specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Zeffy
providerId: zeffy
created: '2026-07-05'
modified: '2026-07-05'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Fundraising
- Nonprofit
- Free
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Zeffy spend. Zeffy is unusual: it charges nonprofits nothing -
  no platform, transaction, or credit-card fees - and the public API and
  webhooks are free with no per-request charges. Zeffy is funded by optional
  tips left by donors at checkout. From a nonprofit consumer's perspective there
  is effectively no vendor invoice for using Zeffy or its API; the only
  "cost" is the optional donor tip, which is a donor-side choice rather than a
  billed line item to the organization.
notes: >-
  There is no metered API cost to allocate or optimize. Verify current terms on
  zeffy.com.
sources:
- https://www.zeffy.com/
- https://www.zeffy.com/integration/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: Zeffy
serviceCategory: Fundraising and Payments
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Free
  billingFrequency: None
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Zeffy
  ServiceCategory: Fundraising and Payments
  ProviderName: Zeffy
  PublisherName: Zeffy
  InvoiceIssuerName: Zeffy
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Usage
  PricingCategory: Free
meters:
- name: api_requests
  description: Public API requests, capped at 100 per minute per key; not billed.
  unit: requests
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - apiKey
- name: donor_tips
  description: Optional tips donors leave at checkout that fund Zeffy; donor-side, not billed to the nonprofit.
  unit: currency
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track API usage against the 100 req/min limit; there is no monetary cost to attribute.
- name: Allocation
  description: No billed API cost to allocate across teams or workloads.
- name: Optimization
  description: Optimize for rate-limit headroom (batch reads, paginate efficiently) rather than for cost.
- name: Accountability
  description: Owners monitor API key usage and webhook reliability; there is no vendor invoice to reconcile.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com