ChurchTrac Online Giving Fees
Online Giving is included with every ChurchTrac subscription through our integration with Stripe. This integration gives church donors the ability to donate online, set up recurring donations, text giving, and more. This article covers all the fees associated with using ChurchTrac Online Giving.
- Does ChurchTrac Charge for Online Giving?
- Stripe Transaction Fees
- Reduced Pricing for Non-Profits
- Help Offset Processing Costs
Does ChurchTrac charge for Online Giving?
Online Giving is included with every ChurchTrac subscription at no extra cost. The online giving feature is made possible through our integration with Stripe. Stripe is a third party online payment processor that ChurchTrac directly integrates with. Learn how to setup Online Giving ›
Stripe Transaction Fees
Below are the fees Stripe charges per transaction:
Credit Card Processing Fees: 2.9% + $.30 per transaction (3.5% for Amex)
ACH (US ONLY): $0.25 per transaction
ACH (US ONLY): $1.50 instant verification*
*Instant verifications are a one-time fee for each bank account that a donor connects. After that initial connection, Stripe will only charge the regular transaction rate for ACH donations from that account.
If your ministry is designated as 501(c)(3) status, you can qualify for Stripe's reduced Non-Profit Pricing. This reduced pricing is lower than the advertised price above.
Stripe Non-Profit Pricing
If your church is an official 501(c)(3) organization and you want to take advantage of Stripe's reduced nonprofit rates, follow the steps below.
First, make sure to link your Stripe account to your ChurchTrac account under GIVING > Online Giving > [Add or Link a Stripe Account].
Eligibility Criteria
Next, review Stripe's eligibility criteria for nonprofits. To qualify for Stripe's reduced pricing, your organization must meet all of the following requirements:
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Registered nonprofit status: Your organization is registered as a nonprofit and has valid tax documentation confirming that status.
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Supported region: Your organization operates in one of the eligible regions listed on Stripe's website.
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Donation-based volume: At least 80% of your Stripe payment volume comes from tax-deductible donations.
Payment Types That Don’t Qualify
The following payment types don't count toward the 80% donation threshold:
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Membership fees
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Tuition payments
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Ticket sales
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Registration fees
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Auction payments
Submit Stripe's Nonprofit Pricing Contact Form
Lastly, you'll need to sign in and complete the nonprofit pricing contact form. Include these details in your submission:
- Your account ID: Your Stripe account identifier.
- Registered email address: The email associated with your Stripe account.
- Donation volume confirmation: A statement confirming that over 80% of your payment volume comes from tax-deductible donations.
- Tax registration details: For example, your EIN or IRS confirmation letter for 501(c)(3) status.
- Tax-exempt documentation: Valid tax documentation verifying your nonprofit status.
The Stripe team will review your application and respond about your eligibility.
Help Offset Processing Costs
You can give your donors the option to help offset the credit card processing costs when donating. This is a feature that must be enabled if you wish to present this option to your donors.
When the donor chooses to contribute toward processing costs, they are not actually "paying" the Stripe fee on behalf of the church; they are simply increasing the amount of their donation to help the church cover the estimated fee that will be charged by Stripe.
Ultimately, your church is solely responsible for the fees charged by Stripe. When enabled, and when the donor chooses this option, ChurchTrac adds 3% (plus 30 cents) to the original amount the donor intended to give.
To enable this option, navigate to "Online Giving Options" from the Online Giving Tab in ChurchTrac. When enabled, a donor will be presented with the option to help cover the card processing fees.
You also have the ability to customize the card fee percentage, with preset options including 2.2%, 2.5%, 2.9%, or 3.0%.
When the donor chooses to help offset processing costs, they are not actually "paying" the Stripe fee on behalf of the church; they are agreeing to increase the amount of their original donation to help the church cover the processing fee that will be charged to the church by Stripe. Ultimately, your church is solely responsible for the fees charged by Stripe.
When the donor chooses to contribute toward processing costs, the amount ChurchTrac adds to the donation may not exactly match the fee that Stripe charges. The amount we add for the fee will be 3% of the original donation amount, plus 30 cents. The fee Stripe charges will be based on the rate that Stripe has offered your church.
There are a few reasons why the estimated fee amount may not exactly match the Stripe fee.
First, we do not know the card processing rate that Stripe charges your church. Therefore, we cannot determine the fee that Stripe will charge until after the transaction is complete. Additionally, when we add the estimated fee to the original donation amount, the processing fee also increases because the total amount of the donation is now higher.
To simplify everything, we add 3% plus 30 cents to the original donation amount when the donor chooses to help with the estimated fees.
Stripe collects their fee, and the difference is deposited by Stripe into your church's bank account. When the donor chooses to help cover the card processing fee, the net deposit should be close to the original amount the donor wanted to give. For most donations, the estimated fee should be within a few cents of the actual fee. The discrepancy will be larger for bigger donations, or if your rate with Stripe is lower than their published rate. We offer this as a feature to allow the donor to help you offset the cost of the fees that Stripe charges. ChurchTrac does not collect or charge any fees associated with online giving, nor does ChurchTrac receive any part of the fee charged by Stripe.