If your nonprofit does not own the payments portal account (IE Stripe, Braintree, Paypal) and it has monthly donors, then it may not actually “own” those donors.
While standard donation platform contracts allow for donor contact information to be exported, they may not allow the Donor Payment Tokens that allow for ongoing monthly donations to be exported. This means your nonprofit would lose the ability to continue to charge monthly donations from donors that had opted-in to donate if you moved platforms. Donation platforms range from small to huge fees to export this data, while some block this ability all together.
- Here is a great LinkedIn explanation of this
- Here is information going back to 2018 from the Agitator calling out this monthly donor lockup issue.
- What is Donor Tokenization (this is the thing nonprofits think they own but probably don’t)
“I have seen nonprofits literally in tears when they were told they needed to payup $30k to get permission to migrate their monthly donorbase built over years.”
Salvatore Salpietro, Chief Community Officer, Fundraise Up
Disclaimer: Here is a researched list of donation platforms as of 7/1/2025 based on publicly available data (including vendor migration lists from Fundraise Up and GiveButter documentation). If you represent an organization listed and feel that we have misunderstood the policy associated with donor token exporting, please contact us with the correct information so we may update.
Own Your Donor Data.
For nonprofits, recurring donor relationships are mission-critical. But can you take them with you if you switch platforms? This guide analyzes vendor policies on payment token migration, revealing the hidden costs and risks of “vendor lock-in.”
The State of the Market
Our analysis of 33 popular donation platforms reveals a stark reality. Many vendors make it difficult or impossible to migrate your recurring donor payment data, creating high exit barriers. Understanding a vendor’s data portability policy is a crucial part of your selection process.
- “Hard Walls”
- Platforms that explicitly do not permit the transfer of payment tokens, resulting in total loss of recurring schedules upon exit.
- “Toll Walls”
- Platforms that permit migration but create significant financial or procedural barriers, such as high, opaque, or scaling fees.
Interactive Vendor Comparison
Use the tools below to explore and compare vendor migration policies. Find a specific platform or filter the list to see which vendors align with your organization’s need for data freedom. Click on any card for a detailed analysis.
Understanding Key Concepts
The world of payment processing has its own language. Here are the core concepts you need to understand to navigate data portability and vendor conversations effectively.
The Nonprofit’s Migration Playbook
Successfully migrating your recurring donors requires careful planning and execution. Follow this three-phase guide to ensure a smooth transition and protect your revenue stream.
Phase 1: Due Diligence
- Audit Current Contract
- Review terms for termination and data portability clauses.
- Get an Official Quote
- Request a written quote from your current vendor for the token export.
- Vet New Vendor
- Confirm their migration process and future export policies in writing.
- Develop Timeline
- Plan the migration to avoid any lapse in recurring gift processing.
Phase 2: Execution
- Initiate Formal Request
- Follow the legacy vendor’s exact protocol to start the process.
- Act as Coordinator
- Facilitate communication between your old and new vendors.
- Delay Cancellation
- Don’t cancel your old service until the migration is 100% confirmed complete.
Phase 3: Verification
- Run a Test Batch
- Process a small number of donations to confirm tokens are working.
- Monitor First Full Cycle
- Track failure rates and address any unexpected declines.
- Update Donor Assets
- Ensure all donation forms point to the new system.
- Prepare Comms Plan
- Be ready to contact donors whose payments fail.
The Payment Token Lock-In Problem for Nonprofits
The Core Issue: When nonprofits use donation platforms with integrated payment processing, they don’t actually own the payment tokens (encrypted files containing donor credit card information) for their monthly/recurring donors. This creates a significant barrier when they want to switch platforms.
How It Works:
- Nonprofits can easily export basic donor data (names, emails, addresses)
- But the payment tokens that allow them to continue charging monthly donors are controlled by the platform
- These platforms often use white-labeled payment processing (built on Stripe, Braintree, etc.) but maintain ownership of the tokens
The Financial Impact:
- Platforms can charge substantial “ransom” fees to release tokens – examples cited include $30,000 for one large Canadian nonprofit ($10,000 flat fee + $1.36 per token for 20,000 donors)
- Some platforms like ActBlue don’t allow transfers at all
- Without tokens, nonprofits lose 70-80% of monthly donors when switching platforms (only 20-30% will restart their donations)
Why This Matters:
- Monthly/recurring donors are crucial for nonprofit sustainability
- Organizations can become locked into expensive or inadequate platforms
- The fees come from unexpected budget sources when nonprofits need to switch
- Large, sophisticated nonprofits are often blindsided by this issue
A lame Solution: Nonprofits should ask upfront: “Do I own the payment tokens for my monthly donors, and what will it cost to move them?” The recommendation is to use platforms that connect to your own Stripe or Paypal account rather than integrated payment processing, ensuring true data ownership.
Oh, want to hear the funny part?
There are actual protections for this in the for-profit world…
Data Portability Standards in Payment Processing In 2010, Braintree created a credit card portability standard with objectives including “eliminating vendor lock-in for merchants reliant upon a service provider storing their customers’ credit card data” and “creating a secure, PCI Compliant, and standards-based process for data transfers.” What is Credit Card Data Portability? | Chargebee Glossaries This addressed the exact same problem nonprofits face today.
So the real solution: Fair regulation that mirror the for-profit sector