Donating a percentage of sales: calculate it and report it
“A percentage of every sale goes to charity” is one of the most common business pledges, and one of the easiest to get wrong in practice. The promise is simple; the arithmetic and the reporting are where it slips.
Revenue or profit?
A percentage of revenue (sales before costs) is simple to calculate and easy for customers to understand, but it is owed even in a month you lose money. A percentage of profit is gentler on cash flow, but customers can’t see your profit, so it is harder for them to trust. Whichever you choose, write it into the pledge itself.
A worked example
Say you pledge 3% of revenue and sell $8,400 this quarter. Your contribution is $8,400 × 0.03 = $252. If refunds of $400 came back in the same quarter, decide once whether you give on gross or net sales and apply that rule every time: on net sales the contribution would be $8,000 × 0.03 = $240.
Choose a payment rhythm
Monthly or quarterly payments are the norm; they keep transfer fees and bookkeeping low. Annual giving works too, but customers wait a long time to see anything happen. Pick the rhythm you will actually keep and say it in the pledge.
Keep a record customers can read
For every payment, record:
- the amount and currency,
- the date you gave,
- the cause it went to, with a link,
- an optional note, such as the period it covers (“Q3 sales”).
Show it where the promise is made
If the pledge appears on your product pages, the record should be one click away. A running total plus the dated entries is enough; the receipts can stay in your own files.
PledgeBadge keeps that record for you and turns it into a badge for your website, a public giving page and share images. It doesn’t process donations: you give the way you already do, then log it. Contributions are self-reported.