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Author: Kristenson, Joel
Last Updated: 2017-06-21
Overview
This article shows how to activate a checkbox on your donation form and event pages allowing the donor and/or event attendee to cover the merchant gateway transaction fee. It also shows how to set the percentage in your database that they’ll be covering (which varies from gateway-to-gateway).
Tip: Click this link to view all the merchant gateway options that Trail Blazer integrates with.
Steps to Set the Merchant Gateway Transaction Percentage (%) and Activate it for your Donation Form
Open Website Configuration. Requires security clearance.
Under the Site Settings tab set the percentage (%) you want your donors and/or event attendees to *optionally cover, and then click [Save]. In my example I set the percentage to 3% which covers the 2.75 percent my merchant gateway takes + the .45¢ per transaction.
Navigate to the Donations tab, check the box for ‘Include Merchant Fee Pay Option’, click [Save] and then click the blue hyperlink in the top-right for ‘Click here to refresh your web pages using updated specifications’.
Click [OK] to proceed with the web page refresh.
You’ll be prompted once the refresh is complete. Click [OK] to finish.
You’ll now be able to view the new option on your donation form. In this example I viewed the form where it’s hosted on Trail Blazer’s secure domain e.g. https://www.trailblz.info/demononprofit_joel/donations.aspx.
If the donor opts to cover merchant gateway fee they’ll receive an email receipt showing the full amount that was charged. My example is below.
In the database you can build reports that include this data in the Contributions list.
Navigate to Contributions under the Application Menu.
Click the [Format] drop-down and select Columns…
Check the box for ‘AmountDonorOptedGatewayFee’ and click [OK].
The new column will display in the grid (by default it will be added to the far right).
If the merchant gateway fee was covered for the online transaction it will display in the cell. You can drag the columns left-or-right to rearrange them – my example is below.
You can save this format for future use.
Steps to Add the Option for Event Attendees to Cover the Transaction Fee on an Event
Open the Events list.
Search for the event and open it.
Navigate to the Financial tab, check the box for ‘Merchant Fee Pay. The payer can optionally add X percent to the total transaction to cover the processing fees.’, and then click [Save].
If the event is published you can click the [View Page] at the top to preview the new option.
Select a ticket or product and proceed to the checkout page.
The new option will display.
Related Resources
Article: How to Enable ACH (E-Check) Payments with the Vanco Merchant Gateway on Trail Blazer’s Donation Form
Article: Linking your Website to your Database with Configurable iFrame Forms
Article: Configure Website (iFrames)
Article: How to Put your Trail Blazer Donation Form on your Facebook Page
Article: How to Configure Recurring Donation Options for your Trail Blazer Donation Form (must be using either Vanco Services or Authorize.Net as your Merchant Gateway)
Article: Web site signup < iframe >
Article: Configure Website – Legacy Article
Article: Custom Donation Amount for Non-Primary Donation Pages – List of All Configurable Donation Page URL Options
Article: How to Create a Custom Redirect Thank-You Page for your Donation Form(s) that Automatically Populates the Donor’s First Name and the Donation Amount that they Gave – Advanced Feature
Article: How to Setup and Activate your Authorize.Net Account with your Trail Blazer Database for Online Payments and for Recurring Transactions
Article: How to Activate your Anedot Merchant Gateway with Trail Blazer – Configuring API Credentials Correctly
Article: Modify your Donation Form – Change the Amounts – Add Descriptions – Add & Remove which Amounts Display
Video: Iframes
Video: Attributes – Add To Donation Page
Video: Donation Auto Responders with Merge Fields
Website: List of All Merchant Gateway Options that Integrate with Trail Blazer
Video Playlist: Events
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