Fee Coverage

To help you raise more, you can configure donation forms to give supporters the option to cover your organization's online transaction fees during checkout.

The payment methods covered for donation forms are credit cards, direct debits for USD, and Apple Pay.

Note: Google Pay is a covered payment method on optimized donation forms.

When Complete Cover™ is enabled, Blackbaud Merchant Services waives the processing fees for online transactions up to $3,000. In exchange, we ask supporters to give toward Blackbaud's service. Your organization is responsible for paying the fee for each transaction equal to or greater than $3,000 through a Complete Cover-enabled form.

For example, if an event registrant purchases a $10 ticket and declines to give extra towards Blackbaud, you receive the full registration amount of $10 and Blackbaud pays your processing fees. Participation is optional; supporters are not required to give to Blackbaud.

Donor cover lets donors pay the processing fee for their transaction. When donor cover is enabled, Blackbaud Merchant Services automatically calculates the fee based on the payment method and adds it to the gift amount. Donor cover participation is optional.

For example, if a donor chooses to cover the fee, you receive the gross amount and pay no fees. If the donor doesn’t cover the fee, you only receive the net amount. Donors may cover up to $5 in fees for USD direct debits or all of the fees for alternative payment methods. The charged amount is tax-deductible for your donor and listed on both the gift record and the donor's confirmation email. For more information on how the fees are calculated, see this Knowledgebase article.

To assume responsibility for all related fees and hide the option for supporters to contribute towards operating costs, select My organization pays on your forms.

From Donation forms, create or edit a form. Under Get started, in the Process payments with field, select a payment configuration for a Blackbaud Merchant Services account. Next, under Fee coverage, choose how to cover the fees.

From Tools, Donation form designer, and review the summary at the top of the page.

For credit card transactions, you can refund the amount toward Blackbaud or the full amount. For credit card transactions where the donor covered the fees, you can refund a partial or full amount. Direct debits are refunded in full.

In web view, from the top of the gift record, select Refund, and choose how much to refund. The gift adjusts and the amount returns to the donor’s original payment method. The refund also updates in Blackbaud Merchant Services.

  1. At the top of the recurring gift record, select Amend gift amount.

  2. Select Include <fee amount> Donor Cover on future payments and uncheck it.

    Note: For recurring gifts with Complete Cover™, select Include <fee amount> Complete Cover on future payments

  3. Select Update.