specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Donately
providerId: donately
created: '2026-07-05'
modified: '2026-07-05'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Fundraising
- Donations
- Nonprofit
- Payments
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Donately spend. Donately's cost model is a platform fee taken
  as a percentage of each processed donation (4% Standard, 2% Growth at $99/mo,
  0% Scale for a $5,000 prepayment up to $1M raised), stacked on top of payment
  processing fees charged separately by Stripe and PayPal (roughly 2.2-2.9% +
  $0.30 per card transaction; Stripe ACH 0.8% capped at $5). The REST API itself
  carries no separate metered fee - API usage does not appear on the invoice;
  cost is driven entirely by donation volume and the chosen platform-fee tier.
  Donors may optionally cover the platform fee at checkout, and offline
  donations carry no fee.
notes: >-
  Platform-fee tiers confirmed from donately.com/pricing on 2026-07-05. Payment
  processing fees are billed by the processor (Stripe/PayPal), not by Donately,
  and should be tracked as a separate line item. Reconcile exact processing
  rates and any donor-covered-fee offsets during a costing exercise.
sources:
- https://www.donately.com/pricing
- https://www.donately.com/
- https://developer.donately.com/
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Donately
serviceCategory: Fundraising and Payments
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Donately
  ServiceCategory: Fundraising and Payments
  ProviderName: Donately
  PublisherName: Donately
  InvoiceIssuerName: Donately
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
meters:
- name: platform_fee
  description: Percentage platform fee applied to each processed donation (4% / 2% / 0% by tier).
  unit: percent_of_donation
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - campaign
  - plan
- name: monthly_subscription
  description: Flat monthly fee on the Growth plan ($99/month).
  unit: months
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: prepayment
  description: One-time $5,000 prepayment on the Scale plan for 0% platform fee up to $1M raised.
  unit: contract
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: payment_processing
  description: Card and ACH processing fees charged separately by Stripe/PayPal, not by Donately.
  unit: percent_of_donation
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - processor
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track platform fees per account/campaign and separate them from processor fees; monitor total effective take rate on gross donations.
- name: Allocation
  description: Attribute donations to campaigns and fundraisers so platform-fee cost maps to fundraising initiatives.
- name: Optimization
  description: Compare tiers against projected donation volume - Growth's $99/mo breaks even against Standard's 4% at moderate volume, and Scale's $5,000 prepay wins at high volume; enable donor-covered fees to offset platform cost.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign owners per campaign; review monthly gross donations, platform fees, and processor fees against the chosen tier.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com