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Global Currents FAQs
When using Global Currents' payment processing system, what transaction fees do I incur?
Our transaction fee is simple: 3.8% + 0.25 per transaction. Flat rate, no variables, no additional fee. All of our products have the option for donors to cover the transaction cost and over 90% of them do. This means that 100% of the donation goes to your organization.
Why do you charge transaction fees?
Global Currents seeks to be the most effective and affordable option for non profits everywhere. Our tools are designed to be straight forward, easy to understand and have as little overhead as possible for non profits. As such, we have found that the most equitable way of covering our overhead is through a small transaction fee off of the donation. We are completely transparent with our fees and want donors and clients to understand exactly where their money is going.
How do I explain Global Currents to donors?
Explaining transaction fees and service providers can be challenging for non profits. We are very aware of the position of trust we are in when handling donor funds and are always happy to talk with your donors. We suggest the following text be used when responding to queries:
"Global Currents provides scalable online fund raising platforms provided by people who understand the unique challenges of donation based organizations and charitable communities. They help reduce our administrative overhead, handle the security of credit card transactions and manage our monthly partnership program for a low transaction fee. Accepting credit card donations online involves infrastructure that we cannot support in house, which is why we have opted to use Global Currents to do this at a lower rate than what we could do in house."
How do Fund Releases work?
For a more detailed schedule of fund releases see our Terms and Conditions. In short however, we release via electronic funds transfer to your bank account on the 1st of every month for the month that closed out 30 days prior. It is your responsibility to ensure that the EFT information on time. If we do not have it in time, Global Currents will hold the funds until the next release date. Global Currents releases funds on the first of the month, the banking system usually takes two days to have the funds appear in your bank account - we are not responsible for delays beyond our control with the banking system. Should the funds in your account be less than $100 CDN we will hold them until they have passed this threshold or for four months (whichever is sooner). Should your campaign/organization be consistently raising money under that amount, just contact us and we can arrange for another solution. The primary reason for holding funds under $100 is simply due to the cost involved in transfering the funds. Please see the Terms and Conditions for a more detailed and legal overview.
Why does Global Currents hold funds at all?
Global Currents seeks to be as low cost of a provider as possible. One way we keep our costs low is through holding the funds until the issuing credit card providers have vetted them for their legitimacy. Credit Card companies (Visa / Mastercard) take on average 30 days to do this, which is why we have to do this. Credit Card chargebacks are extemely expensive to non profits and to us as providders, and as such we hold the funds for 30 days to prevent this. Please see our Terms and Conditions for a more detailed legal overview.
How does Global Currents deal with refunds?
As always - see our Terms and Conditions for a more complete answer. Generally speaking, we do not handle refunds. The reason for this is most organizations utilize our tax receipt software which auto issues receipting and as such, revoking funds is tricky. It is always our preference for us to release the full amount to you [the organizations] and have you issue a cheque refund to the donor. We will make exceptions to this, should the donor require their funds immediately, and will work with you to come up with the best solution. The most common reason for refunds are donors double clicking the "process" button. We have put in measures to reduce these errors (time delays etc) but it still happens. When it does - we will work with you, the donor and the issuing Credit Card providers to deal with it as best as we can. Please see our Terms and Conditions for a more detailed legal overview.
What technical knowledge do I have to have to use your system?
All but one of our products [the Pipeline API] are designed for simple use, even people with no technical abilit. Even the most powerful product, Pier to Peer, can be edited much like you would with a Word document!
How do you legally issue tax receipts on our behalf?
In short, we don't. We are a software service. You (the client) can issue tax receipts using our software. The receipts are from you, and signed by you - our service simply sends them out when someone makes a donation. Essentially, you can think of us like QuickBooks - donors enter the dollar amount (into your gateway), our system processes the donation and generates a tax receipt for you. We do not issue the receipt on your behalf, our service creates receipts at your request.
What is Pinc Giving and why do I see references to it?
For a more complete brand story, click HERE. In short, Pinc Giving, a company founded by Beverley Pomeroy, is the original company name. Global Currents has become the parent brand for a suite of scalable online giving solutions – Give Stream, Give Stream+, Pipeline API, Pier to Peer and The Global Giving Card. You may see references to Pinc here and there, and we’re working to change everything over in time. Thanks for your patience!
