There are a few types of donation fees and deductions:
Cause Support Fee:
This is based on the cost of Benevity's due diligence, collecting and processing donations, disbursing funds, and preparing donor receipts and cause reports. These costs can vary across clients, depending on the size and nature of their programs, the countries in which they are operating, and other factors. In some cases, our clients wish to cover this deduction.
Merchant fees:
These fees cover the costs associated with processing a credit card, PayPal, or similar transactions. The fee can vary based on the payment card type or process used to complete the transactions.
Manual check fee:
When donations are made via credit card, Apple Pay, or PayPal, a payment processing fee is deducted
to cover third-party "merchant account" or "interchange" fees charged to the Foundations (the “Merchant Fees”). These Merchant Fees may be shared between the payment processor and the Foundation.
Lifting Fees (International Bank Fees):
When receiving funds internationally via wire transfer, your own financial institution—or the intermediary banks they use—may charge a "lifting fee" to process the incoming payment.
Why this happens: These fees are independent of Benevity and are charged by the banking network (often via the SWIFT system) for the service of moving money across borders and converting currencies.
Variable costs: The amount deducted can vary significantly depending on your bank’s specific policies and the number of intermediary banks involved in the transfer.
Recommendation: We recommend contacting your bank’s wire department to understand their fee structure for international incoming wires, as these costs are not captured in the donation reports provided by Benevity.
Learn more in the Benevity Fee Schedule.