Voluntary Contribution Defaults to $0
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Christine
Michel (Product @Zeffy): It's not over. Your Zeffy Tap-to-Pay defaults to 15% and is still stuck in the old way where the user has to select "Other" and input Zero. Can you please fix this?
Michel (Product @Zeffy)
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Dear users,
Thank you for sharing your feedback on Zeffy's voluntary contribution. We've heard you, and we want to share what we've done to address your concerns.
The biggest update — self-refund for donors:
If a donor didn't intend to leave a contribution to Zeffy, they can now get an instant refund on their own, directly from their confirmation email. No need to contact you or us. This was a highly requested improvement, and it's now live for all donors.We've also improved the checkout experience.
Over the past 2 years, we tested different copy, layouts, and default options to make the contribution clearer. Our current checkout now:- Clearly shows the contribution is separate from the donation to your organization
- Labels it as "(optional)" so donors know they can change it
- Better explains the impact of contributing to the Zeffy platform
Finding the right balance to remain 100% free for nonprofits:
After testing many alternatives, we believe our current approach is the best balance between being transparent about our model and allowing us to continue offering Zeffy at no cost. But we know there's always room to improve.What's next:
We're closing this request, but this topic remains important to us. We've opened two new, more specific feature requests:- Make Zeffy's voluntary contribution clearer— Share your ideas on how the contribution could be presented differently in the checkout
- Smaller default voluntary Zeffy contribution amount— Share your thoughts on how default amounts could work better
We've already tried a lot but we would gladly welcome new ideas that we could test.
Thanks again for taking the time to share your feedbacks and suggestions!
The Zeffy Team 💙
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Lisa
The default suggested fee of 17% has been noted as exorbitant by our donors. If Zeffy wants to set a default contribution, aligning it with PayPal or similar platforms' fees is essential. As such, our donors are refusing to use the Zeffy platform to participate and we have cancelled our larger membership and donor campaign. It has led my board to reconsider using this platform. We are back to writing checks, sadly. Changes as recommended in this stream would create a more inclusive experience and help us to regain donor trust. Please, please, please look at this critical matter as soon as possible. I love your business model and want to retain you as our payment processor in perpetuity.
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Darren
As a nonprofit that primarily serves visually impaired individuals, having an intuitive and accessible donation form is essential. Many of our donors rely on screen readers, which do not always interact well with the current dropdown design for adjusting or opting out of the suggested fee. As a result, some donors unintentionally include an extra charge, and we often receive follow-up emails asking why they were charged more than expected.
The default suggested fee of 17% is also quite high, especially considering that Stripe’s processing fees are typically around 3%. If Zeffy wants to set a default contribution, aligning it with Stripe or similar platforms' fees would be more reasonable.
Additionally, adding a radio button with a clear “Not at this time” option would improve accessibility and ease of use. I’ve received multiple complaints from donors about the current setup, and it has led my board to reconsider using this platform.
I’d love to see Zeffy meet us halfway by either lowering the default suggested fee, setting it to zero, or providing a more accessible opt-out option. These changes would create a more inclusive experience and help maintain donor trust.
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Trésorier -
I would like to have the default voluntary contribution of 0$ with options to add more. I don't think you will, but at the very least there should be an option or click and put 0$ if it's really voluntary as you say, otherwise it's quite misleading for those using the payment method for the first time, believe me, they won't come back anymore, especially with default contributions of 17%!
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Debora
We've had several complaints regarding the default display for 17% voluntary contribution.
- 17% is incredibly high.
- We chose Zeffy over other platforms because of the fees being optional for donors/customers. The new design does not make it look voluntary, which is deterring many of our customers/donors from utilizing our online forms on Zeffy.
I completely understand that Zeffy relies on fees to remain free for non-profits,, but the percentages should be much, much lower, and there should be a $0/ "no thank you" option for donors.
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Diana
Agreed!
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Lloyd
I do agree, but add verbiage that Zeffy relies on fees to keep this platform free to non-profits, by contributing to fees helps with 100% of your donation goes to your cause. At the end of the day, Zeffy still needs to make money for operating this platform.
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Franca
Another platform uses the following wording: "This donation is powered by [NAME OF PLATFORM] and has a 0% platform fee and relies on your generous support to operate." The percent fee is then available through a drop down menu for selection of the contribution of which 0 is one of them. Is it possible to address this in a similar way and to address this item as an important one (i.e., move it up on the priority list)?
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Rebecca
I completely agree. The default should be zero. If you (Zeffy) won't do that, there should be a clear, bolded prompt that if you don't choose "other" you will be paying an additional fee that will go to Zeffy and not to the nonprofit. Zeffy is not being transparent here.
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Admin
We agree, this would be extremely helpful and would keep us using Zeffy. The majority of our donors tend to be 65 years old and over, so we try to keep our donation forms as streamlined and user-friendly as possible. We have had multiple complaints from donors who haven't noticed that a percentage is automatically added for Zeffy unless they select otherwise. This has left a lot of our donors feeling scammed by us, and prompted them to request refunds that we have paid out of our own pocket. We are a small nonprofit, and we really don't have the manpower or resources to deal with this. We were so excited about Zeffy when we first started using the platform, but we are now seriously considering a switch because of the break in trust this feature has caused with our donors.
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