Nearly Free Model: A new addition to our pricing family for more flexibility at no cost.
Crowdfunding Advisors, FundRazr Team
FundRazr is excited to announce an addition to our family of pricing models! Some of you may remember that last year we introduced Free Fundraising for organizations and since then more than a thousand organizations raised money for free using this pricing model. After the success of our Simply Free Plan, our team decided to extend this concept to give our professional fundraisers even more flexibility and power.
From now on, fundraisers will have the opportunity to select between three pricing models: Simply Free, Nearly Free and Not Free.
Simply Free Model remains the same but fundraisers will now have full access to our entire suite of functionality. With Simply Free Model, fundraisers only pay payment processing fees. They can run an unlimited number of campaigns with no setup, monthly or annual fees. To cover operational costs of the platform, FundRazr relies on optional tips coming from donors.
Not Free Model. It is an industry-standard option when fundraisers pay a commission on funds raised (5%). With Standard model, donors are not asked for an optional tip. Fundraisers also pay third-party payment processing fees. With Not Free model, fundraisers get full access to the entire functionality and can also run an unlimited number of campaigns with no setup, monthly or annual fees.
Nearly Free Model is our newest addition to the pricing models family. Nearly Free Model extends the concept of community paying the fees and maximizes the flexibility to optimize the fees. This is a powerful tool in the hands of professional fundraisers which offers them flexibility and customization of the pricing according to organizational preferences. With Nearly Free model, fundraisers can fully or partially recover both the platform and payment processing fees with the help of their community. You can add up to three custom Nearly Free models and apply them to different types of campaigns. With Nearly Free model, fundraisers can run an unlimited number of campaigns with no monthly or annual fees and get access to the entire functionality.
Three key concepts about the new pricing models:
- There are no upgrades or limits to the functionality of the platform based on the selected pricing model. You get the entire power toolset including sophisticated peer-to-peer, DIY and other types of innovative campaigns right away regardless of the pricing model. All customers who currently run campaigns on Simply Free Pricing Plan and have functionality limitations, will notice that locked functionality is now available and ready to use. Now you can pick any of three pricing models based solely on your own preference. The only limitation is a recurring giving campaign that cannot be enabled on Simply Free Model (we simply can’t ask donors for a tip every month). You can find a platform toolset list here.
- Mixing and matching pricing models. Fundraisers can set a default pricing model on the organizational level and all new campaigns will inherit the defaulted pricing model. However, different pricing models can be selected for different campaigns which means that you can pick the pricing model that works best for a particular type of a campaign. A common use of multiple custom models is to test the appetite of your community for recovering a higher percentage of your fees. Some nonprofits are able to recover 100% of their platform and payment processing fees which makes their online fundraising completely free to use and manage.
- You may have noticed that we don’t say pricing plan, instead we say pricing model. It is a deliberate choice of words. When you select a pricing plan, it implies that you make an upfront choice of the functionality you need and have to plan ahead your monthly budget for the technology. With FundRazr, we don’t charge any upfront or monthly fees and we don’t restrict your access to platform functionality. Instead we let you model and design pricing that works best for your organization and your community.
Where can you find and edit your pricing models?
You can select and edit the pricing model at an organizational level.
On a campaign level, you can only select the pricing model.
On an organizational level:
Go to ORGANIZATION > click EDIT > PRICING MODELS > Set a DEFAULT Pricing Model or click on ADD a Nearly Free Model to create your own pricing model.
The default pricing model you select on the organizational level will assign a default pricing model on a campaign level. You can manually change the model on the campaign level.
On a campaign level:
To change or select pricing on a campaign level, click EDIT > FUNDING AND DEADLINE > scroll all the way to the bottom to Pricing Model section > click CHANGE MODEL.
Please, keep in mind that you can’t create a Custom Nearly Free Model on the campaign level.
How to add your own Nearly Free model
In order to add a custom Nearly Free Model, click ORGANIZATION > click ADD a NEARLY FREE Model > create a name of your model, select fee recovery percentage (min 25% – max 150%), and optional description that will be visible to organization managers > click SAVE CHANGES.
Congratulations! ? You have just added your custom Nearly Free Model. Your Nearly Model appears on the list of pricing models. You can now use and assign it to your campaigns.
How it works
How is the fee recovery amount calculated?
The additional fee recovery amount is the total of the Platform fee and typical third-party payment processing fees multiplied by your chosen Fee recovery rate. Because of possible variances in the third-party processing fees, the requested fee recovery amount should be considered an approximation of the actual fees.
What if a contributor doesn’t pay the additional amount?
If a contributor chooses not to pay the fee recovery amount, the Platform and third-party payment processing fees for their contributions are charged to the recipient (organization).
Fee recovery & tax receipts
The fee recovery amount paid by the contributor will appear in applicable tax receipts offered by the recipient.
Can an organization switch to a different plan after launching their campaign?
Yes. You can switch to a different Nearly Free Model with a different recovery percentage model or even switch with Simply Free or Not Free model.
What contributors see when an organization runs a campaign with a Nearly Free model?
During the donation process, contributors will see an additional line of text that says “Pay the processing fees” with the automatically calculated amount based on the fee recovery conditions defined by an organization.
How can I see if my community is helping me to recover the fees?
Your information about recovered amounts is available in the transaction report.
Below are three fee recovery examples: 100% (full recovery), 25% (minimum recovery), 150% (earn extra money)
100% fee recovery example
If contributors recover 100% of the fees, an organization will receive all funds raised. Both platform and payment processing fees are recovered.
| Contribution amount | Platform fee | Processing fees | Fee recovery | Net amount |
| $10 | $0.50 | $0.59 | $1.09 | $10.00 |
| $25 | $1.25 | $1.02 | $2.27 | $25.00 |
| $50 | $2.50 | $1.75 | $4.25 | $50.00 |
| $100 | $5.00 | $3.20 | $8.20 | $100.00 |
| $500 | $25.00 | $14.80 | $39.80 | $500.00 |
Notes
1 The Platform fee is 5%.
2 Total of typical third-party variable processing fee (2.9%) and typical fixed payment processing fee ($0.30).
3 Total of Platform and typical processing fees multiplied by your chosen fee recovery rate (100%).
4 Net amount when contributor pays fee recovery amount. If actual third-party payment processing fees vary from typical, net amount will vary.
25% fee recovery example
With 25% fee recovery, an organization split the cost of the platform and payment processing fees with their community. The organization takes care of 75% of fees and their community covers 25%.
| Contribution amount | Platform fee | Processing fees | Fee recovery | Net amount |
| $10 | $0.50 | $0.59 | $0.27 | $9.18 |
| $25 | $1.25 | $1.02 | $0.57 | $23.30 |
| $50 | $2.50 | $1.75 | $1.06 | $46.81 |
| $100 | $5.00 | $3.20 | $2.05 | $93.85 |
| $500 | $25.00 | $14.80 | $9.95 | $470.15 |
150% fee recovery example
Maximum recovery percentage is 150%. This option is for organizations with a generous community. With 150% fee recovery, organizations may even earn a bit more money. Using the platform and crowdfunding becomes cheaper than free.
| Contribution amount | Platform fee | Processing fees | Fee recovery | Net amount |
| $10 | $0.50 | $0.59 | $1.64 | $10.55 |
| $25 | $1.25 | $1.02 | $3.41 | $26.14 |
| $50 | $2.50 | $1.75 | $6.38 | $52.13 |
| $100 | $5.00 | $3.20 | $12.30 | $104.10 |
| $500 | $25.00 | $14.80 | $59.70 | $519.90 |
Why we designed pricing this way
FundRazr’s mission is to create the most powerful digital fundraising system for free or as close to it as possible. Daryl Hatton, CEO and Founder of FundRazr explains our new pricing:
Have questions or need more information?
Our experienced crowdfunding strategists will help you answer questions and decide which pricing model will bring the best results for your organization.
