Donor fee coverage
Let donors cover processing fees so your nonprofit receives the full intended donation amount.
When someone donates $100 to your organization, the default is that $100 includes the fees — meaning your organization receives slightly less than $100. With the donor cover-fees option, donors can choose to add a small amount on top of their gift so your organization receives the full $100.
This page explains how it works for donors, what it looks like on the form, and how recurring donations are handled.
How it works
When donor cover-fees is enabled for your organization, a toggle appears on your donation form:
I'll cover the fees so [Org Name] gets the full amount
When a donor checks the box, GiveLink calculates the exact gross-up amount needed so your organization receives precisely their intended gift amount after all fees.
Example: A $100 card donation with the 1% GiveLink fee:
| With cover-fees OFF | With cover-fees ON |
|---|---|
| Donor pays: $100.00 | Donor pays: $103.58 |
| GiveLink platform fee: $1.00 | GiveLink platform fee: $1.00 |
| Stripe processing fee: ~$2.50 | Stripe processing fee: ~$2.58 |
| Your organization receives: ~$96.50 | Your organization receives: $100.00 |
The gross-up is calculated precisely — your organization always receives exactly the intended amount, to the cent.
What the donor sees
When the toggle is on, the donation form shows a live fee breakdown before the donor submits:
- Donation to [Org Name]: $100.00
- GiveLink platform fee: $1.00
- Payment processing fee: $2.58
- You pay: $103.58
- [Org Name] receives: $100.00
The breakdown updates in real time as the donor changes the amount or payment method.
Tax deductibility
The full amount the donor pays — including the fee-covering portion — is part of their charitable donation for tax purposes. This gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law when the donor itemizes deductions and your organization is a qualified 501(c)(3) organization. Donors should retain their receipt and consult a tax professional.
GiveLink's donation receipts reflect the total amount charged to the donor with a note about fee coverage.
Recurring donations
When a donor enables cover-fees on a recurring gift, the gross-up applies to every payment automatically. The donor is charged the higher amount each billing period, and your organization receives the full intended amount each time.
Donors can change their cover-fees preference at any time from the donor portal:
- Log in to the donor portal.
- Go to My Subscriptions.
- Click on the recurring donation you want to update.
- Toggle the Cover processing fees switch.
- Click Save changes.
The change applies starting from the next scheduled payment. Past charges are not affected.
Enabling this feature for your organization
The cover-fees checkbox only appears on your donation forms if your organization has enabled it in your settings. By default, it is hidden.
See Cover-fees settings for nonprofits to learn how to turn it on.
Related pages
Last updated on 6/15/2026