September 18, 2023 | Add Processing Fees to Donations

Thanks to a new payment link checkbox, donors can now raise the amount of their donations to cover the associated processing fee — allowing receiving non-profits to reduce the impact of those fees. 

The Autobooks payment form, accessed through the payment link and used for making donations online, now includes a checkbox for non-profits that allows donors to raise their donation amount to cover processing fees associated with the transaction. It is intended to help non-profits reduce the impact of processing fees when receiving contributions from their donor base. 

Please note, this new affordance only appears when the payment link is set up for donations or contributions. It is intended to help non-profits reduce the impact of processing fees when receiving contributions from their donor base.  

Here’s how it works.

If the payment form language is set to Donations or Contributions, the new processing fee donation checkbox will now appear inside the Autobooks online payment form. This affordance will not appear when the payment form language is set to Payments.  

A nonprofit can update their payment link at any time (see below) to display donation/contribution language, instead of payments. If your payment link is already set for donations and contributions, you will see the addition of this checkbox near the bottom of the payment form.  

To change the payment language to donations/contributions and view the new checkbox: 

1. Select Payment Link tool within online banking and click the Payment Link Settings tab. 
2. Click Edit Information. Change the "Payment type" dropdown to either Donations or Contributions.
3. Once you select "Donation" or "Contribution," click Preview changes to see your updated payment form. You'll notice that every instance of the word payment on the form has been replaced with the word “donation” or “contribution.”
   
   Near the bottom of the form, directly above the Donate button, you’ll now see a new checkbox that allows a donor to automatically add the displayed processing fee to the amount they’ve entered by simply clicking the box.
   
4. Finally, click Save Settings to lock in these changes. This will immediately update your payment link to say "Donation" or "Contribution" across the board, and will include the new processing fee checkbox.
   

The Donor Experience 

When a donor decides to make a donation or contribution by clicking an Autobooks payment link, they will see the online form where they can make a payment. 

A checkbox allowing them to add the processing fee to their total amount will now appear near the bottom of the form, directly above the Donate button, and will include the accompanying text: “Add $[AMOUNT] to cover my processing fees.”

A donor may choose to pay this additional fee — and add it to their total donation or contribution — by clicking the checkbox. The total amount to be paid will update automatically to reflect the addition of the processing fee. 

Please note, by default this checkbox is never selected. The donor must click the checkbox to make a change. If they choose to not click the optional checkbox, the original amount will stay the same.