If a donor opts in the Gravity Form to pay transaction fees...

[Susanna]

...how does this work?

We did not see instructions for how to set this up so we created it ourselves. In the attached example from our Gravity Form, the donor has made a donation of $250 and said yes to transaction fees. We have built the formula so the total is correct. But how can we be sure this processes correctly on the C&P side? It looks to us like C&P will just see the newly calculated Total as the donation amount and then charge us the 3.75% on that amount.

Do we need to change the settings so C&P processing happens on the Amount field (not shown in screenshot here, but it's $250) and not on the Total field?


thanks, and in case you need it, our Org ID=00D61000000aVFr and I've granted you access.

[CnP.Support.AM]

Good day @Susanna

As of now in gravity forms, we don't have an option for Transaction Fee. However, the fee is deducted based on the total amount only by TSYS.

[Susanna]

Hello, yes we figured there is no option in the C&P plugin for Gravity Forms but I was hoping you'd tell me it was just hidden somewhere. So we created a custom field with a formula to calculate the fees and add to the total, and I guess the answer to my question is that there is no way to change the settings. If our custom field adds the fees to the total, then C&P is charging us its processing fees on top of processing fees we've already added.

In other words, if we get a $50 donation, and our custom field adds 3.75% + .37, and we charge them 50 + 1.875 + .37 = 52.25, then C&P is charging its own 3.75% + .37 on that new total of 52.25. This is how I understand it, but please correct me if I'm wrong. It's not good, but it's better than the alternative (not being able to offer them the option).

Thanks, and if anyone else reading has a better solution to adding a fees option to a Gravity Form, please do share!

[CnP.LiveSupport.AB]

Even the 'Additional Fee' feature that is included in our products is only a feature you can use to present an additional fee to your Patrons. How you describe the purpose of that fee is up to you.

There is no 'Fee Free' way of adding to the total of a transaction. It's also not legal in some states to collect 'convenience fees' - credit card companies do not want customers to know the fees they charge, and have sometimes succeeded in protecting this by law. In practice, maybe not always enforced. Some of our apps provide a way of collecting an additional fee, but it is a feature that your organization opts to use to collect whatever amount you specify and at your own legal liability.

The per transaction fee is added BEFORE calculating the percent of the total because - the per transaction fee is charged by the bank, even if you're just 'authorizing a card' to be used later - that's what they are asking to verify the card is valid.

To truly calculate the total transaction amount that results in your nonprofit receiving the intended donation amount requires an algebra equation.
NOTE THIS EXAMPLE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT CURRENT PRICING

(Donation Amount + per transaction fee)/ (1 - 0.0375) - where 0.0375 is the 3.75 percent fee.

for example:

(100 + 0.35)/0.9625 = 104.26

A $100 donation would require a fee of $4.26, not $4.10, to expect a $100 net from the merchant account to the nonprofit's bank. If the nonprofit's bank has deposit fees- obviously this isn't considered. And any ongoing charge (monthly or annual fees to the nonprofit) cannot be calculated without knowing the total number and amount of donations the nonprofit takes in for that same time period to determine that donor's share. If the donor's first attempt to donate is declined by their card issuer, there may be more than one 'per transaction' fee charged.

I hope you see the challenge, and why we do not, and really cannot, specify the additional amount for you.