When donating, donors have the option to cover donation fees associated with their donation.
When checked, this feature slightly increases their donation amount so that after fees are deducted, the organization still receives the full amount they intended to give.
The fee-coverage amount shown to donors is an estimate. In some cases, the actual processing fees may be slightly higher or lower than the amount the donor covers. This variation can happen due to factors such as different payment methods, foreign cards, and other processing parameters.
The goal of the cover fees feature is to predict the expected fees as accurately as possible and help you recover most of your processing costs - but it cannot guarantee an exact match in every scenario.
How we calculate the fees
The total fee is made up of the Stripe and Double fee.
Stripe fee:
The payment processing fee you pay Stripe. It usually ranges between 2.9-2.2% + ¢0.3, but can vary based on factors such as card brand and payment method.
Because we cannot know the exact processing fee before the donation has been made, we estimate it at 2.2%, which is the standard Stripe fee for nonprofits.
Double fee:
The platform fee you pay Double. It usually ranges between 2.9-1.9% - depends on your processing volume.
Calculation example
Let's say the original donation amount is $100, the Stripe fee will be $2.2+ ¢0.3, and the Double fee will be $1.9. Total fees = $4.4.
But the total fees won't be $4.4 because by adding the fees to the original donation, the donation amount has now increased... and so have the fees.
Consequently, in order to account for the increased fee, we use a formula to adjust the amount slightly, so the organization still receives the full amount.
(100 + 0.30) / (1 - (2.2 + 1.9) / 100)
In this case, the total donation will be $104.59.