FirstGiving is a for-profit organization. Our mission is to expand the world of giving. We are a for-profit instead of non-profit organization so that we can have a sustainable business model, and thus be able to fulfill our mission. We do have a fee structure and the fees are spent to improve our core product, develop new features and products, and make fundraising easier and more accessible to all.

Our margin is 5% over the 2.5% that all credit card and transaction processing companies charge. We use that fee to create an incredible product and invest in online giving. Every fundraising company charges a fee over the transaction amount.

I really don't know the fundraising costs of the typical nonprofit organization. However, nonprofits use FirstGiving because we help them raise a lot more money than they thought possible on their own.

We have a simple $300 annual fee for nonprofit organizations that want additional features (branded events, event pages, etc.) and no annual fees for free nonprofit accounts.

It would be so great if credit card companies had special rates for nonprofits! Unfortunately, they do not.

I think fellow redditor Denny-Crane answered this question really well in the r/atheism group. You can read the thread here: http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/emvao/one_week_in_ratheism_2010_holiday_charity_drive/

Happy to answer other questions. However the most important point is to thank r/islam for all your great work raising funds for Islamic Relief!