Transaction fees & donation disbursement
A summary of the critical, helpful details about how long it takes for donations to journey through the Give Lively platform and what costs are involved. (Hint: we don't charge anything, but third-party processors do.)
Fees & Disbursement
The donation journey
Third-party processing fees
as of September 2023
We don't charge for the unlimited use of our powerful and practical technology – no annual fees, no setup fees, no other fees or hidden fees. However, we use independent services to securely manage the financial transaction process, from donation to disbursement.
These services – Stripe, PayPal and Lob – do charge small fees. See the charts below for the fees charged by Stripe and PayPal, our payment processors. There is a discounted base rate for qualified nonprofits that register with Stripe and PayPal. Lob charges $0.93 for every check disbursement. The fees can sometimes be covered by the donor. Fees are always subject to change at any time by the independent services. Always verify directly with the services themselves for the latest updates.
Give Lively nonprofit members can only add PayPal as an optional additional payment method. It can’t be the sole payment processor. PayPal’s transaction fees can be covered by the donor when using the new payment form, but not when using a first-generation payment form.
Learn more about third-party processing fees and about the data privacy and security practices put in place by us and these independent services.
We also accept tips (not tax-deductible) to Give Lively from donors, though these are not fees, are entirely voluntary and have no effect on the final donation amount the nonprofit receives. Learn more about voluntary tips to Give Lively.
PAYMENT METHODS
ACH/Bank Transfer
There are limits to ACH/bank donations.**
Major Credit Cards
Most credit cards include: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Diners Club and JCB. Rates apply to cards used directly and when stored in digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay).
American Express
Rates apply to cards used directly and when stored in digital Wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay).
STANDARD DOMESTIC BASE RATES
0.8% (cap of $5)
2.9% + $0.30
2.9% + $0.30
DOMESTIC BASE RATES WITH NONPROFIT DISCOUNT
0.8% (cap of $5)
2.2% + $0.30
3.5%
INTERNATIONAL RATES
Not currently available
base rate + 1% + 1%*
* This additional 1% fee only applies if currency conversion is required.
base rate + 1% + 1%*
* This additional 1% fee only applies if currency conversion is required.
PROCESSORS
PAYMENT METHODS
ACH/Bank Transfer
Stripe imposes a limit of $2,000 per ACH transaction and $10,000 in ACH donations per week (Monday to Sunday).
Major Credit Cards
Most credit cards include: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Diners Club and JCB. Rates apply to cards used directly and when stored in digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay).
American Express
Rates apply to cards used directly and when stored in digital Wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay).
PayPal is only available on Give Lively as an optional additional donation method for use by donors who have an account and wish to use it only for one-time donations. Donors are not able to cover the fees.
STANDARD DOMESTIC BASE RATES
0.8% (cap of $5)
2.9% + $0.30
2.9% + $0.30
2.2% + $0.30
DOMESTIC BASE RATE WITH NONPROFIT DISCOUNT
0.8% (cap of $5)
2.2% + $0.30
3.5%
INTERNATIONAL FEES
Not currently available
base rate + 1% + 1%*
* This additional 1% fee only applies if currency conversion is required.
base rate + 1% + 1%*
* This additional 1% fee only applies if currency conversion is required.
4.4% + fixed fee**
** Fixed fee is based on the currency used. See more here.
ACH/Bank Transfer
Major Credit Cards
* This additional 1% fee only applies if currency conversion is required.
American Express
* This additional 1% fee only applies if currency conversion is required.
** We use two services for ACH transfers and they have different ACH payment limits:
- With Plaid, Stripe imposes a per-nonprofit limit of $2,000 per ACH transaction, $6,000 per day in ACH donations and $10,000 per week (Monday to Sunday).
- With Stripe Financial Connections, there are no individual transaction or daily limits and the weekly limit is more dynamic, calculated by Stripe based on several criteria specific to the nonprofit. This limit is designed to increase as nonprofits scale up.
With both Plaid and Stripe Financial Connections, nonprofits should contact Stripe immediately about larger donations to review limits and request increases.
Payment processors can sometimes add additional fees depending on other factors.
** Fixed fee is based on the currency used.See more here.
PAYMENT METHOD
PayPal is only available on Give Lively as an optional additional payment method for use by donors who have a PayPal account.
STANDARD DOMESTIC BASE RATES
2.99% + $0.49
DOMESTIC BASE RATES WITH NONPROFIT DISCOUNT *
1.99% + $0.49
INTERNATIONAL RATE
3.49% + fixed fee**
** Fixed fee is based on the currency used. See more here.
* To enjoy special discounted transaction fees on payment through PayPal, a qualified organization must register an account with PayPal as a nonprofit and confirm its nonprofit status. This helpful PDF includes a checklist of what is needed to complete PayPal’s registration. Learn more about how to get confirmed charity status with PayPal.
Give Lively member nonprofits can only add PayPal as an optional additional payment method. It can't be the sole payment processor. PayPal will also only process donations when a donor's selected payment method is PayPal. All other payment methods (credit/debit, ACH etc.) are handled by Stripe. PayPal’s transaction fees can be covered by the donor when using the second-generation payment form, but not when using a first-generation payment form.
How disbursement works
as of September 2023
Major Credit Cards
ACH/Bank Transfer
PROCESSORS
PAYMENT METHODS
Major Credit Cards
Most credit cards include: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Diners Club and JCB. Rates apply to cards used directly and when stored in digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay).
ACH/Bank Transfer
There are limits to ACH/bank donations.**
PayPal is only available on Give Lively as an optional additional payment method for use by donors who have a PayPal account.
DISBURSEMENT TIMEFRAMES
Within 2 business days
Within 7 business days
0-3 business days *
* Funds received through PayPal are deposited almost instantly to a nonprofit's PayPal account. Transfers to the nonprofit's bank account must be triggered by the nonprofit and can happen in two ways: (1) 'Instant Transfer' to an eligible bank typically occurs in minutes, but varies by bank (fees, limits and other holds may apply); or (2) 'Standard Transfer' is 1-3 business days at no additional cost.
** We use two services for ACH transfers and they have different ACH payment limits:
- With Plaid, Stripe imposes a per-nonprofit limit of $2,000 per ACH transaction, $6,000 per day in ACH donations and $10,000 per week (Monday to Sunday).
- With Stripe Financial Connections, there are no individual transaction or daily limits and the weekly limit is more dynamic, calculated by Stripe based on several criteria specific to the nonprofit. This limit is designed to increase as nonprofits scale up.
With both Plaid and Stripe Financial Connections, nonprofits should contact Stripe immediately about larger donations to review limits and request increases.
Important Stripe disbursement notes:
Funds processed through Stripe are deposited directly to a nonprofit's designated account. Give Lively member nonprofits must have a fully authorized Stripe account connected with Give Lively.
Stripe integration means nonprofits gain immediate access to donation data and the ability to export donor data from Stripe.
PROCESSORS
PAYMENT METHODS
Major Credit Cards
Most credit cards include: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Diners Club and JCB. Rates apply to cards used directly and when stored in digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay).
ACH/Bank Transfer
Stripe imposes a limit of $2,000 per ACH transaction and $10,000 in ACH donations per week (Monday to Sunday).
Give Lively Members
0.8% (cap of $5)
2.2% + $0.30
Non-members
Not currently available
3.2% + 1%* + $0.30
* This additional 1% fee only applies if currency conversion is required.
We have some answers that will help you
We believe that nonprofits, no matter their size, should not sacrifice their means to satisfy their missions. So we built and support a powerful and practical fundraising platform that’s free for nonprofits and intuitive for donors.
We understand and sympathize with your concern about what “free” means today. We've experienced the same “free” service offers with hidden gotchas. And we know that some services claim to be "free" as a way to justify selling your data.
We pledge to be different.
What free means to us
We do not charge nonprofits for use of our fundraising platform — no setup fees, no platform fees, no membership or subscription fees, no annual or monthly fees, no hidden Give Lively fees.
We also never sell, rent or lease any data — just one aspect of our comprehensive approach to data privacy and security. Nor do we charge donors to give through our platform.
Learn more about why we’re free for nonprofits.
How is free possible?
Our founders are committed philanthropists. In keeping with their goodwill vision of digital fundraising, they cover our operating costs so that we don’t have to charge nonprofits or donors.
They see Give Lively as a technological remedy to the complexity of fundraising, as well as a way to make strategic, efficient and impartial decisions about how to support the nonprofit community. In Give Lively, they identified a mechanism for sustainably leveraging their resources to help meet the development needs of a very broad group of potential beneficiaries.
That mechanism is our superpower. We call it the Give Lively Effect: a proven way of democratizing and leveling the digital fundraising playing field, guiding nonprofits into the digital age, helping them hit their fundraising goals and freeing them to devote more resources to their critical work.
Learn more about our founders’ rationale, the Give Lively Effect and our impact.
Donors can fund their donations through Give Lively using any of the following:
- all major credit cards or debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club and JCB)
- ACH/bank transfers
- digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay
- PayPal.
Some additional notes:
Credit and debit cards
To process major credit cards and debit cards, including those stored in Apple Pay and Google Pay, we rely on Stripe, an industry-leading payment processor trusted by thousands of companies and nonprofits. All Give Lively members must have a fully authorized and connected Stripe account to use our technology. Learn more about Stripe and why you need it to use Give Lively.
ACH/direct debit
To handle ACH transactions, we use different services, depending on which generation payment form is in use. Our first-generation forms use Plaid and the second-generation forms rely on Stripe Financial Connections. Both are trusted services that partner with thousands of US-based banks and guide you through a similar ACH/bank-payment process.
Digital wallets
To allow for the use of digital wallets, most Give Lively fundraising pages automatically detect if a donor's device/browser has Apple Pay or Google Pay enabled as a payment method. If detected, the relevant payment option appears. Learn more about digital wallets.
PayPal
Give Lively nonprofit members can add PayPal, but only as an optional additional donation-processing method. At the present time, it can't be the sole payment processor, since it is only available for one-time donations. Thus, PayPal will only process donations when a donor’s selected payment method is PayPal. All other payment methods (credit/debit, ACH etc.) will be processed via Stripe. Learn more about our PayPal integration in our Resource Hub (for members, but open to all).
We use Stripe to securely manage financial transactions between you, your donors and your bank. As Stripe does the actual money handling, not Give Lively, our fundraising pages will not function without it. All Give Lively members must therefore have a fully authorized and connected Stripe account to use our technology.
Without a Stripe account, which is entirely separate from your Give Lively account, you will not be able to receive donations made to you through the Give Lively fundraising platform.
Not yet heard of Stripe?
Stripe is an industry-leading, secure payment processor trusted by over 100,000 companies and nonprofits. (A payment processor manages the financial transaction process by mediating between merchants and financial institutions.) Learn more about Stripe.
What does Stripe cost?
While there is no cost to setting up or using Give Lively technology, and there is no cost to setting up a Stripe account, Stripe does charge a small transaction fee to collect money from a credit card or through a bank, as well as fines for some failed/disputed charges. Give Lively does not receive any of these fees. They are levied by Stripe and paid entirely to Stripe. This chart makes clear the transaction fees associated with using Stripe.
Please note: We don’t review new membership applications until a Stripe account has been identified and connected to the Give Lively platform. As the final step in all membership applications, new users are prompted either to create a Stripe account or to log in to an existing one, and then connect it to Give Lively. Learn more about the Give Lively membership application process.