• Payment Enablement Fee

Payment Enablement Fee

We are committed to continually investing in innovation so you can enjoy secure, compliant, and reliable payment-enabled solutions that help you to raise more money in support of your mission. If you have questions that are not answered below, please reach out to Customer Support here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the payment enablement fee?

It is a monthly fee, invoiced annually, applicable to customers using Blackbaud payment-enabled solutions. It supports Blackbaud’s investment in building, maintaining, and supporting secure, compliant, reliable online payment-enabled solutions.

Is this a payment processing fee or a transaction fee?

No, this is not a payment processing fee or a transaction fee. It is a monthly fee, invoiced annually, applicable to customers using Blackbaud payment-enabled solutions. It supports Blackbaud’s investment in building, maintaining, and supporting secure, compliant, reliable online payment-enabled solutions.

Is this a Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS) fee?

No, this is not a Blackbaud Merchant Services™ (BBMS) fee. It is applicable to all customers with a payment-enabled solution. Even if you are not currently processing funds in your payment-enabled solution today, our investment to ensure secure, compliant, reliable connections remains. When you are ready to process payments, you will have a secure, compliant and performant way to process funds.

Why is Blackbaud charging this fee?

As payment-enabled solutions have become increasingly more important to our customers over the last few years, we have absorbed the increasing associated costs. Some of the areas where costs are increasing include compliance around the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), compliance with card schemes (Mastercard®, Visa®, American Express®, etc.), maintenance and support for third-party payment processors and gateway processors, and payment-related security and data protection. To help meet some of these increasing costs we are introducing this fee to help us continue to deliver the most innovative, secure, and reliable payment-enabled solutions.

Is this fee applicable to all customers globally?

The payment enablement fee applies to all Blackbaud payment-enabled solution customers globally.

Which Blackbaud solutions are payment-enabled and subject to this fee?

Payment-enabled solutions are solutions where Blackbaud customers are able to transact payments. Payment transactions could be directly through Blackbaud Merchant Services™ (BBMS), Blackbaud Payment Service (BBPS), or via connections to other third-party payment gateways and processors.

Payment-enabled Blackbaud solutions:

  • Blackbaud Altru®
  • Blackbaud Church Management™
  • Blackbaud CRM™
  • Blackbaud Education Management portfolio
    • Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™
    • Blackbaud School Website System™
  • Blackbaud eTapestry®
  • Blackbaud Guided Fundraising™
  • Blackbaud Internet Solutions™
  • Blackbaud Luminate Online®
  • Blackbaud NetCommunity™
  • Blackbaud Online Express™
  • Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and Raiser’s Edge®
  • Blackbaud TeamRaiser®

If I own multiple Blackbaud solutions that are payment-enabled, will I incur a charge per solution?

You will only incur one monthly fee per organizational site ID, regardless of whether you have one or more payment-enabled solutions.

Is this fee only applicable to Blackbaud Merchant Services (BBMS) or Blackbaud Payments Services (BBPS) customers?

It is applicable to all payment-enabled solution customers whether they process payments through Blackbaud Merchant Service (BBMS), Blackbaud Payment Service (BBPS) or third-party payment gateways and processors.

Does this fee apply to an organization who doesn’t process any payments through Blackbaud software?

It is applicable to all payment-enabled solution customers. Even if you are not currently processing funds in your payment-enabled solution today, our investment to ensure secure, compliant, reliable connections remains. When you are ready to process payments, you will have a secure, compliant and performant way to process funds.

Are the Payment Services Terms published?

They can be found here.

I received an email saying my fee will be co-termed (or I have the option to be) co-termed from 2022 onwards, what does that mean?

After rolling out the fee in April 2021, we heard from customers that it would be preferable to co-term the fee to an existing subscription contact—this means that your payment enablement fee and existing subscription invoices would be configured to have the same term/renewal date.

I received an email saying my fee will be co-termed from 2022 onwards, why am I receiving two invoices in 2022 for this fee?

Beginning in 2022, the fee will be co-termed to your existing payment-enabled solution. The invoice received in December will be for the prorated amount from January 2022 to the start of your next invoice date for your payment-enabled subscription. The fee will then be co-termed to that subscription date covering through the end of that subscription.

My fee is not currently co-termed. Can I co-term moving forward?

We’d be happy to co-term your payment enablement fee to an existing payment-enabled solution subscription—please contact our Support team.

I have multiple solutions that are payment-enabled and want to co-term it with another renewal period. How do I do this?

Please connect with our Support team who will be happy to assist you.

I have additional questions about this new fee. Where can I find out more?

If you still have questions after reviewing the resources we’ve provided, you can connect with Support here, starting by choosing which payment-enabled solution your question relates to.