Google announced today that starting at the beginning of March, non-profit organizations who use Google Checkout will be subject to the standard fee structure. Previously, they have been able to use the service free of charge.
However, non-profits that are members of the Google Grants program will be able to continue using the service for free until at least next year. Google Checkout Product Manager Prem Ramaswami writes at the Google Checkout Blog:
If your organization is already a Google Grants recipient using Checkout for donation processing, please make sure to link your Grants account with Checkout by February 15 to continue receiving free donation processing without interruption. If you are not yet a Google Grants recipient and you meet the guidelines for the program, we strongly encourage you to apply. If you apply for Google Grants by March 1, 2009 and you’re accepted, we will retroactively credit you for any Checkout fees incurred while your application was pending. For anyone who falls outside of our guidelines or who decides not to apply for a Google Grant, we realize this news may come as a disappointment, and hope that you’ll still find Checkout’s ease of use and competitive rates compelling reasons to keep using our product.
Google has been allowing non-profit organizations to ue Google Checkout for donation processing for free since 2007. At that point, 100% of contributions were going to the causes. I guess the economy is calling for Google to get their slice of the pie. It’s not all that surprising considering all of the company’s other money-saving moves today.
