@D Thank you for your suggestion. Blackbaud has no plans to remove the preselected checkbox for Complete Cover. Blackbaud takes on the risk of donor opt-outs with Complete Cover, and preselection is one of the levers we use to balance conversion rate, opt-in rate, and ask amount so that the model works across all customers who choose to use Complete Cover. We do offer a choice of fee-offset options by offering Donor Cover, though, so an org seeing your refund pattern may choose to pick a configuration that better fits your risk and donor-experience needs.

Well then. Please disregard my previous comment. If you're not also removing the preselected check box in Complete Cover, we'll have to continue issuing full refunds to assuage donors who are shocked when they see how much extra their credit card was charged above the amount of their actual donation. Why not do us all a favor and stop the deceptive auto opt-in across the board?

@jenna This will be for donor cover only at this time.

Will this be the case for Complete Cover as well?

Thank you for addressing our concerns. We'll be looking forward to seeing opt-in become a reality for our donors.

We'll be releasing the ability for customers to determine whether they want donors to opt-in or opt-out in September!

So dissappointed that this is still not an option. I check back periodically because we would really like to implement this but without the choice for the box to be unchecked we can just not ethically use this.

Until an opt-in (unchecked by default) option is available, we will not adopt or enable Donor Cover within our organization.

One of our donors didn't notice the message inviting him to opt out when he was negotiating the donate page and was outraged to discover his donation was rather more costly than he'd intended. He described it as a tax on generosity. The communication feels dishonest and has caused such bad feeling. Please have a system where the donor can choose to opt in.

It is also deceptive and unclear for many people, because it appears on the same page as the card details, so they are busy filling that in and don't necessarily see that there is an option. A clear question with the option to opt in would make a real difference.

We, unfortunately, have had many complaints from this box feature. Long-time donors reaching out questioning whether we should switch donation providers due to very high "fees". It is unclear to them that this is an additional donation.

Blackbaud, please uncheck the box! We just switched to Blackbaud 3 months ago and have been fielding complaints from our longtime donors ever since. Please don't put out any content about putting donors first until this issue is fixed. And please fix it.

It looks really dishonest to tack optional fees on, rather than having donors opt IN, and not mentioned that they are “processing fees”. This UI is not something we want on our donate page. It is way too easy for donors to miss and again, is not an Opt-in but rather an active Opt-out that donors have to catch in order to not be charged for covering the fees.

As many others have mentioned, Blackbaud's practice of making the donor un-check the "pay fee" box is deceptive, as so many online donors don't realize it until it's too late. Then they complain to us, thinking we're the culprits. This is causing bad feelings with some of our long-time donors, causing us to waste time and potentially lose donations because all we can do is apologize, refund their entire donation, and ask them to try again or donate using another means. We have put disclaimers on our website, but people still don't pay attention because having to uncheck a box to avoid paying fees is simply something they're not accustomed to being required to do.

Not only is this practice deceptive, but we can't even see what our donors are being charged by Blackbaud! The credit card processing fees don't show anywhere in BBMS transactions or reports, and there doesn't seem to be a way the emailed credit card transaction receipts can be sent to us as well as to the donor, so all we can do is ask the donor to forward their email receipt to us (our proof that they were charged processing fees), then refund the entire transaction and ask them to redo their online donation or donate another way.

I have to wonder why this issue has been ongoing for such a long time, with no resolution in sight. Online donating should make life easier for both the donor and the nonprofit agency. Instead, it has become a complicated, frustrating time suck that seems to be designed with only Blackbaud's profits in mind.

I imagine that causing us to issue a high rate of refunds will eventually result in increased processing fees, but what else can we do if Blackbaud won't uncheck that box and leave it up to the donor whether or not they wish to cover any fees?

We have had so many complaints from donors about the sneakiness of this feature, it is burning bridges. Please fix this.

We have also had complaints form donors as well; It may seem small but it is a turn off for our constituents. This has been an idea since 2022 and it seems like it is a very simple update coding wise to have the option to be Opt-In. Is there an update on this?

Please let the designer decide. It is very sneaky to have the donor uncheck/opt-out the box. We have had many complaints from donors as well.

This is important for my organization also. You could allow the form designer to decide whether the default is with the box checked or not checked. THANK YOU!

This is potentially harming the nonprofits that work with Blackbaud, causing them to lose donors and have their reputation questioned. It appears you have had many votes and comments in favor of this change/correction - I am a bit shocked that you haven't done anything to remedy the situation in over two years!!

This is not ethical, it is a way to blindside those who do not notice this feature. Should be removed asap, before customers are lost.