The short answer
Tell supporters whether fees are added to their payment or absorbed by your group, and show where they can check the total before paying. Separate payment fees from product and event costs. On Raised, the campaign's settings determine who pays card fees; check those settings and current pricing before publishing your message.
Check the real payment journey before writing the message.
Ask the organiser who controls the campaign to confirm its fee setting, available payment methods and currency. Open the supporter-facing page and inspect the checkout information without completing a payment. Use the current pricing page and the actual campaign settings together, rather than copying last year's newsletter.
Keep a note of what you checked and when. Someone who answers parent questions should be able to find the same information. If the checkout and your planned wording disagree, resolve that before sharing the fundraiser. A small unexplained difference at checkout can cause more questions than a clear explanation upfront.
Explain who pays, not just the percentage.
The useful question is what the supporter pays and what the group receives. A platform charge and a payment-processing charge may be separate. An optional choice to cover fees is also different from a fee automatically added to every payment.
Avoid describing a campaign as having no fees just because creating it has no cost. Use wording that matches the payment route your supporters will actually use. If several methods are available, explain any difference without implying that a manual payment is already paid or reconciled.
| Arrangement | What the supporter needs to know | What the organiser should budget |
|---|---|---|
| Fees added | The checkout total is higher than the base order or donation amount | Any remaining costs paid by the group |
| Fees absorbed | Fees are taken from the payment rather than added to its base amount | The amount left after those fees |
| Optional fee cover | Whether covering fees is a choice and how to change it | The result when someone chooses not to cover them |
| Manual payment offered | How to pay and which reference to use | Time to check and record receipt of the money |
Do not turn the fee rate into a misleading total.
Percentage and fixed charges can apply differently depending on the payment method and fee setting. Where processing is calculated on the full amount charged, adding a percentage to the base amount may not reproduce the checkout total. Link to the provider's worked example instead of inventing a shortcut.
You can explain the bookkeeping without quoting a rate. In an illustrative absorbed-fee example, if a supporter pays $50 and the actual payment record shows $4 in fees, $46 remains before any supplier or other costs. Those invented amounts explain the subtraction; they are not a Raised quote. For product sales, deduct the products, freight and other group expenses as well before describing the amount raised.
Give people a short explanation before checkout.
Put the explanation near the ordering or donation link in your newsletter. Use the same wording in any frequently asked questions and give supporters a way to ask privately. They should not need to understand payment processing to decide whether they want to contribute.
Choose one fee arrangement in this template. Remove the options that do not apply, replace the brackets, and check the final message against the campaign again.
Wording you can adapt
We are raising funds for [purpose]. For this campaign, card fees are [added at checkout / absorbed by our group]. Please review the total before confirming your payment. [If applicable: You can choose whether to cover fees.] Our fundraising result is the money left after [supplier costs and other expenses]. Current payment details are at [link]. For questions, contact [organiser].
Use actual records when reporting the result.
At the end, separate gross sales or donations, fees paid by the group, supplier costs and net proceeds. Thank supporters using the final reconciled figure, or label it provisional if payments are outstanding. Do not describe every dollar of a product purchase as a donation or promise a tax benefit based only on the fundraiser's purpose.
Use Raised's pricing and your campaign settings together.
Raised's NZ pricing page distinguishes added and absorbed card fees. It also explains that eligible product campaigns can accept cash or bank transfer without Raised platform or Stripe processing fees, while crowdfunding campaigns are card only.
Manual payments still need collection and reconciliation. Other bank charges, supplier costs and campaign expenses can apply. Check current rates and settings rather than treating an example as your quote.
Check Raised pricing and examplesRaiseFunds and Raised are made by the same team. We recommend Raised where its features fit the task. Check current fees and campaign settings before launching.
Sources and next steps
Product details were checked against the sources below on 15 November 2026. Planning examples are illustrative, not promised fundraising results.
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