specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Donorbox
providerId: donorbox
created: '2026-07-03'
modified: '2026-07-03'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Nonprofit
- Fundraising
- Donations
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Donorbox spend for a nonprofit organization. There is no
  metered cost tied to API calls themselves - the API is either bundled into
  the Pro/Premium monthly subscription or (per older documentation) a flat
  $17/month add-on. The dominant, variable cost driver is instead the
  platform fee charged as a percentage of each donation, ticket sale,
  membership payment, or peer-to-peer contribution processed through
  Donorbox, layered on top of the separate Stripe/PayPal payment-processing
  fee for the same transaction. Higher-tier plans trade a fixed monthly
  subscription for a lower percentage fee, which becomes cost-effective once
  transaction volume is high enough.
notes: >-
  Reconcile actual per-transaction platform-fee and processor-fee rates
  against your live Donorbox account, since published ranges vary by product
  (donation forms vs. ticketing/memberships/peer-to-peer) and by payment
  processor. The $17/month legacy API add-on figure from the GitHub README
  was not confirmed against current billing.
sources:
- https://donorbox.org/pricing
- https://donorbox.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020292992-How-much-does-Donorbox-cost-What-are-its-fees
- https://github.com/donorbox/donorbox-api
- 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: Donorbox
serviceCategory: Nonprofit Fundraising and Payments
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Usage-Based (transaction fee) plus optional flat subscription
  billingFrequency: Per-transaction fee charged at time of donation/purchase; subscription (Pro/Premium) billed monthly or annually
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
  - Tax
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Donorbox
  ServiceCategory: Nonprofit Fundraising and Payments
  ProviderName: Donorbox
  PublisherName: Donorbox
  InvoiceIssuerName: Donorbox
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Usage-Based
meters:
- name: donation_platform_fee
  description: Percentage fee charged on donation forms, donation pages, QuickDonate, and org-run peer-to-peer contributions (2.95% Standard, 1.75% Pro, 1.6% Premium).
  unit: percent_of_transaction
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - campaign
  - plan_tier
- name: ticketing_platform_fee
  description: Percentage fee charged on event ticketing, memberships, and supporter-run peer-to-peer transactions (3.95% Standard, 2% Pro/Premium).
  unit: percent_of_transaction
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - event
  - plan_tier
- name: payment_processor_fee
  description: Separate Stripe/PayPal processing fee charged on the same transaction (e.g. ~2.2% + $0.30 for card payments via Stripe), independent of Donorbox's own platform fee.
  unit: percent_plus_fixed
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - processor
- name: plan_subscription
  description: Monthly or annual subscription fee for the Pro ($150/month) or Premium (custom) plan tier, which also gates API and Zapier access.
  unit: month
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
- name: addon_fees
  description: Optional add-ons such as Text-to-Give ($19-$50/month) and Donorbox Live Kiosk ($15-$820/month or year depending on tier and device count).
  unit: month
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - addon
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track platform-fee percentage and processor-fee percentage separately per transaction type (donation vs. ticketing vs. membership) to see true effective cost per dollar raised.
- name: Allocation
  description: Attribute platform and processor fees to individual campaigns/events via the Campaigns, Donations, and Events API resources so program teams see net (post-fee) revenue.
- name: Optimization
  description: Model the break-even point between staying on Standard (0% subscription, higher fee%) versus upgrading to Pro/Premium (fixed subscription, lower fee%) based on monthly donation volume; encourage ACH/bank transfer where supported to reduce card-processing fees.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign a finance owner to reconcile monthly Donorbox payouts against the Donations API export, accounting for both the platform fee and the processor fee per transaction.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com