In most cases, charity officials view Storm's fees as fundraising expenses and send donors receipts for the full amount contributed. Other than Storm's commission, there is no upfront cost to finding new donors, said Musella. It's sometimes hard to tell what happens to Internet contributions, though. Some Internet services whose donations are a percentage of sales don't make payments to designated charities until contributions reach a minimum threshold. This can take months, lead to reassignment of the donations or even leave a donor's money in an idle account indefinitely.
Fees also vary.
Storm charges 15 percent to process Internet donations made by credit card. It's often unclear whether donations are tax deductible. Some say they are. The notice simply asks donors to give charities six to eight weeks to follow up with an acknowledgment. Many charities don't, however.