When I’m shopping around for various services and products, take a cell phone plan for example, I want to know what my out of pocket costs are going to be. Not just the monthly fee, but all the little fees that end up costing a lot, especially when I get that bill at the end of the month and didn’t expect it to be so high.
If your church is trying to figure out which giving platform to choose, make sure you do your research and educate yourself and your church on the many hidden fees that stack up before making a decision. Church leaders are often shocked when these unexpected charges appear on an invoice after signing up for a new service. Let’s uncover some of those fees!
Below, I've listed all possible fees associated with digital giving. When you’re researching a giving provider, make sure you know if all of these fees are included in the quote. I broke the fees down into 2 categories:
1. Giving Provider = technology & support team your givers / admins interact will use to make and track gifts
2. Payment Processor / Merchant Account = organization responsible for collecting and protecting payment information, sending the gift from a giver to your church’s bank account, etc.
Be on the lookout for…
1. Giving Provider fees
- Software set up fees
- Text giving fees
- Designation fund fees
- Cancellation fees
- Monthly service fees
- Support fees
- Rollout material fees
- Minimum monthly fees
- Bank statement fees
- Bank batch/deposit fees
- Refund/discrepancy fees
- PCI compliance fees
- Merchant account fees
- Per gift processing and transaction fees
- ACH and AMeX acceptance fees
2. Payment Processor / Merchant Account Fees
- Account set up fees
- Cancellation fees
- Security regulatory fees
- PCI compliance fees
- Online merchant bank fees
- Statement fees
- Batch/deposit fees
- Refund discrepancy fees
- Per gift transaction and processing fees
- ACH and AMeX acceptance fee
- Monthly gateway/service fees
- Per-batch fees
- Monthly network fees
Note: Not all giving providers include every single fee in their pricing structure. Many providers only list the fees their company charges; they often don't tell you about the unavoidable fees from the required merchant account / payment processor. Do your research and explicitly ask about each of these fees if it isn’t obvious from their websites!
Phew! That’s 28 fees. Kind of daunting, isn’t it?
We know your desire is to be good stewards of the money your givers entrust to your church. Our partnership with Life.Church and One Hope aligns us with that same vision—we want to make the church known for Generosity and to help you steward your money well.
Bottom line: We hope this information gives you the confidence to make the right decision for your church. Know we’re happy to talk through your unique vision and situation and help you evaluate your options—even if that means you don’t choose Kindrid.
Want to dig a little deeper? Schedule a demo with our Church Success Team!
