Transaction Costs
Encouraging supporters to cover transaction costs to boost conversion
Boost conversion by encouraging supporters to cover transaction costs.
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During their donation, you can present supporters with the option to cover the transaction costs associated with the donation they’re making. When a supporter elects to cover transaction costs, they donate an additional amount that approximately covers the Givetly platform fees and the payment processing fees charged by Stripe or PayPal.
Cost Coverage Modes
When you open the Transaction costs section of your campaign settings, there are five cost covering modes that can be configured:
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Adaptive cost coverage: Uses AI to determine when a supporter should be prompted to cover transaction costs. This approach optimizes conversion by using AI to learn about supporters who are most likely to cover transaction costs. Adaptive cost coverage is recommended and enabled by default in newly-created campaigns.
From the blog: The Science Behind Adaptive Cost Coverage
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Show and preselect the option to cover costs: Displays the option to cover transaction costs and selects it by default. Recommended if Adaptive cost coverage cannot be used.
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Show the option to cover costs: Displays the option to cover transaction costs but does not preselect it.
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Require that donors cover costs: The donation amount will include the additional amount required to cover the transaction fees.
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Hide the option to cover costs: Does not display the option to cover transaction costs. We do not recommend using this setting for typical implementations.
Tax Deductibility
Supporter’s donation tax deductibility extends to the transaction fees they cover, as they are effectively increasing their donation amount. The receipt reflects the total donation, including fees. Consult with a legal professional for detailed tax advice relevant to your region.
Reconciliation
For accounting purposes, you may want to track fees assessed on donations. Use the Exports feature to create a report with fee amounts or sync data to an app using Givetly’s integrations. Below are available fields and properties related to cost coverage:
| Export field | Integration property |
|---|---|
| Converted Donation Amount Before Fees Covered Option | Converted amount before fees covered |
| Donation Amount Before Fees Covered | Amount before fees covered |
| Converted Payment Processing Fee | Converted payment processing fee |
| Payment Processing Fee | Payment processing fee |
| Payment Processing Fee Currency | Payment processing fee currency |
| Converted Platform Fee | Converted platform fee |
| Donation Platform Fee | Platform fee |
| Donation Platform Fee Currency | Platform fee currency |
| Refunded Platform Fee | Refunded platform fee |
| Supporter Covered Fee | Supporter covered fee |
Cost coverage information can also be sent to other apps and services using the JavaScript API. Learn more →