Lower your payment fees

Stripe and PayPal both charge registered charities less for each payment, but neither lowers your fees automatically. You have to ask. It takes about 10 minutes, and the discount isn't backdated, so it's worth doing as soon as you're set up.

Before you start

• You need your organization's own 501(c)(3) status, your EIN, and ideally your IRS determination letter.
• Only owners and admins can open Settings in Occam.

Stripe: 2.2% + 30¢ instead of 2.9% + 30¢

On $10,000 of donations, that's about $70 that stays with you.

Who qualifies: registered 501(c)(3)s whose Stripe payments are mostly tax-deductible donations. Stripe looks for at least 80% of your volume to be donations. If most of what you take is ticket sales, store orders or membership dues, Stripe may turn you down.

How to ask:

1. In Occam's sidebar, go to Settings. The Stripe Payments card shows your Stripe account ID, which starts acct_. Copy it.
2. Sign in to your Stripe dashboard and contact Stripe support. Ask for the nonprofit discount.
3. Give them your account ID, your organization's email on the Stripe account, your EIN or determination letter, and confirm that most of your payments are donations.

Stripe usually replies within a few business days. The new rate applies to payments from then on.

PayPal: 1.99% + 49¢ as a confirmed charity

If you take PayPal and Venmo through Occam, your payments go into your own PayPal Business account at PayPal's standard rate. Once PayPal confirms you as a charity, it charges less.

How to ask:

1. Sign in to your PayPal Business account.
2. Search PayPal's help for "confirmed charity" or "nonprofit pricing", and follow the steps to submit your 501(c)(3) documents.
3. When PayPal confirms you, the lower rate applies to your account. Check a payment in PayPal afterwards to see it.

Venmo payments made through Occam's Venmo button arrive in the same PayPal account. Check one after PayPal confirms you to see which rate it charged.

Venmo charity profile

Venmo also offers a free charity profile inside the Venmo app, at 1.9% + 10¢ a donation. It's separate from Occam: people pay you directly in the Venmo app, and those gifts don't appear in Occam on their own. If you use one, record those gifts by hand. See Record a check, cash or other offline gift.

What this means for "cover the processing fee"

When a donor ticks Cover processing fee on your donation form, Occam adds an estimate based on the standard rates: 2.9% + 30¢ for cards, and 3.49% + 49¢ for PayPal and Venmo. Occam doesn't know whether you're on a nonprofit rate.

On a nonprofit rate, the donor's extra amount will be a little more than your actual fee. The difference stays with you as part of the gift, so you're never short. See Payouts, fees and disputes.

Need a hand?

Email us at info@occam.gives if you get stuck.