Your nonprofit has a payment problem. The statement is hard to follow. A deposit does not match. Someone is waiting on support again.
You decide to get a second opinion. A few days later, someone sends you a lower rate and asks you to sign.
But you still do not know why the deposit was different. You have not seen the full cost. And nobody has explained what happens to your recurring donations if you make a change.
You deserve a review that answers those questions.
Confusing statements, rising fees, support delays, and messy deposits all lead to the same place: your team needs to understand how the payment setup works and whether it still fits your organization. A useful review should leave you with answers you can use.
Start with the work your team is actually doing
Before looking at pricing, look at how money comes into the organization.
A nonprofit may collect donations online, sell tickets at an event, charge membership dues, or accept program payments. Those activities may run through different tools. The person managing fundraising may see one report while the bookkeeper works from another.
Walk through those activities with the people who handle them. Ask where they repeat work, where information gets lost, and which problems keep coming back.
If someone spends an afternoon each month matching deposits by hand, include that in the review. If your event team has no idea whom to call when a terminal stops working, include that too.
Those details help define what needs to improve.
Bring the full picture of what you pay
Gather a few recent processing statements, the current agreement, and any separately billed donation platform or gateway charges. Include an older statement if you are trying to understand a change in cost.
Ask for a written explanation of the charges. Which ones depend on payment volume? Which are charged per transaction? Which are monthly or annual? What services do they cover?
Then ask the provider to show how a proposed arrangement compares using your own payment activity. The comparison should identify which costs are included and which would still be billed separately.
A percentage on a proposal does not tell you the complete cost of accepting payments. Your finance team and board should be able to follow the comparison without having to guess what was left out.
Trace a real deposit from beginning to end
Choose a bank deposit that was difficult to reconcile. Ask the provider to walk through it with your finance team.
Which transactions belong to it? Were fees deducted? Were there refunds or other adjustments? Did the reporting dates line up?
Have the provider show the reports your staff would use to answer those questions. A demonstration with your actual records is more useful than a promise that reporting will be easier.
If a different setup is being proposed, ask to see how that same process would work there. Your bookkeeper should be part of the conversation. They are the person who will have to use it.
Get specific about support
Ask what happens when a problem crosses between the donation platform and the processor. Who takes responsibility for moving it forward?
Get the support hours and escalation process in writing. Find out what help is available during your events, including evenings or weekends when those matter to your organization.
Bring up a real issue your team has experienced. Ask how it would be handled, what information staff would need to provide, and how they would get an update.
You should finish with a clear contact path that more than one person on your team can find and use.
Find out what can change before planning a switch
Your donation platform may be tied to your donor records, receipts, campaign history, and recurring gifts. That makes it worth understanding carefully.
Ask which processors the platform supports and what your current agreements allow. Confirm any renewal dates, cancellation terms, or transition charges that apply.
Treat donor records and recurring payment details as separate parts of the review. Ask the providers what can move, how a transfer would be handled securely, and whether donors would need to take action. Do not assume that exporting a contact list resolves recurring giving.
The recommendation should account for the work involved in making a change. It may make sense to improve the current arrangement, consider a supported alternative, or leave part of the setup in place.
Your organization needs to know what each option would mean before deciding.
Ask for a recommendation your board can follow
By the end of the review, you should have a short written explanation of your current costs and the problems that need attention.
You should also have a comparison of the available options, including any limitations and transition work. If savings are proposed, ask which charges would change and what assumptions the estimate uses.
Name the person responsible for each next step. Set a time to check whether the change did what it was supposed to do.
A successful review might identify a billing issue, a better reporting process, or a different processing arrangement. Its value comes from solving the problems your organization actually has.
Put your team’s time back in the conversation
The processing bill deserves attention. So does the time your staff spends trying to understand it.
When you evaluate an improvement, look at whether the team can reconcile deposits more easily, get help when needed, and explain the costs with confidence.
At Mosaic Processing, that is the conversation we want to have. Bring your statements and the questions your team keeps running into. We can review the setup with you, explain where the costs are going, and help identify options worth considering.
You have a mission to fulfill. Your payment setup should help your team get on with it.
Talk with Mosaic Processing about your nonprofit’s payment setup.