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What Does Your Fundraising Platform Actually Cost?

Most 'free' donation tools aren't free. They take a percentage of every gift or pre-select a tip your donors pay. Enter your numbers and see the real cost side by side.

$
$0 $500k
$

On a tip-based "free" platform, your donors are asked for about

in extra "tips" on top of their gifts every year.

With Kindly, the cut taken from donations is

$0

Just a flat subscription from $129/mo and standard processing.

Estimated annual cost on raised

Platform Platform fee / tip* + Processing Total cost / year

*Donor "tips" on Zeffy, Givebutter, and GoFundMe are technically optional but pre-selected by default, so most donors leave them on. They're added to the donor's charge rather than deducted from your funds, but that's still generosity going to a platform instead of your mission. Donorbox's platform fee comes out of the donation itself.

Estimates based on each platform's publicly listed rates as of June 2026. Pricing changes often, so verify before deciding.

Fundraising Fee Questions

Zeffy charges nonprofits no platform fee, but it funds itself with a donor "tip" that is pre-selected on every donation form, roughly 17% on gifts of $99 or less and 15% on larger gifts. The tip is optional, but because it is on by default many donors leave it on, and a nonprofit cannot remove it. So it is free for the organization in the sense that the cost is shifted to donors rather than eliminated.
No. Kindly takes nothing out of your donations and adds no donor tip. You pay only standard Stripe processing on each gift, plus a flat Kindly subscription. Unlike a percentage model, that subscription does not grow as you raise more.
Stripe's standard rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. Eligible nonprofits can apply for a discounted rate of 2.2% + 30¢ (American Express is excluded and stays at 3.5%). Every platform that accepts cards passes along some form of processing fee. It is the platform fee or donor tip layered on top that varies the most.
Technically yes, but they are pre-selected by default, so most donors leave them in place. Givebutter's default tip is 15% (accounts created after September 9, 2025 pay a 3% platform fee if tips are disabled), and GoFundMe also pre-selects a donor tip — its slider defaults to 15%, and donors can adjust or remove it.
They are good-faith estimates based on each platform's publicly listed rates as of June 2026, using the assumptions documented on this page. Pricing changes frequently and your real costs depend on your plan, gift sizes, and card mix, so always confirm current rates with each provider before deciding.

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