How Church Giving Fees Actually Work

Every online gift costs something to process.

The real questions are who created the fee, who receives it, who pays it, and whether the percentage includes a hidden markup.

Those distinctions matter.

A giving provider can say it has "no platform fee" while earning a percentage of every gift. Another can say the donor covers the fee while quietly setting that fee above the true processing cost. A third can charge a percentage on bank account gifts even though the underlying transaction has no percentage-based processing cost.

The rate printed on a pricing page does not tell you the true cost of giving until you understand the business model behind it.

This guide explains complete fee structures and gives you a practical way to compare providers.

The Four Possible Costs in an Online Gift

1. Card Network and Processor Costs

When someone gives with a credit or debit card, card networks and payment processors charge for moving the money and managing the transaction infrastructure.

This cost is real. A giving platform cannot make it disappear.

The exact rate may depend on the processing agreement, card type, and other factors. The important question is whether the giving provider passes through that rate or increases it.

2. Provider Markup or Revenue Share

Many giving providers add a percentage above the processing cost and keep the difference. This is often called revenue sharing or rev share.

Here is an illustrative example:

• Underlying processing percentage: 2.0%
• Rate shown by the giving provider: 2.9%
• Difference retained through the provider's model: 0.9%

When the provider earns a percentage of each gift, the church's giving volume becomes the provider's revenue engine.

3. Flat Transaction Fees

A provider or processor may charge a fixed amount for each transaction in addition to or instead of a percentage.

For example, a transaction might include a percentage component, a flat component, or both. Nucleus bank account gifts use a flat $0.25 fee without a percentage-based fee.

Flat fees have a greater percentage effect on small gifts than large ones. A $0.25 fee is 2.5% of a $10 gift and 0.025% of a $1,000 gift.

4. Subscription and Administrative Fees

The giving system may also include:

• Monthly software subscription
• Setup or activation fees
• Compliance fees
• Chargeback fees
• Deposit or payout fees
• Statement or reporting costs
• Contract minimums

These should be evaluated separately from processing costs.

Nucleus Giving is included in the Complete Nucleus plan alongside the website, communications system, and Nucleus Media. Nucleus earns its software revenue through the monthly plan cost, leaving the processing percentage unchanged by Nucleus as giving volume grows.

Why ACH Should Be Evaluated Separately

ACH moves money directly from a bank account. It does not use the credit card network, so it does not carry the same percentage-based card cost.

Some providers still charge a percentage on ACH gifts. Providers generally choose whether to add this percentage as part of their revenue model.

With Nucleus Giving:

• ACH has no percentage-based fee
• An ACH gift costs a flat $0.25

How Nucleus Handles Card Fees

Card transactions still carry a percentage cost, and Nucleus presents that cost directly.

That cost is 2.3% and comes from the processing ecosystem. Nucleus passes the percentage through unchanged and keeps none of the gift.

On a $100 card gift, a 2.3% percentage equals $2.30.

The Opt-in Model Used by Many Providers

Many giving forms handle fee coverage like this:

1. The church is responsible for the transaction fee by default.
2. The giver sees an optional box asking whether they want to add extra money to cover it.
3. If the giver does nothing, the fee comes out of the amount the church receives.

The giver must opt in to covering the fee.

This model can produce two outcomes:

• Many givers leave the option unchanged, so the church absorbs the fee.
• A giver covers a marked-up percentage that may include revenue for the provider.

The Nucleus Opt-Out Model

Nucleus reverses the default.

1. The card processing cost is shown to the giver by default.
2. The giver can continue with the card at its true processing cost.
3. The giver can avoid the percentage entirely by choosing bank account giving for $0.25.

The giver can opt out of the percentage by choosing the lower-cost method.

This design presents the real card cost and gives the person a clear choice.

Because the lowest-cost option is easy and visible, ACH represents a large share of giving through the system. In the 2025 dataset, bank account gifts accounted for approximately 70% of total giving volume in Nucleus.

The choices and defaults inside the giving experience shape whether people use cards or ACH.

Who Actually Pays the Fee?

There are two groups to consider:

• The giver
• The church

A platform may advertise that the church pays almost nothing while donors pay a high marked-up fee. Another may advertise a low donor fee while deducting costs from the church's deposits.

Looking at only one side can make an expensive system appear inexpensive.

That is why Nucleus tracks the combined effective rate: all giving transaction costs paid by churches and givers, divided by the total amount donated through the platform.

Across the data we collected on gifts given on Nucleus between 2020-2025, our combined effective rate is approximately 0.62%. Individual churches will vary based on gift amounts, card use, ACH use, and which party pays each cost.

This is a more honest comparison because it asks how much money was lost to transaction costs in total, regardless of which person paid it.

How to Calculate Your Effective Giving Rate

Use this formula:

Total transaction costs paid by the church and givers ÷ total gifts processed × 100

Example:

• Total gifts: $100,000
• Fees deducted from church deposits: $450
• Fees paid by givers: $300
• Combined costs: $750

$750 ÷ $100,000 = 0.0075, or a 0.75% combined effective rate

Include:

• Card percentage costs
• Card flat fees
• ACH costs
• Provider revenue share
• Other transaction-specific charges

Keep monthly software costs separate so you can evaluate the processing model and the software subscription clearly.

Questions to Ask Every Giving Provider

• What is the card percentage?
• Is that the underlying processing cost or a marked-up rate?
• Does your company retain any part of the percentage?
• Is there a flat card transaction fee?
• What is the ACH percentage?
• What is the flat ACH fee?
• Who pays each fee by default?
• Can the giver choose a lower-cost method easily?
• What percentage of actual gifts use ACH?
• What is the combined effective rate across your platform?
• What monthly, compliance, chargeback, and administrative fees apply?
• Are rates locked by contract or subject to change?
• What happens if we leave?

If a provider cannot explain its revenue model clearly, the pricing page is not clear enough.

The Bottom Line

Every card gift has a real processing cost. The issue is whether the provider adds another percentage and participates in it.

Every church should know:

• The true processing rate
• The provider's markup
• The ACH cost
• Who pays by default
• The platform's actual payment-method mix
• The combined effective rate

More money stays available for ministry when the giving provider earns its revenue from useful software.

Nucleus charges for the software platform. Processing rates pass through without a Nucleus markup, and Nucleus keeps none of your church's gifts.

Explore Nucleus Giving, review the 2026 Church Giving Statistics, or compare Nucleus plans.

If your church is preparing to move providers, use How to Switch Church Giving Providers Without Losing Momentum to plan the transition.