receive more of each donation by letting supporters increase their gift to cover the GoFundMe Pro transaction fee, payment processor fees, and any optional add-on rate.
The option to cover fees is always up to the supporter, but we've found that people often do so when given the choice.
The basic math
When a supporter covers fees, the Service Fee (%) + Payment Processor Fee (%) + Payment Processor Fixed Fee ($) + an optional Add-on Rate (%) are included on top of the initial donation amount.
For more information, view a more detailed breakdown of Donor Covered Fees.
What is an add-on rate?
The add-on rate is an optional fee of up to 5% you can choose to include to cover additional campaign costs. Admins may customize this on an organizational level or on a campaign-by-campaign basis.
How does it appear for supporters?
A checkbox to cover fees appears near the bottom of your donation page. You can choose to have this option marked by default in your campaign settings.
When checked, the donation amount updates to reflect the total charged amount and the donor will find find it broken into three parts: Donation amount, Fees covered, and Total on their receipt. This complies with recent California legislation.
Edit account settings
In your donor covered fee settings, you can view your fee rates and adjust the add-on rate at the account level. Only Organization Admins can edit donor covered fees.
- In your menu, select Settings
- Select Billing
- Next to Donor Covered Fees and select Edit
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- GoFundMe Pay customers - your organization’s fees will be auto-populated based on your contract.
- Authorize.net, Braintree, or WePay customers - you’ll need to enter your payment processor fee percentages and processor flat rate.
If you use multiple payment processors, the add-on rate will be the same across all of them.
Edit campaign settings
Organization admins can turn on donor covered fees at the campaign level. You can also choose to have this option selected by default on your donation page, edit the add-on rate for the campaign, and edit the appeal displayed to cover fees.
- In the campaign overview, select the Details tab
- In the menu, select Donation Page
- Scroll down to Donor Covered Fees
- Make your changes and select Save Changes
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Detailed breakdown of Donor Covered Fees
When a supporter chooses to cover fees, all the fees charged to your organization are added to the initial donation amount.
GoFundMe Pro uses the same calculation as Stripe to ensure you receive the total intended donation amount.
Here’s a breakdown of the equation:
Important: The percentage fees are calculated based on the gross donation amount since this is the amount sent to the payment processor where fees are calculated. Also, your contract and settings determine will determine the exact fees and percentages.
As an example, let’s assume your rates are as follows:
- GoFundMe Pro service fee: 3%
- Payment processor fee and flat fee: 2.4% + $0.30
- Add-on rate: 0%
In this example, when someone donates $100 with their credit card and covers the fees, they’ll be charged a total of $106.02.
(100 + .30) / (1 - 0.03 - 0.024) = 106.02
Donor covered fees in reports
Columns specific to Donor Covered Fees in the transaction and recurring giving plan reports are:
Grouping |
Property |
Display Type |
Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction | Intended Donation Amount | Number | Dollar amount the supporter chose to give before covering fees |
| Transaction Fees | Add-On Rate Amount | Number | Dollar amount added as a result of the optional add-on rate included with donor covered fees |
|
Donor Covered Fee Amount
|
Number | Dollar amount covered by supporters for fees | |
| Is Donor Covered Fee | Yes/No | Yes/No according to whether the supporter opted to cover donation fees | |
|
Payment Processor Fee
|
Number | Dollar amount charged by your payment processor |
For more information about transaction reports, view Fields and columns defined.
Frequently asked questions
What changes with the transition from Classy Mode to Donor Covered Fees?
The update to the new Donor Covered Fees (DCF) will be a gradual transition from legacy Classy Mode to DCF for the vast majority of customers. As new campaigns are created or previous campaigns are duplicated, they will begin to use DCF.
What does not change?
- All existing campaigns and templates will remain as is with Classy Mode as the option to cover fees.
- Child campaigns of templates that use Classy Mode will continue using Classy Mode.
- All historical transactions and recurring giving plans will also remain with Classy Mode as the default option.
- Reports, payouts, and reconciliation will remain the same but with additional fields to provide a more detailed breakdown of fees and indicate which transactions used Classy Mode and new transactions using DCF.
What's new for admins?
- All newly created campaigns and templates will use DCF by default and child campaigns of templates using DCF will also use DCF by default.
- Newly duplicated campaigns will use DCF by default, including when duplicating a campaign that previously used Classy Mode.
- New fields will be added to reports and payouts to provide a more detailed breakdown of fees and indicate which transactions used Classy Mode and the fee details for new transactions using DCF.
Are donor covered fees available on all campaign types?
Yes, donor covered fees are available for any campaign type.
When should I use donor covered fees?
We recommend giving supporters the option to cover fees on all your campaigns. Supporters are often willing to give more to the causes they love.
Is the gross donation amount tax deductible?
Yes, the total donation amount, including fees, is tax-deductible because the donation is for the benefit of the non-profit.
How do donor covered fees impact progress bars?
Progress bars on campaigns with donor covered fees show the intended donation amounts and will not include fees.
How do donor covered fees work with discount codes?
If a supporter applies a discount code, the fee percentage applies to the discounted amount.
Can I adjust the Add-on rate at any time?
Yes, Organization admins can change the Add-on rate for a specific campaign or at the organization level at any time. However, we don’t recommend switching the percentage for active campaigns—this can make reconciling payments a bit more difficult.
Changing your Add-on rate mid-campaign will not change the percentage of any existing recurring donations. It onlys affect new plans. In addition, if a recurring donation fails and is updated, it will keep its original add-on rate percentage.
Can supporters with recurring donations change whether their donations cover fees?
Yes, they can opt in or out of covering fees at anytime. However, changes will only affect future donations.
Learn how supporters can edit their recurring donations
Can I transfer a recurring donation from a Classy Mode campaign to a campaign using donor covered fees?
Yes, however, when you transfer the donation, it will automatically turn off the option to cover fees. This ensures that the supporter’s intended donation amount stays the same. An admin can edit the donation to turn back on Donor Covered Fees. Learn how to edit a recurring donation.
Important: You cannot transfer one-time and recurring donations from a campaign using Donor Covered Fees to a Classy Mode campaign.
Will campaigns and templates created before Donor Covered Fees automatically switch from Classy Mode to Donor Covered Fees?
No, campaigns and templates created before Donor Covered Fees will continue to use Classy Mode. Any newly created campaigns or templates will now use Donor Covered Fees.
What happens when I duplicate a campaign using Classy Mode?
A duplicated campaign using Classy Mode will now use Donor Covered Fees.
What happens when I create a child campaign from a template using Classy Mode?
The child campaign will continue to use Classy Mode just like the template it was created from.
Does the add-on rate apply to tickets and registrations?
Yes, the add-on rate applies to both donations and ticket registrations when supporters choose to pay the fees.