Givebutter’s Hidden Fees

Givebutter claims to offer nonprofits, schools and other organizations a free fundraising platform thanks to “optional donor tips,” which it describes as “an easy way for people to support Givebutter’s free and transparent business model.”

But for those actually making the donations, tipping may not seem optional – if they’re even aware they’re leaving a tip at all.

After receiving a consumer complaint, TINA.org found that donors have to affirmatively opt-out of tipping Givebutter as the for-profit company automatically adds a tip for itself to every donation. In addition, Givebutter charges processing fees on every transaction but doesn’t make it clear to donors that they can waive those fees as well.

Take, for example, this active Givebutter fundraising campaign for MilVet, a California-based nonprofit that sends monthly care packages to deployed military members and assists veterans by helping them file for VA benefits, among other things.

On Givebutter, a $500 donation to MilVet quickly turns into a $590 transaction after the platform automatically adds a 15% tip for itself, on top of a $15.24 processing fee.

Not only is the tip amount reflected as a percentage instead of a total dollar amount, but the options to omit the tip and processing fee are not obvious. (For step-by-step instructions on how to remove these added fees, click here.)

In addition, as shown below, the total amount of the transaction – after the fee and tip are automatically added – is only revealed after donors have entered their payment information.

Also, donors who try to remove the processing fee are presented with the following misleading message:

Payment processors take a cut of each transaction. With Givebutter, you have the option to cover these fees.

What Givebutter does not disclose to donors along with this message is that if they don’t pay the processing fee, the organization will still receive their full donation. In fact, Givebutter tells fundraisers that “If donors don’t cover processing fees, Givebutter covers them, and you receive 100% of your earnings.”

Of note, Givebutter also provides its services to organizations selling event tickets. The same fee issues described above are present in such cases as well, which may implicate the FTC’s rule regarding deceptive fees in the live-event ticketing industry.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, consumers have filed complaints on a variety of platforms – including Reddit, the BBB and Trustpilot – reporting that they weren’t expecting these additional charges and that the options to remove them were easy to miss.

Consumers have also taken their complaints to court. In April, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Givebutter for automatically adding tips and processing fees without proper disclosure or affirmative consent.

Givebutter did not respond to a request for comment.

The bottom line

If you want to donate money to an organization, consider reaching out to the organization to find out if you can donate directly rather than going through a third-party, for-profit service. And keep an eye out for sneaky fees before checking out.

Find more of our coverage on charities.