How much of my donation goes to "overhead" and fees?

What is MVF's “overhead ratio”?

Over the past six years, 91.7% of funding to MVF has gone to program, 9.3% to core operations.

How does MVF define “program” and “core operations”?

• Program: Grantmaking, gifts that MVF has advised donors to make directly to grantees, and staffing and other expenses tied to program delivery.
• Core operations: Essential staffing and infrastructure (e.g., compliance, finance, IT, grantmaking administration), as well as fundraising-related staffing and expenses (including payment processing fees).

Is “core operations” the same as “overhead”?

Yes, but without the negative connotation. “Overhead” often implies budgetary bloat. “Core operations” is more apt: It correctly signals “infrastructure needed to run the organization.”

Why is program staffing a “program” expense?

Staffing tied to program delivery is, by definition, a program cost. (Simply put: Our programs aren't going to run themselves!) In keeping with industry-standard practice, we account for this on the “Program” side of our budget.

When you raise more, do you spend more on core operations?

Our financial model is built for stability and scale. We maintain the staffing we need year over year, which lets us keep core operating costs fairly level — while rapidly and dramatically scaling up program spending when donations surge. In other words, the more we raise, the greater portion goes to work on the ground.

What are your payment processing fees?

We process all online donations through ActBlue (our trusted not-for-profit payment processing partner), which takes a 3.95% fee to cover credit card processing and their own operating costs.

• For gifts up to $10,000, we encourage you to give online — even with the processing fee, it's the most cost-efficient option for gifts at this size. Processing a check costs more in staff time, so online giving keeps more of every dollar going to our grantee partners.
• For gifts over $10,000, we recommend giving by check, ACH, or wire, to avoid online processing fees. See all donation methods here, or contact us at advisor@movementvoterfund.org.

Wasn’t MVF’s policy that “100% of donations support the work on the ground”? Did that change?

Yes! Until early 2026, we covered core operations with the support of a small group of generous donors. 

Those donors didn’t go anywhere; we simply realized it was wiser to spread our operating costs across our full base of unrestricted revenue, rather than relying on a small group to carry that load. This shift supports our own organizational resilience and sustainability — and, thus, that of the organizations and movements we exist to serve.

We are proud to run a lean operation — but it would be a disservice to our donors, and to the culture of philanthropy we want to create, if we continued to obscure the fact that we need funding to ensure operational stability.

What does MVF actually do beyond moving money to grantees?

MVF carries out several essential functions that add value to our movement partners as well as our donor partners, including:

1. Devising national, regional, and state strategies with the aid of in-house advisors who bring years of expertise in organizing, movement building, and civic engagement.
2. Continuously optimizing our grantmaking for the greatest impact, through sophisticated research, vetting, funding allocation, and evaluation.
3. Providing capacity-building support to our grantees, giving them the tools, skills, and support to strengthen, sustain, and scale their work.
4. Maximizing collaboration among our partners at the national and state levels, so that our movements can operate as greater than the sum of their parts.
5. Advising and educating donors on how to put their money to use in the most strategic and effective ways possible.
6. Organizing donors and funders as our partners in the project of shifting philanthropy from short-term transactional civic engagement to long-term power building.

The “Overhead Myth”

There is a persistent belief across philanthropy that organizations should operate with as little “overhead” as possible — and that they should rely on as few donors as possible to cover those costs. 

The truth is, operating costs allow us to, well, operate. It’s what makes the work possible. 

Over-reliance on any one funding stream is a risk to organizational health and durability. By explicitly broadening our base of operational support to our full community of tens of thousands of donors (rather than putting our operational eggs in one basket), we are increasing MVF’s long-term financial stability and resilience. 

When we keep our own lights on — while always prioritizing moving as much money to the field as we can — our whole movement benefits. And the more donors of all levels we bring into our community, the more likely those lights will stay on for the long haul.