How to get supporters to cover their donation fees
When someone donates to your nonprofit, a small portion of their donation amount typically goes toward credit card processing fees. These fees, charged by payment processors, help power the secure, reliable systems that make online giving possible. While necessary, they can slightly reduce the total amount that goes directly to your mission. That’s why many nonprofits give donors the option to pay these fees themselves.
Inviting supporters to cover transaction fees can make a big difference. Not only does it help your organization receive the full value of each gift, but it also gives donors a simple way to increase their impact. Asking donors to cover online payment fees adds up fast, particularly when processing several donations, like recurring donations or peer-to-peer fundraising, at once.
Below, we’ll show you how to make the most of this opportunity with the help of GoFundMe Pro.
Enable fee coverage easily with GoFundMe Pro
GoFundMe Pro makes it easy to encourage donors to cover the small fees that come with online fundraising. Using Campaign Studio, you can embed online donation forms directly into your website and guide donors through a smooth, branded giving experience. One powerful tool from our fundraising platform is the “nudge,” an animated message that pops up to encourage supporters to take helpful actions like covering fees or finishing their gift. Our 2024 data shows that when the nudge is activated, donors opt to cover feeds 33% more often.
Here are a few nudges you can use in Studio:
- Donor-covered fees nudge: This animated prompt encourages donors to select a checkbox to cover the donation processing fees. You can customize the style, icon, and animation to match your brand.
- Recurring gift nudge: This nudge allows a donor to choose a midrange or custom gift amount, highlighting the option to make their gift monthly. Like the fee nudge, it includes editable graphics and animations.
- Abandoned cart nudge: This nudge prompts invites to return and complete a gift if someone starts a donation but doesn’t finish it. You can also track how people respond using Google Tag Manager and GA4 for deeper insight.
The impact of nudges for covering processing fees
Many donors don’t realize that online donations come with processing fees. They assume their full gift goes straight to the cause—and that’s what they want. That’s why giving supporters a simple, friendly prompt to cover the processing fees can be so effective. It helps them align their good intentions with the real impact of their gift.
You might wonder, if someone’s already donating, why ask them to do more? Instead, consider reframing covering processing fees as a natural next step, an extra act of commitment to a cause they already want to support.
Donors are proud to give. Inviting them to go a little further by covering the processing fees lets them feel even better about their role in making a difference. It’s about offering one more meaningful way to support the mission they believe in.
How to enable nudges for your GoFundMe Pro campaign
Turning on nudges in GoFundMe Pro is a quick way to personalize your donation form and guide supporters toward actions like covering transaction fees. You can manage and customize these nudges directly in Studio to match your campaign goals and branding.
Here’s how to enable donor-covered fee nudges:
- Go to the Studio designer for your campaign.
- Click on the “Settings” tab.
- Locate the controls to manage key features under the “Donations” and “Donation options” tabs.
- Go into the “Donations” and “Donor covered fees” sections, where you can:
- Turn “Cover fees” on or off.
- Set a default percentage for the fee amount.
- Enable the donor covered fees nudge and customize its look.
For step-by-step help, check out these support guides:
Ask donors to cover processing fees for even greater impact
Covering payment processing fees may seem like a small ask of donors. However, it can increase the total amount your nonprofit organization receives over time, boosting the success of your fundraising. By giving supporters a simple way to opt in and cover transaction costs, you offer them a chance to maximize their impact.
With donation pages through GoFundMe Pro, inviting supporters to take this extra step is easy. Customizable nudges and simple settings in Campaign Studio make it seamless to encourage deeper generosity and donor engagement.
Schedule a demo today to discover why the world’s top nonprofits choose GoFundMe Pro to advance their missions.
