Cover-fees settings for nonprofits
How to enable or disable the donor cover-fees option on your donation forms.
The cover-fees setting controls whether your donation forms show a checkbox that lets donors add a small amount to cover processing fees — so your organization receives the full intended gift.
Where to find it
- Log in to your GiveLink dashboard.
- Go to Settings → Donation Form Options.
- Look for Allow donors to cover processing fees.
The 2-state toggle
The setting has exactly two states:
| State | What donors see |
|---|---|
| OFF (default) | No cover-fees checkbox. Donors see only the standard amount. Fees come out of the gift before it reaches your account. |
| ON | A checkbox appears on every donation form for your organization. Donors can choose to add ~3% to their donation so your organization receives the full intended amount. |
When the setting is ON, the checkbox starts unchecked by default. Donors must actively choose to cover fees — it is never pre-checked for them. This respects donor consent and keeps the experience transparent.
Default for new organizations
The setting starts OFF for all new organizations. You must explicitly turn it on if you want donors to have the option.
Why off by default: GiveLink's product philosophy is to never surprise donors with extra charges. Orgs that want to offer the option enable it intentionally; orgs that prefer simplicity leave it off.
What happens when you turn it ON
Once enabled:
- The cover-fees checkbox appears on all your donation forms (hosted pages, embedded widgets, and the API).
- Donors see a live fee breakdown before submitting their gift.
- The receipt the donor receives reflects the total amount charged and the fee-covering breakdown.
- For recurring donations, the cover-fees preference applies to every payment.
What happens when you turn it OFF
- The checkbox disappears from all your donation forms immediately.
- Existing recurring donations with cover-fees enabled are not affected. Donors who already opted in on a recurring gift continue to be charged the grossed-up amount — changing the charge mid-subscription would require their consent. Donors can adjust their preference from the donor portal at any time.
The coverFeesDefault setting
Internally, this setting maps to the coverFeesDefault column on your organization record. When coverFeesDefault is false (the default), the checkbox is hidden. When true, it is visible.
This field is only about whether to show the checkbox — it does not control whether the checkbox starts checked. The checkbox always starts unchecked when shown (D-26: no pre-checked state, ever).
Kill switch
GiveLink can globally disable the cover-fees feature for all organizations at once in the event of an emergency. If this happens, the checkbox disappears from all forms regardless of your setting. Existing recurring subscriptions with cover-fees enabled continue unaffected (their charge amounts do not change). GiveLink will communicate any such change to affected organizations.
Related pages
Last updated on 4/30/2026
Donor fee coverage
Let donors cover processing fees so your nonprofit receives the full intended donation amount.
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