We do not offer a way for donors to cover fees. We put a lot of thought into every aspect of our platform, this topic included, and the reasons why we've decided against offering this option are below.
It's impossible to cover all transaction fees:
All transactions, regardless if a donor would opt to cover credit card transaction fees, are assessed Stripe’s 2.75% credit card transaction/processing fee. If a donor opted to donate more to cover transaction fees, Stripe would also still assess their transaction fee on the amount that was meant to cover the original transaction fees. So, in the end, it's a little misleading (there is no true way to cover all transaction fees).
It complicates voting:
There is also the issue of receiving votes, since our platform is donate-to-vote. If someone covers the transaction fees, would that increased amount give the donor the equivalent amount of increased votes? We try to keep the voting process as quick and simple as possible, and adding an ask to cover transaction fees is an additional step that complicates the voting process, especially in the final seconds of a contest as donors race to place their last-minute votes.
It disrupts the positive mindset of your donor:
If someone wants to give more, they will give more to receive votes, so calling attention to your administrative costs could make some donors emotional; those who feel strongly that every single dime needs to go to direct costs of caring for animals or people in need. In a perfect world that would be wonderful, but it's not realistic. Charitable organizations have all kinds of indirect costs that are funded by donations raised via our platform (like utilities, administrative costs, etc).
Instead of calling attention to those things that tend to have a negative effect on a donors mindset, it's better to focus on what the funds are being used for to inspire increased giving.
When there is a direct ask to cover things like fees or other indirect costs, it puts too much focus on the monetary transaction, making donors think negatively about finances rather than positively about their impact.
Philanthropydaily.com discusses a valuable study that confirms this. Surprisingly, the study found that adding a donor-covers-fees option reduced the donor conversion rate (and ultimately led to less donor revenue): Why isn't it a good idea to let your donor cover the credit card fees?
Since our platform does not have the option to ask your donors to cover fees, we encourage keeping the focus on how funds are used directly in your mission, and keep the costs that donors tend to approach with an unreasonably negative mindset, out of the ask.
Instead, think about sponsorships:
Approach a local business (or multiple businesses) to cover your fees in exchange for sponsorship visibility on your contest site (and in your calendar, if you're running a calendar contest).