Text to Give Pricing: Fees, Percentages, and Hidden Costs

Text to give pricing is rarely one number. It is a stack of numbers: a platform subscription, a payment processing percentage, sometimes a per-transaction fee, sometimes per-message costs, and occasionally setup or keyword charges that only appear on the final invoice. Organizations that compare platforms on headline price alone routinely end up paying more than they expected. This guide breaks down every layer of text to give pricing, the questions that expose hidden costs, and how to model your true cost per donated dollar before signing anything.

Key takeaways:

• Text to give costs stack in up to five layers: platform subscription, payment processing, per-transaction fees, messaging costs, and add-ons.
• "Free" text to give platforms recover their costs somewhere, usually through elevated processing rates or donor-paid fees.
• Payment processing percentages apply to every gift on every platform; the differences between platforms compound over a year of giving.
• ACH bank transfers generally carry lower processing costs than cards, which matters most for recurring givers.
• The right comparison metric is total annual cost divided by annual giving volume, modeled with your organization's real numbers.

The five layers of text to give pricing

Layer 1: the platform subscription. Most text to give providers charge a recurring subscription, whether monthly or annual. Some price by organization size, some by feature tier, some by contact count. This is the visible number in marketing, and it is often the smallest layer.

Layer 2: payment processing. Every gift made by card or bank transfer passes through a payment processor, which charges a percentage of the transaction plus, typically, a small fixed per-transaction amount. This layer exists on every platform without exception; the question is only the rate. Some platforms pass processor rates through directly, while others add margin on top. Over a year of congregational or donor giving, small rate differences compound into real money.

Layer 3: per-transaction platform fees. Separate from processing, some platforms take their own cut of each gift. This is the layer most likely to be missed in comparisons, because it hides between the subscription and the processing rate.

Layer 4: messaging costs. Text to give runs on SMS, and some platforms meter it: per-message charges, message credits, or volume tiers. A giving campaign that includes reminders and thank-yous sends several messages per donor, so metered messaging turns generosity into a variable cost. Flat-rate unlimited messaging removes this layer entirely; the guide to text-to-donate platform comparisons covers how platforms differ here.

Layer 5: add-ons and one-time charges. Setup fees, additional keywords, extra admin seats, premium integrations, dedicated numbers, and statement or reporting features can each carry charges. Individually small; collectively meaningful.

The "free platform" question

Several providers market free or near-free text to give. Free platforms are not charities; the cost sits in one of three places:

1. Elevated processing rates. The platform's margin lives inside a higher percentage on every gift. For organizations with meaningful giving volume, this is usually the most expensive model available, because costs scale with success.
2. Donor-paid fees. The donor is asked to cover fees at checkout. Many donors accept, some do not, and the organization absorbs the remainder. This model shifts costs rather than eliminating them, and it inserts a fee conversation into the giving moment.
3. Limited free tiers. The free layer covers minimal usage, and real campaigns require paid upgrades. This is ordinary freemium pricing, reasonable but not free in practice.

None of these models is inherently wrong. The problem is only comparing a "free" platform's headline against a subscription platform's headline, because the two numbers describe different things.

Card versus ACH: why payment method changes your costs

Processing rates differ by payment method. Card transactions carry percentage-based rates set by card networks and processors. ACH bank transfers typically process at lower cost, often with caps that make them especially economical for larger gifts.

The practical implication: encourage recurring givers toward ACH. A monthly donor giving by bank transfer costs your organization less in fees every single month than the same donor giving by card, and the difference compounds across your whole recurring file over years. Good giving pages present ACH as a first-class option, not a buried alternative.

Hidden costs: the questions that surface them

Ask every platform these questions in writing before signing:

1. What is the complete fee on a single card gift, all layers included? Processing percentage, fixed per-transaction amount, and any platform cut.
2. What is the complete fee on an ACH gift?
3. Are messages metered? If so, what does a campaign of one appeal, one reminder, and one thank-you to our full list cost?
4. What costs extra? Keywords, admin users, integrations, dedicated numbers, statements, and support tiers.
5. Are there setup, onboarding, or cancellation fees?
6. What happens to pricing as we grow? Contact-count tiers and volume tiers can turn growth into a rate increase.
7. Who holds funds, and how fast do gifts settle to our account? Settlement delays are a cost in cash-flow terms.

A platform that answers these clearly and in writing is showing you how it will behave as a vendor. Evasive answers on fees are themselves data. For an example of a flat-rate structure, see the FRANSiS pricing page.

How to model your true cost

Build a simple one-page model with your organization's real numbers:

1. Annual giving volume through text and mobile (estimate from current online giving if launching new).
2. Gift count and average gift size, split by card and ACH if possible.
3. Message volume: campaigns per year multiplied by list size multiplied by messages per campaign, plus confirmations and thank-yous.
4. Apply each platform's full fee schedule to those numbers: subscription plus processing plus per-transaction fees plus messaging plus known add-ons.
5. Divide total annual cost by annual giving volume. That ratio, cost per donated dollar, is the only honest comparison between platforms with different pricing structures.

Run the model twice: at current size and at your three-year goal. Percentage-heavy models look cheap when giving is small and expensive when giving grows; subscription-heavy models invert that. Choose the platform that wins at the size you intend to become.

Beyond price: what fee schedules do not tell you

Cost per donated dollar is necessary but not sufficient. Three non-price factors change the economics:

• Conversion friction. A giving flow with fewer steps completes more gifts. A platform with slightly higher fees and meaningfully better completion can net more funds raised.
• Recurring conversion. Platforms that present recurring giving prominently, and make it effortless, grow the most valuable segment of your file. Recurring revenue dwarfs fee differences.
• Follow-up automation. Immediate thank-yous and impact updates drive repeat giving. Platforms that combine giving with two-way messaging, where an AI Powered Helper can thank donors instantly and answer questions about receipts, funds, and payment updates, convert one-time givers into sustained supporters. Fee schedules never capture this, but your year-end totals will.

Frequently asked questions

How much does text to give cost?

Expect up to five cost layers: a platform subscription, payment processing (a percentage plus a small fixed amount per gift), possible per-transaction platform fees, messaging costs on metered platforms, and add-ons like keywords or extra users. Total cost varies with your giving volume and message activity, which is why modeling your real numbers through each full fee schedule is essential.

Are free text to give platforms really free?

No platform is free in practice. Free offerings recover costs through elevated processing percentages, donor-paid fees at checkout, or limited tiers that require paid upgrades for real campaigns. For organizations with meaningful giving volume, processing-rate margins on a "free" platform frequently exceed what a subscription platform would have charged.

What percentage do text to give platforms take?

It varies by platform and payment method. Every platform passes through payment processing percentages, and some add their own per-transaction share on top. Card gifts carry higher processing costs than ACH bank transfers. Request the complete per-gift fee breakdown in writing, for both card and ACH, from every platform you evaluate.

Should donors cover the transaction fees?

Offering donors the option to cover fees is common and many donors accept it. Requiring it, or presenting it aggressively, adds friction to the giving moment. Treat donor-covered fees as a helpful offset in your cost model rather than a certainty, and test whether the checkout experience stays smooth with the option enabled.

Is ACH really cheaper than cards for giving?

Generally, yes. ACH bank transfers typically process at lower rates than card transactions, and the difference is most significant for larger and recurring gifts. Encouraging monthly givers to use ACH is one of the simplest ways to reduce total fees without changing platforms or renegotiating anything.

Conclusion

Text to give pricing rewards organizations that read past the headline. The full cost is a stack: subscription, processing, per-transaction fees, messaging, and add-ons, and platforms distribute their margin across that stack differently. Model your real giving through each complete fee schedule, compare cost per donated dollar at the size you intend to become, and weigh the factors invoices never show: conversion, recurring growth, and follow-up automation.

Want giving, messaging, and follow-up on one flat-rate platform? Contact the FRANSiS team to see how organizations run text giving with unlimited messaging, automated thank-yous, and an AI Powered Helper answering donor questions, all without per-message surprises.