Blackbaud Cover High Fees

Wynn Shawver

Hi All, Happy Giving Tuesday! I have received a few calls to inquire about the "extremely high fees" that our donors experienced when making their gift online. I called Blackbaud and was provided this article and an explanation that with Blackbaud Cover the donor is given multiple options to pay various amounts directly to Blackbaud in order to Blackbaud to cover it's administration. In other words, donors are solicited for a contribution to Blackbaud while making a gift to our organization. Do I understand this correctly?

I wonder if anyone is using Blackbaud Cover, and if so, if it would be better to use Org Cover instead. I also wonder if there is a way to simply cap the amount at covering the transaction fees which I believe would be less intimidating to donors. I received a few phone calls indicating the donors decided not to make a gift because it appeared to be fraud.

I'd welcome your expertise ASAP. Thanks!!

Alex Wong

@Wynn Shawver
can't speak for other org, but our org decided against using Complete Cover (Blackbaud cover). We do not want donor in any way divert from their original intent of donating to our org.

Wynn Shawver

This was the article:

Kerry Giorgi

@Wynn Shawver Just switched to organization covering the fees after we lost a $2,000 gift yesterday because Blackbaud has a pre-checked box asking for 8% of the donation to go to Blackbaud. The box is obviously designed in a way to not be obvious to the donor, I even had trouble noticing it. The donor was disgusted and so am I.

Wynn Shawver

@Alex Wong I went ahead and changed this. I think that's the right choice. Thank you for your response!

Wynn Shawver

@Kerry Giorgi I received a phone call with serious concerns from a first time donor. They opted not to do this…but were baffled why they were being solicited to make a contribution to Blackbaud. I would recommend that Blackbaud produce a more clear article with a complete description of the fees – and how they are selected for donors.

Dariel Dixon

@Wynn Shawver My org does Donor Cover, which allows the user to just pay for the fees themselves. I've never seen an organization that has enacted Complete Cover. I would be surprised if it's widely used. It does cause a lot of confusion, and every organization I've worked with has decided not to do it for similar reasons.

To that point though Wynn, you're fortunate that you heard this feedback from a donor. I'm sorry to hear about @Kerry Giorgi's situation. I hope you all contact your account executive/Blackbaud rep and let them know about these things. They keep pushing these things, and it's the default for new forms now for a lot of orgs. Making sure this is turned off is important if that is what your organization decides.

Emmet O'Conlon

@Wynn Shawver We opted for Donor Cover instead of Complete (Blackbaud) Cover exactly for the reason you cite: we did not like Blackbaud soliciting our donors, as well as the fear that donors could easily become confused by all this. Additionally, if I recall correctly, Complete Cover is actually incomplete, and has a cap on it, whereas Donor Cover does not.

Wynn Shawver

@Emmet OConlon In my limited observation yesterday, it appears the Blackbaud Cover was receiving around 8/9%. During my conversation with the representative I inquired but could not confirm whether they utilize the AI suggestion tool for the Blackbaud Cover. This tool customizes the potential charge/donation - it suggests a higher or lower amount - based on the estimated capacity of the individual.

(Related tangent issue: We have also opted not to use the AI suggested donation amounts on our donation forms as they have concerned our donors as well. The suggested giving amounts vary depending upon the browser a donor is using and the amounts suggested can appear quite irregular like $990 or $224.)

Linda Donnelly

@Wynn Shawver
We had similar complaints and the receipt we sent did not match the amount since Blackbaud received the additional payment it was not reflected in the gift. We changed to Donor cover, this way it is only the 3% (est) credit card fee and we receive the funds. We split the gift to put that money into an operating account to offset credit card fees. This way it is also reflected on the donors receipt. We have not received any complaints. (note they do have the option to uncheck the box in both instances and will not be changed any additional fees).