Understanding How Fee Pass Works: Covering Fees to Maximize Your Donation

When a donor checks out on the WeGive Donor Portal, they may see an option to cover fees. This article explains how that cover fee is calculated, why it may be higher than a simple math estimate, and whether it changes based on the card the donor uses.

Fee Pass, Not Just Fee Cover

WeGive uses fee pass, not simply fee cover. This means the donation amount is increased so that the organization receives the exact amount the donor entered at checkout. The cover fee shown to the donor is the amount added on top of the donation so the organization is made whole after processing and platform fees.

If a donor enters $100 and chooses to cover the fee, the total charged is higher than $100 so the organization still nets the full $100 after fees.

Three Pricing Models

How the cover fee is calculated depends on which payment processing model the organization is on:

The components of the cover fee are the same across all three models (processing rate + platform fee + flat fee), but the rate values and card-brand behavior differ.

Interchange-Plus on WeGive Payments

The 1.9% blended interchange rate is an estimate. Actual interchange varies by card brand and transaction type, and the real fee is not known until after the transaction processes.

Card brand behavior: The cover fee shown at checkout is the same regardless of which card brand the donor selects. WeGive uses one blended rate for the estimate. The organization may pay slightly more or less than that estimate at the processor depending on the actual card used.

Worked Example (Interchange-Plus)

A donor enters a $100 donation with cover fees enabled:

• Interchange rate: 1.9%

• Platform fee: 1%

• Total percentage: 2.9%

• Flat fee: $0.30

($100 + $0.30) / (1 - 0.029) = $100.30 / 0.971 = $103.30

The donor is charged $103.30. The cover fee displayed at checkout is $3.30. The organization nets $100.

Bundled on WeGive Payments

This is the default for standard customers under 200k contacts who process through WeGive Payments.

Card brand behavior: The cover fee shown at checkout is the same regardless of card brand. The bundled rate is a single value across all card types.

Worked Example (Bundled on WeGive Payments)

A donor enters a $100 donation with cover fees enabled:

• Processing rate: 1.95%

• Platform fee: 1%

• Total percentage: 2.95%

• Flat fee: $0.30

($100 + $0.30) / (1 - 0.0295) = $100.30 / 0.9705 = $103.35

Cover fee displayed: $3.35.

Bring Your Own Stripe (BYOP)

For organizations connecting their own Stripe account, the cover fee uses the rates configured in that organization's Product Code in WeGive, not Stripe's default 2.9% + $0.30 unless that has been set explicitly. The Product Code includes:

A platform fee may also be configured.

Card brand behavior: The cover fee shown at checkout can differ between card brands because the Product Code has separate percentage rates for Amex versus other cards. If amex_percentage is set higher than other_percentage, an Amex donor will see a higher cover fee than a Visa donor for the same donation. If the cover fee should not vary between cards, set both fields to the same value.

Worked Example (BYOP with Standard Stripe Rates)

A donor enters a $100 donation with cover fees enabled on a Visa card, with the Product Code configured at Stripe's typical 2.9% + $0.30 plus a 1% platform fee:

• Other percentage: 2.9%

• Platform fee: 1%

• Total percentage: 3.9%

• Flat fee: $0.30

($100 + $0.30) / (1 - 0.039) = $100.30 / 0.961 = $104.37

Cover fee displayed: $4.37.

If the same donor selects an Amex card and amex_percentage is configured at 3.5%:

• Amex percentage: 3.5%

• Platform fee: 1%

• Total percentage: 4.5%

• Flat fee: $0.30

($100 + $0.30) / (1 - 0.045) = $100.30 / 0.955 = $105.03

Cover fee displayed: $5.03.

The Gross-Up Formula

In all three models, the cover fee is grossed up so the organization nets the full donation. The general formula is:

(base amount + flat fee) / (1 - total percentage) = total charged to donor

Where total percentage is the processing rate plus the platform fee.

Common Misconception

A common mistake is calculating the expected cover fee as simple additive math, such as 1.9% of $100 + $0.30 = $2.20. This is incorrect for two reasons:

1. It omits the platform fee.

2. It does not account for the gross-up. The fee is calculated so the organization nets the full donation, which requires dividing by (1 - rate) rather than simply multiplying by the rate.

Summary

Related

For nonprofit administrators who want to control which fees the donor is asked to cover (for example, asking the donor to cover the processing fee but not the platform fee, or capping the maximum amount), see the Fee Cover Feature on Checkout article.