Administrative Fees for donations

Heather Griffin

Question: Does the development office deduct administrative fees from gift records or does the financial office handle the fees on their records? We are looking at adding administrative fees to designated gifts and I'm wondering how other institutions are handling the fees on the business end. We are trying to figure out if it is common practice to charge the fee to the donor (as long as we notify upfront) or if others have had pushback from donors. Example if Development Office handles on the front end: Donor gifts $100 but we charge a 5% administrative fee so the gift receipt notes a gift amount of $95 instead of $100.