Do donors cover processing fees? What the opt-in studies actually show

In NextAfter's controlled experiment (January 21 to February 6, 2022), about 60% of donors who were shown the option chose to cover the processing fees, lifting the average gift roughly 3%. The donation platform Funraise reports an even higher rate, with about 90% of donors covering fees on its forms, contributing to $3.5M in processing fees and over $8M total covered across its customers (case study, February 2024).

These high opt-in numbers are why fee coverage is widely offered. Funraise attributes part of the upside to a low 1.5% average effective total payment cost (2022), meaning a modest add-on can offset most or all of an organization's processing costs when donors agree to it.

Published opt-in rates range widely, from roughly 50% to about 90% depending on the platform and, critically, on whether covering fees is opt-in, opt-out, or pre-checked by default. Funraise's near-90% figure reflects its specific form design, while NextAfter's controlled 60% reflects an experimental opt-in presentation, so the numbers are not directly comparable.

The practical takeaway from these named studies is that defaults, placement, and wording move the outcome more than the headline percentage. An organization that wants both coverage and conversion should test its own form rather than assume any single vendor's rate applies.

Most published fee-coverage research comes from online forms, where 'fee' language competes with donor hesitation at checkout. In-person kiosks and recurring gifts are different moments: a kiosk donor has already walked up to give, and a recurring donor has already committed, so a fee-coverage prompt may carry less conversion risk than the NextAfter form data suggests, though no public study isolates that yet.

Givebear offers a donor-covered fee option on its kiosks, giving forms, and recurring gifts, which organizations can turn on where it fits and off where it does not. Treat the figures above as form-based benchmarks and test in your own context before assuming they transfer.

NextAfter, 'How introducing donor fees impacts conversion' (experiment with American Cornerstone Institute, conducted January to February 2022): ~60% opt-in, +3% average gift, 38.5% conversion drop (12.0% to 7.4%), 20.5% revenue decrease at 95% confidence. NextAfter, 'How communicating the impact of paying for credit card fees influenced donor conversion' (experiment with KCBI, April to June 2022): 11.6% conversion drop (17.4% to 15.4%) at 97.1% confidence.

Funraise, 'Donors Cover Fees' case study (February 2024): ~90% of donors cover fees, $3.5M in processing fees covered, $8M+ total covered, 1.5% average effective total payment cost (2022). Vendor opt-in range (roughly 50% to 90%) as compiled from published platform figures cited in nonprofit fundraising coverage (Givelify and Funraise, 2022 to 2024).