Donor tip calculator
On a 0% platform fee, donors pay for the software in tips at checkout. See what that adds up to each year at your volume.
About 100 gifts per month at this volume.
The effective tip cost across all donation volume, combining how many donors tip and how much. Set it yourself or start from a published figure:
The rate a fixed-fee platform would charge the organization on the same volume. Published platform fees run from 1.75% (Donorbox) to 4% (Fundraise Up), both verified June 2026.
Donors pay in tips each year
$1,440
$1.20 on top of a $50 gift. The organization pays a $0 platform fee.
Same software, different payer, per year
- Tip-funded modelPaid by donors at checkout, 2.40% of volume
- $1,440
- Published-fee modelPaid by the organization at 4.00%. Donors pay exactly the sticker amount.
- $2,400
- Givebear GrowthFlat 1.9% platform fee plus $54/month, no donor tips
- $1,788
At these settings the platform is funded with $1,440 of donor money under the tip model, or $2,400 of organizational budget under the published-fee model. Givebear does not ask donors for tips: at this volume the lowest-cost plan is Growth, about $1,788 a year all-in, and donors pay exactly the gift amount.
Flat platform fees by plan: Free 5.9%, Plus 2.9% at $39/mo, Growth 1.9% at $54/mo.
Card processing applies under every model and is excluded here; some tip-funded platforms also cover processing out of tip revenue, one reason measured donor costs can run above published tip averages. Presets: Zeffy's own blog stats (June 2023) and 4aGoodCause's third-party checkout measurement, both verified June 2026.
Keep 100% of the gift, no donor tips
Givebear never asks your donors for a tip. It charges a flat per-plan fee, so the cost stays predictable and donors pay exactly what they meant to give. Free to start.
How this is calculated
The tip rate is an effective rate across all volume: how many donors tip times how much. Zeffy's own figures, 60% of donors tipping an average 4%, work out to 2.4%.
Donor tips per yearequalsmonthly volume × 12 × tip rate
Tip on one giftequalsaverage gift × tip rate
Published-fee costequalsmonthly volume × 12 × published fee
Givebear costequalsmonthly volume × 12 × plan fee + 12 × plan subscription
- Every Givebear plan is costed at your volume and the lowest annual total is shown, the same way each competitor is shown on its cheapest published tier.
- Card processing applies under every model and is left out of all three figures.
- Presets come from Zeffy's own blog stats (June 2023) and 4aGoodCause's third-party checkout measurement, both verified June 2026.
How does the donor tip funding model work?
On a tip-funded platform the software bill moves to the checkout screen. After picking a gift amount, the donor sees a preselected contribution to the platform (a percentage dropdown or slider), and that tip rides on top of the gift: a $100 donation with a 10% tip charges the donor's card $110 while the organization's report shows $100 and a 0% platform fee. Nothing about that is dishonest. It does mean the cost of the software is real, donor-paid, and invisible in your books, which is why it's worth simulating before you commit.
The platforms have published some of the numbers. Zeffy's own blog said 60% of donors tip, averaging 4% (June 2023), which works out to about 2.4% of donation volume; by May 2026 Zeffy was saying two out of three donors tip (both stats verified June 2026 against Zeffy's site). LaunchGood's support page, updated November 2024, pairs its 0% platform fee with a claim that over 70% of supporters tip. Those vendor-published baselines are the first preset in the calculator above.
Third-party measurements land higher, and default settings are the reason. TINA.org reported (June 1, 2026) that Givebutter's checkout auto-added a default 15% tip, turning a $500 gift into a $590 charge unless the donor caught it. And 4aGoodCause, a competing donation vendor, measured a 12.75% effective donor cost in its own test of a Zeffy checkout: read it as a competitor's test, but it is a real measured figure and the second preset above. The distance between a published 4% average and a measured 12.75% is mostly preset tiers and defaults, which is why the calculator lets you set the rate yourself.
How to read a tip-funded quote
A 0% platform fee can be a real bargain or a hidden cost, depending on the checkout. Before committing to any tip-funded platform, ask for two numbers in writing: what the default tip setting is on the donation form, and exactly what happens, at what rate, when a donor declines. The distance between Zeffy's published 4% average tip and the 12.75% a third party measured is mostly preset tiers and defaults, so the form's behavior is the whole story.
The cleanest comparison is on published numbers. Givebear takes the other approach: a flat platform fee per plan instead of a tip prompt, the same rate online, at kiosks, and on memberships, with Stripe card processing passed through at cost (every rate is on the pricing page). Hardware follows the same rule: donation kiosks are a one-time $999 to $1,099 purchase with no monthly software fee, while kiosk vendors like iChessed ($30 to $59.99/mo) and SecureGive ($149/mo Basic or $299/mo Premium, both verified June 2026) bill per device every month. To put your own volume against a flat fee, use the donation fee calculator.
Donor tip questions, answered
What do tip-funded platforms cost donors?
Is a 0% platform fee really free?
How much do donors tip on Zeffy?
How does Givebear compare to a tip-funded platform?
Explore more
Every calculator and template is on the free tools page.
Donation fee calculator
Separate card processing from platform fees and see what your current platform costs the organization per month.
Givebear vs Zeffy
A side-by-side look at a flat-fee platform and a tip-funded one: kiosks, events, donor records, and what each publishes about fees.
Givebear pricing
Flat platform fees from 1.9% on Growth, or start free at $0/month and 5.9%. No setup fees, no monthly minimums.
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