In response to this post at the nonprofit blog exchange.
http://nonprofitblogexchange.blogspot.com/2007/01/missionfish-and-spotlight-on-healthy.html
I'm not sure what Emily, the writer, intended but it's time for some knowledge.
Missionfish takes out almost $100 for a $999.99 donation given through an Ebay auction.
This is a travesty.
http://www.missionfish.org/About/aboutdonation.jsp and click the "MissionFish Share" tab.
A 10% fee is unacceptable.
I hope that the good people that send proceeds from their auction to nonprofits realize that they can get more money to their organization if they just waited till they receive all the money from their auction and then donated online or sent a check.
Can someone from MissionFish explain this pricing structure?
From the MissionFish website...
"Because we’re a nonprofit, we keep a small part of each donation processed to offset bank fees and other expenses. Our share is based on the size of the donation: our percentage gets smaller as the donation gets bigger. We never take more than 20% of any donation, and our average share is roughly 10%."
The problem I have is with this, "Our share is based on the size of the donation." Why? Isn't MIssionfish delivering the same value on a per transaction basis regardless of the size of the donation. Unless - Missionfish is saying that it has something to do with the % that the donor chooses to give or the value of the product that was auctioned.
MissionFish is a nonprofit which also means that it won't get taxed on this income. They don't need to charge so much.
Why not set a price per transaction and tell everyone what it is and go from there. $5 per transaction, $10, whatever. Figure out variable costs, determine demand, and calculate the profit maximizing price for your service. No one will hold that against Missionfish. This is America. But stop with the percentage crap. It's flat out lazy. Figure out a damn price.
10%??? Are you kidding me?
Let's see what it could potentially cost MissionFish to do this. MC and Visa charge 2.3X% or so per transaction. So we know that CC companies take about 2.3 % or so. That leaves 7.7% of each donation for Missionfish. Online merchant account provders might take another 25 cents or so per transaction. That leaves Mission fish with 7.7% of each donation less 25 cents. We know that Missionfish's bank won't charge a variable fee based on the size of a deposit so putting and keeping the money in their bank account shouldn't cost anything. EFT'ing the money to the nonprofit should cost about 25 cents per transaction. Mailing a check to the noprofit should cost a buck. That leaves 7.7% of a transaction less 50 cents to a dollar. For a $999.99 donation, that comes out to $76 margin for MissionFish and $76 less for the nonprofit. Where is the rest of the money going?????
Who is taking the rest of the money and why?
Donor's that use MissionFish are are being duped. Nonprofits that use it are cheating their donors.
Commision based software is not ethical.
Someone needs to push back on the firms - Kintera, Convio, etc... that use this model. Commission based pricing by humans is despised. Fundraising consultants that charge percentages are treated like pariahs and rightfully so. What about the software vendors?
AAFRP - are you listening?
I've been on this soapbox for a while and will stay on it till vendors price their software based on the value they deliver and not on the generosity of donors.
