Fundraising Event Fees: Know What Your Table Sales Leave You

To budget fundraising table sales, subtract payment processing, your event's share of the platform cost and any refunds from gross sales. Then account for catering, venue and other dinner expenses. The amount left after booking fees is useful for planning, but it is not your final fundraising surplus.

Keep each cost visible. A small processing charge on every table and a monthly platform subscription behave differently as sales grow.

Start with the actual fees for your event

For new paid events, Proximatic Pro is $16 USD per organization per month. Proximatic takes no transaction percentage; Stripe processing fees still apply. Paid tables also need a connected Stripe payout account. Check current pricing and the fee terms when you set your budget.

For the examples below, assume US domestic card payments in USD at Stripe's published 2.9% plus 30¢ per successful transaction. Different payment methods, international cards or currency conversion can change the cost. Use the rates that apply to your account. Stripe US pricing lists the current charges.

One whole-table purchase counts as one transaction in these examples. Ten tables bought in ten payments means ten fixed processing charges, even though the tables seat 80 people.

Work through a small dinner

Suppose you sell ten tables at $200 each. Your gross table revenue is $2,000.

Processing is $58 from the percentage charge, plus $3 for ten payments: $61 total. Allocate the full $16 monthly Pro subscription to this dinner.

Now ask whether $1,923 covers your catering, room, equipment and other costs while leaving the amount you hope to raise. If it doesn't, adjust the table price or the event budget before promotion.

Compare a larger dinner

Apply the examples below to your confirmed table sales and the fees on your own account. Subtract dinner expenses before reporting the fundraising surplus.

The larger example sells twenty tables at $500 each in twenty payments: $10,000 gross sales. Processing is $290 plus $6, or $296.

If two events share the same $16 subscription month, you might allocate $8 to each event for budgeting. The monthly bill is still $16; allocation divides that cost between your events.

The two examples show how the costs work. Your table count, price, payment rate and subscription allocation should drive your own result.

Compare another quote using its own terms

Ask another provider for the total cost of your planned sales: table count, price and number of payments. Use the provider's quoted rates, including any percentage, fixed transaction charge and subscription. Check whether payment processing is included or added separately.

A percentage charge grows with sales. A monthly subscription is shared across the events you run during that month. Compare the full cost for your dinner instead of choosing from one headline fee.

Keep optional services in your wider budget. If a provider lets you pass fees to the buyer, check the supported checkout settings and the total the buyer will see before advertising a price. Use the organizer-paid assumptions above for this whole-table plan.

Leave room for refunds and unfinished sales

Stripe says the original processing fees are not returned when you refund a payment. A $200 refund in the small example therefore brings the amount left from $1,923 to $1,723, keeping the original processing and subscription costs. Check your payment method's refund terms and any additional refund charges. Stripe refund documentation explains this treatment.

Use actual confirmed sales when updating your budget. A budget estimates what happens if the planned tables sell. Update it from confirmed reservations, and follow up on unfinished payments and guest lists separately.

Plan your table offer, then follow the fundraising dinner setup. A clear price and an honest cost estimate make it easier to promote the evening with confidence.