What It Cost$ to Give

What It Cost$ to Give

At the request of a number of our members, we have recently added Venmo as a method of giving money  to the Fellowship.  A number of you have been taking advantage of this new payment method. 

However, while convenient, you should be aware that Venmo extracts a fee for every transaction because Venmo considers us a business, regardless of our being a church and 501c3 charitable organization. 

Venmo’s fee is 1.9% + $0.10 for each transaction.  Here are some examples:

1.      If you contribute $5, Venmo keeps $0.19, and $4.81 is deposited to our account.

2.      If you contribute $10, Venmo keeps $0.29, and $9.71 is deposited.

3.      If you contribute $20, Venmo keeps $0.48, and $19.52 is deposited.

4.      If you contribute $100, Venmo keeps $2.00, and $98.00 is deposited.

5.      If you contribute $500, Venmo keeps $9.60, and $490.40 is deposited.

For small contributions, (5, 10, 20), the $0.10 part of the fee is more significant; for larger contributions, less so. 

The other method of on-line giving available to you is Simple Give, available on our website.  Simple Give is a subscription service for which we pay $49 each month, regardless of how much we receive; however, we receive 100% of what you contribute.  So the more we receive, the better the rate.  The amount we collect through Simple Give varies month to month, but the average over many months is about $1,200 per month.  So, as a percentage of what we receive,  the fee is about $49 / $1,200 = 4%

Finally, if you contribute using checks or cash, we receive 100% of your contribution without any fees. 

Rob Berthold

Treasurer

San Gabriel UU Fellowship