A no-fee giving experience when covered
When a sponsor funds eligible processing costs, donors can give without being asked to cover fees and the nonprofit can avoid absorbing that covered cost.
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Sapling Pay sponsorships
Sponsored fees, without separating the sponsor from the gift.
Sapling Pay sponsorships are built for programs where a sponsor helps cover eligible processing fees so donors do not have to add fees and the nonprofit does not have to absorb that covered cost.*
Sponsor context stays attached
Sapling can keep sponsor, program, gift, page, receipt, and reimbursement context together so the coverage is explainable later.
Receipt and notice language can match the flow
Sponsor messaging can appear where it helps donors understand why fees are covered, while staff keep the operational record inside Sapling.
How coverage works
The sponsor can cover the fee. Sapling keeps the trail.
Fee sponsorship should not become a spreadsheet beside the payment system. Sapling Pay keeps sponsor coverage close to donation pages, gifts, receipts, reimbursements, imports, and reconciliation.
- 1Sapling records the sponsor program and which giving surfaces are eligible.
- 2A donor gives through an eligible Sapling Pay path.
- 3The checkout can show that fees are covered by the sponsor instead of asking the donor to cover them.
- 4Sapling keeps the gift, processor reference, covered-fee amount, sponsor, receipt context, and reimbursement state available for review.
Fee structure
Coverage has to be honest about the underlying fees.
The donor-facing experience can be no-fee when coverage applies, but Sapling should still preserve the underlying economics for finance, sponsor stewardship, and audit review.
Regular donations
1.5% + $0.05
Event registrations and event gifts
2.0% + $0.05
Political contributions
To be announced
Memberships and dues
To be announced
Sponsor-covered fee paths
Program-specific
On top of Sapling’s fee, Stripe’s standard card processing fee is currently 2.9% + $0.30. Subsequent payment rail fees are to be announced.
*No-fee giving depends on an active sponsor coverage arrangement, eligible transaction scope, and available payment rails. Sponsor coverage may not apply to every donation page, event, payment method, refund, dispute, or special agreement.
Built for sponsor stewardship, not just checkout.
A sponsor-covered fee program should help the nonprofit thank the sponsor, explain the donor experience, reconcile the payments, and understand which campaigns or pages benefited from coverage. That is why the sponsorship layer belongs inside Sapling Pay instead of living as an isolated payment setting.
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