recurring logic

Up to a quarter of recurring gift attrition has nothing to do with donor intent — it originates from failed retries, absent account update services, and preventable lapses. tessera examines whether the infrastructure protecting monthly revenue is functioning as it should.

authorization rates

Nonprofit card-not-present decline rates consistently trail commercial benchmarks. tessera examines decline patterns by card type, amount, and timing — quantifying what is recoverable and what the gap to best practice is worth.

merchant classification

Card networks assign preferential interchange rates to charitable organizations under MCC 8398. When incorrectly classified, an organization pays commercial rates on every transaction. tessera verifies classification across all active merchant accounts.

fee lines

Processor statements typically contain both required costs and discretionary markups — rarely separated in standard reporting. tessera identifies every fee line, benchmarks each against sector norms, and flags what can be challenged.

disputes

More than three-quarters of nonprofits experience fraud attempts annually. Each chargeback carries direct cost and risk to processing terms. tessera benchmarks dispute and chargeback ratios against sector norms and identifies concentration patterns.

cross-border

International contributions carry layered costs in currency conversion and cross-border routing — costs that appear as standard line items but often exceed what the transaction warrants. tessera reviews international processing paths and quantifies the exposure.

payment rails

Donations arrive across multiple channels — card, ACH, digital wallets, and direct bank transfers. Each carries different economics and different failure profiles. tessera maps the current rail distribution and identifies where shifts in channel mix would improve stability and reduce cost.

channel mix

The balance of card, ACH, and wallet transactions determines both the cost base and the resilience of an organization’s payment flows. tessera models the current channel mix against sector benchmarks and identifies where adjustment is warranted.