Explain processing fees, donor-covered fees, and tips

Tags: product:online-giving intent:fee intent:donor-covered-fee intent:tip

Review fee-related donor options in the eligible campaign or Giving Form under Giving Experience > Form Settings & Display and any institution-level donation-form settings at Online Giving > School-Level Settings > Donation Form. Preview the checkout so the institution can see the wording and default behavior that donors receive.

The current institution-level credit-card option is presented as allowing donors to cover 3.2% in credit-card fees. An eligible form can inherit the school-wide choice or use its own override, so confirm both levels when the checkbox or charge differs between forms. The displayed fee is calculated from the entered gift and shown to currency precision; other payment methods and contractual fee arrangements can differ.

A donor-covered fee changes the amount charged so the intended gift can remain available after applicable processing costs. It is not the same as a voluntary platform tip, and neither should be described as part of the charitable designation without the institution's accounting rules. Payment-method eligibility matters: DAFpay and crypto do not support donor-covered fees. Updating a recurring installment amount removes donor-covered payment fees from future installments.

Reports should use separate gross, fee, covered-fee/tip, refund, and net fields where available rather than deriving them from one displayed total.