Cover Fees on Donation Station Pro: small change, big impact
Transparent journeys build trust — and trust grows income. If you use Donation Station Pro, enabling Cover Fees lets donors voluntarily include a small amount to offset costs. Here’s how it works, why supporters like it, and how to switch it on.
What is the 'Cover Fees' feature?
Cover Fees is an optional setting on Donation Station Pro that invites a donor to add a little extra to their gift to help offset card processing costs.
It keeps the choice with the donor and makes the ask transparent and easy to understand.
What does it ask the donor to do?
- After choosing an amount, the donor sees a clear, optional prompt.
- Donors can choose to cover the transaction fees (the device automatically calculates their new donation total.
- Or they can choose not to cover the transaction fees and continue with their original donation amount.
- The donor simply need to tap the appropriate button and tap their card.
What happens payment-wise?
- If the donor opts in, their total charge increases by the GWD Transaction Fee Rate (e.g. £10 gift + £0.23 cover = £10.23 charged).
- The payment is authorised as one transaction; there aren’t separate charges.
- Your settlement and reports show the single total received for that donation, with the top-up included.
The feature helps more of the donor’s intended gift reach you by offsetting processing costs.
Why use it?
How do you switch the feature on?
| Donors | Charities |
|---|---|
| Clear, simple wording on-screen | Boosts income and reduces running costs |
| Donor keeps control — it’s optional | Around 60-70% of donors cover fees when asked, so why not ask? |
| Aligns with a commitment to transparency | With new compliance from the Fundraising Regulator from November 1st 2025, this is another way to demonstrate compliance |
Contact our Support Team and they’ll get it enabled in around two hours.
Where to learn more?
- Fundraising Code guide: what’s in scope, wording, and our trust commitment.
- Visit the Help Centre: find guides on optimising your devices and troubleshooting articles on the go.
Who are GWD?
We help socially-minded organisations transition to digital systems, building stronger relationships through impactful products and services.
Our experience goes back two decades, with a foundation building and providing critical digital services and products for the financial services and retail industries.
With a long-proven ability to handle challenging projects and a team of trusted experts, we work hard to solve problems and deliver change that helps others.
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