Donation fee calculator
Enter any gift size to see what each payment route costs and what actually reaches your account. The cheapest option changes with donation size, because a lower percentage with a higher flat fee loses on small gifts.
Every route from a donor’s card to your bank account takes a cut: a percentage of the gift plus a flat fee per transaction. Fundraising platforms frequently add a second percentage on top of the payment processor’s.
The flat fee is what catches people out. A route with a lower percentage but a higher fixed fee is cheaper on large gifts and more expensive on small ones, and the crossover point is not where most people assume.
Change the amount to see the ranking shift. On small gifts a low percentage with a high fixed fee loses to the opposite.
| Route | Fees | You keep | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe, nonprofit rate Requires approval from Stripe for a nonprofit discount. | $1.40 | $48.60 | 2.8% |
| PayPal, nonprofit rate Requires confirmed 501(c)(3) status with PayPal. Non-AMEX. | $1.49 | $48.52 | 3.0% |
| Stripe, standard rate What you pay before a nonprofit discount is approved. Check the current rate: Stripe redirects its pricing page by country. | $1.75 | $48.25 | 3.5% |
| Donorbox Standard, on Stripe Donorbox platform fee on the free Standard plan, on top of the Stripe nonprofit rate. Paid plans reduce it. | $2.88 | $47.13 | 5.8% |
One rate here could not be confirmed at the provider's own page on the date shown, because Stripe redirects its pricing by country: Stripe, standard rate. It is corroborated rather than first party. Check it before relying on it.
Rates checked 2026-08-05. Processing rates change, so confirm against each provider before making a decision on this alone. Sources: PayPal, nonprofit rate, Stripe, nonprofit rate, Stripe, standard rate, Donorbox Standard, on Stripe.
How to read this
Enter a typical gift size for your organization, not an average and not your largest.
Averages mislead here. One $5,000 gift among two hundred $20 donations produces an average of $45, which describes none of your actual transactions. If most of your gifts are $25, optimise for $25 and ignore what happens at $500 entirely.
If your giving splits into two clear groups, small online donations and large cheques, check both. The answer can genuinely differ, and some organizations route them differently for that reason.
Why small gifts are hit hardest
A flat fee is a fixed cost applied to a variable amount, so its weight falls as the gift grows.
Thirty cents on a $100 donation is 0.3% and barely worth noticing. The same thirty cents on a $10 donation is 3%, which can double the effective rate. That is the entire reason a route that looks cheapest on a pricing page can be the most expensive one you could pick.
It is also why organizations with many small recurring gifts should be more careful about processor choice than organizations receiving a few large ones.
The eligibility catch nobody mentions
The discounted nonprofit rates are not automatic, and budgeting as though they are is a common mistake.
Stripe requires that at least 80% of your card volume is tax-deductible donations. Organizations with significant earned revenue, ticket sales, course fees or shop income, routinely fail that test and stay on standard rates without realising why.
PayPal requires confirmed 501(c)(3) status through its own verification, which is a separate process from having a determination letter.
Apply before you assume the lower rate, and re-check if your revenue mix changes.
What this does not model
Being clear about the edges matters more than adding features.
- Monthly platform subscriptions. Some fundraising tools charge a flat monthly fee on top of transaction costs. On low volume that can exceed everything modelled here.
- Optional donor-paid fees. Several platforms offer donors the chance to cover the fee at checkout. Uptake varies widely, so any figure we assumed would be invented.
- Currency conversion and international cards, which usually carry an additional percentage.
- Chargebacks and refunds, where the processing fee is often not returned.
- Payout timing. Cash flow is not cost, but for a small organization it can matter more.
When fees should not decide it
Processing cost is one input into choosing a platform and rarely the deciding one.
Over three years, what matters more is whether you can export your data, whether reporting answers the questions your board asks, whether recurring gifts are handled properly including failed and expiring cards, and what happens when the person who set it up leaves.
A platform half a percent cheaper that cannot tell you which donors lapsed is not cheaper. This tool exists because the fee question is the one nobody can answer in their head, not because it is the most important question.
Reducing what you pay
- Apply for the nonprofit rates. Free, and the single largest reduction available to most organizations.
- Encourage annual rather than monthly giving where the donor is indifferent. One $240 transaction costs less in flat fees than twelve $20 ones.
- Take large gifts by bank transfer or cheque. On a $5,000 donation a 2.2% card fee is $110 that a transfer avoids entirely.
- Check your mix annually. Eligibility for discounted rates can lapse when earned revenue grows.
What to do with the number
A fee figure on its own does not decide anything. These are the pages that turn it into a decision.
| Next question | Page |
|---|---|
| Which platform should we actually use? | Best nonprofit fundraising software |
| Should we take Venmo, PayPal or Zelle? | Payment apps for nonprofits |
| What do we budget for processing next year? | Nonprofit budget template |
| Where should the fee sit in our books? | Nonprofit chart of accounts |
| How do we keep more of what we raise? | How to get donations |
| Do we have to receipt this gift? | Nonprofit donation letter templates |
One point the calculator cannot show you. Several platforms now charge the nonprofit nothing at all, funding themselves from optional donor tips, which changes the arithmetic more than any rate comparison. Whether that prompt belongs in your donation flow is an editorial decision rather than a financial one, and it is covered in the fundraising software roundup.