Where your dollars actually go.

Most platforms won’t show you the real math. Here it is — the whole fee stack, laid out honestly, with citations.

What Rally Raise keeps, exactly

Every dollar donated through Rally Raise is split three ways. We disclose the split before you submit, and we publish the math again on every receipt.

• 94% to the receiving org
• 3% to Rally Raise (platform)
• 3% optional thank-you share to whoever shared the link (waivable; flows to the org if opted out)

Stripe’s card processing fees (roughly 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction) are separate. By default, the donor covers them at checkout — a single checkbox that’s on for ~70% of gifts. When a donor declines, Stripe fees come out of the platform’s 3%, not the org’s 94%.

Two worked examples

The fee stack: where $100 can disappear

A single “fee” is rarely the whole story. Before a dollar reaches the program that feeds a family, it can pass through five or six layers — each taking a cut. This is the worst-case cascade many small orgs actually face.

Benchmarks: Rally Raise vs. the platforms

Public fee schedules, checked April 2026. Percentages are platform fees only; Stripe/card processing stacks on top unless noted. “Tips” means a checkbox that defaults ON and asks donors to add an amount on top of their gift.

Every row links to the primary source we checked. If you find a rate that’s changed or we got wrong, email [email protected] and we’ll update the same day.

The grant-writer problem

Percentage-based grant-writer compensation — where the writer takes 10–20% of any grant they land — is widespread at small orgs that can’t afford a flat-fee consultant. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has discouraged this model for decades on ethical grounds, but it remains common.

The AFP Code of Ethical Standards (Standard No. 21) states that members “shall not accept compensation or enter into a contract that is based on a percentage of contributions.” In practice, enforcement is reputational — not regulatory — and the model persists in the freelance grant-writing market, with directories routinely listing 10–15% retainers.

Directionally, many small-org executive directors report percentage-based grant-writing arrangements are rising as nonprofit budgets tighten and flat-fee grant consultants price themselves out of small-org reach. We’ve seen this pattern in interviews with pantry EDs, though we won’t put a hard number on the trend without a stronger industry survey to cite.^[11][12]

The foundation pass-through problem

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) and community foundations are powerful tools for large donors. They’re also layered fee structures that most donors never see. A gift earmarked for a small pantry often moves:

1. Into the DAF or community foundation — the donor gets the tax deduction immediately.
2. Sits in an investment pool — charged 0.20–0.80% per year by the foundation’s investment managers.
3. Is granted out to the pantry — the foundation charges an admin fee on the grant (typically 1–2% for sponsored DAFs, higher for community foundation pass-throughs with restricted purposes).

Concrete example: $10,000 gift to a community foundation, earmarked for a small pantry, held one year before grant-out.

• Admin fee, 1.5% on entry: − $150
• Investment management, 0.5% for one year: − ~$49
• Grant-out processing, ~2% on the outbound grant: − ~$197
• Investment drawdown or market variance (directional): − up to $500
• Pantry actually receives: ~$9,100 – $9,600 of the original $10,000

These are typical ranges — fees vary significantly by foundation and investment pool. Many community foundations cap admin at $250 minimums for small grants, which penalizes sub-$5,000 pass-throughs the hardest.^[8][13]

What reaches the cause per $100 donation

Platform fee only, donor covers Stripe where the platform supports it. Tips and contract minimums not included (they make the comparison worse for the tip-funded platforms, not better).

Fees are rising

Across platform fundraising, processing fees, and foundation admin, the direction has been up — not down — over the last five years. Card processor base rates drifted from ~2.2% to ~2.9% between 2020 and 2025. Tip-funded platforms normalized a default 15% suggested tip. DAF and community foundation admin schedules added minimums that hurt small-org pass-throughs the most.^[14][12]

Where Rally Raise sits

• Flat 3% platform fee, graduated to 2% above $100,000/year per org and 1% above $1,000,000. Published on this page. No per-donor tiers.
• Premium is opt-in, not opt-out. The cover-the-fee checkbox is on by default (donors can uncheck it); we never auto-bill a tip or hide a processor upcharge.
• No layered surprises. We don’t pass through a fiscal sponsor. We don’t charge annual minimums. We don’t sell add-ons.
• Annual fee transparency report. Once a year, in plain English: total fees retained, total passed through to orgs, any rate changes. You can request a copy below.

We’re honest about the tradeoff: a tip-funded platform can look “free” when a generous donor tips 15%. If every donor tipped, that platform would beat us. If no donor tipped, we’d beat it. The real median is in between — and it’s closer to us than the “0% platform” marketing suggests.

Questions we get

Request our annual report

We publish our fee retention and pass-through totals once a year, in plain English. Give us an address and we’ll send it to you as soon as the next edition lands.

Sources

All rates verified April 2026 from primary sources. Email us if you spot an error.

1. Rally Raise Terms — Fees section. Flat 3%, graduated, disclosed pre-submit. Self-reference.
2. Donorbox Pricing — Standard plan 1.75% platform fee, processing by Stripe/PayPal on top.
3. Givebutter Pricing — 0% platform; tip-funded with default ~15% suggestion at checkout.
4. Classy Pricing — Essentials tier published rate; enterprise tiers by contract.
5. Network for Good / DonorPerfect — subscription model; fees depend on annual package.
6. GoFundMe + Classy merger coverage — nonprofit fundraising consolidated into Classy (2023).
7. PayPal Giving Fund — 0% platform and 0% processing for eligible charities; grant-out ~15–45 days.
8. Council on Foundations and individual community foundation published admin schedules. Typical admin 1–2%, higher for restricted pass-throughs.
9. Fidelity Charitable — published admin fee (0.6% or $100 minimum), investment fees separate.
10. Meta Fundraising — 0% platform; availability and processing vary by region.
11. AFP Code of Ethical Standards, Standard No. 21: members shall not accept compensation based on a percentage of contributions.
12. Chronicle of Philanthropy — ongoing coverage of fundraising platform pricing trends.
13. National Philanthropic Trust DAF Report — aggregate DAF fee benchmarks, annual.
14. The Nilson Report — card processor rate tracking 2020–2025.

If this page changes your mind, or doesn’t, we’d rather you have the numbers than not. Thanks for reading.