Online giving for churches: a simple setup guide
How a small church team can set up giving pages, recurring gifts, and funds, and keep every gift tied to the family who gave it.
Online giving for churches needs a giving page people can find, an easy way to give every month, and funds that send each gift to the right place. Set those up in order, connect a payment account in your church's name, and tell your congregation more than once. Then check your giving reports every month.
This guide is for small church teams, like an administrator, a treasurer, and a few volunteers. You do not need to be technical. It walks through nine steps, from deciding what giving should cover to reading your monthly reports, and you will need some time, your church's bank details, and a list of the funds you already use.
1. Decide what you want online giving to do
Start by writing down what online giving needs to cover, before you pick a tool. Most churches want some mix of these:
- Weekly tithes and offerings
- Gifts to special funds, like missions or a building project
- Seasonal appeals, like Advent or Easter
- Gifts tied to events, like a camp scholarship
Your list tells you how many giving pages and funds you need. Start small. One general giving page and two or three funds is plenty for most churches at first.
2. Connect a payment account in your church's name
Online gifts are card or bank payments, so your church needs its own payment account before anyone can give. Many giving tools use Stripe for this.
Make sure the account is in your church's legal name and pays into your church's bank account. Ask whether the giving tool holds your money first or sends it straight to your own account, and how many days it takes to reach your bank. A faster, more direct path makes it easier to match gifts to deposits.
3. Build your main giving page
Your main giving page is the one link you will share every week, so keep it simple. Put your name, logo, and colors at the top so people know it is really your church. Add a short line, in your own words, about why giving matters. Then offer a few suggested amounts, a box for any amount, and a choice to give once or every month.
Give the page a short, easy web address. You will say it from the front, print it in the bulletin, and put it on a slide. Add a QR code that points to it for people who would rather scan with their phone. See how giving pages can look for one example.
4. Turn on recurring gifts
Recurring gifts give your church a steady base of giving, because a family that gives every month does not have to remember on a busy Sunday. Your budget gets more predictable too.
Make monthly giving easy to pick on your page. Then make sure donors can manage their own gift, so they can change the amount, update a card, or pause without calling the church office. Your team spends less time on calls, and donors feel more in control of their gift.
Thank recurring donors when they start, and again at year end. They are often your most faithful givers.
5. Set up funds before the first gift arrives
A fund is a bucket for one purpose, and setting funds up before gifts arrive keeps your books clean from day one. Gifts to the building fund should never mix with gifts to benevolence.
Common church funds include:
- General fund (your operating budget)
- Building or capital fund
- Missions
- Benevolence
- Youth or camp scholarships
If your treasurer uses GL codes, give each fund its code now. Then each gift lands in the right account when you close the month. See how funds work in Bless for one example of this setup. In Bless, funds are part of Giving Plus.
6. Decide who covers the fees
Every online gift carries a processing fee, and some giving tools add their own fee as well. Find out exactly what each tool charges per gift, and whether there is a monthly price.
Many churches let donors choose to cover the fee. A small checkbox adds the fee to the gift, so the full amount reaches the church. Most people understand it when you explain it simply. Say something like, "Checking this box means all of your gift goes to the mission."
7. Tell your congregation, more than once
People will only use a giving page they know about, so announce it several times and in several places:
- Announce it from the front, with the web address on a slide.
- Print the address and a QR code in the bulletin for a month.
- Send an email to your members with a direct link.
- Put a "Give" button at the top of your church website.
Show people how it works. A one-minute walk-through on a Sunday helps older members feel confident, and you can offer to help anyone in person after the service.
8. Keep giving tied to the family
Each gift should land on the giver's own record, linked to their household, so you can see the family behind it. When gifts live in a separate system from your events and members, you lose that picture.
With gifts on the household record, you can see that the family who gave at Easter also sent two kids to camp. Your thank-you notes get more personal, and your pastor knows who to call.
9. Check the reports each month
Once a month, compare what came in through online giving with your bank deposits. A good giving report shows:
- Total given, and what you received after fees
- Recurring gifts compared with one-time gifts
- Which funds received the most
- Any refunds
If something looks off, a monthly check means you find it within weeks. For more on reading these numbers, see giving reports.
Year-end giving statements matter too. Rules for tax receipts can change, so check current IRS guidance and confirm with your accountant.
A setup checklist
- List what giving needs to cover: tithes, funds, appeals, events
- Connect a payment account in your church's name
- Build a main giving page with your logo and colors
- Turn on monthly giving that donors can manage themselves
- Create your funds, with GL codes if you use them
- Decide who covers the processing fee
- Get a short web address and a QR code
- Announce it from the front, in print, and by email
- Review giving reports every month
Common questions
How much does online giving cost a church?
Every online gift has a card or bank processing fee. Some giving tools add their own fee per gift, and some also charge a monthly price. Ask each tool for all of these before you choose, and decide whether donors can cover the fees so the full gift reaches your church.
Should our church offer recurring giving?
Yes, if your tool supports it. Monthly gifts give your budget a steady base, and families do not have to remember to give each Sunday. Make the monthly option easy to find, let donors change or pause their own gift, and thank them when they start and again at year end.
How do we help older members give online?
Walk through the giving page from the front for about a minute on a Sunday, with the web address on a slide. Print the address and a QR code in the bulletin. After the service, offer to help anyone in person, step by step, on their own phone.
Do we still need year-end giving statements?
Donors may need a year-end statement for their taxes, so plan for one. The rules for what a receipt must say can change. Check current IRS guidance and confirm with your accountant, then use your monthly giving reports to make sure each family's total is right before you send statements.
One family record, all year long
Online giving works best as part of the whole life of your church. The family that gives in December is the same family that registers for VBS in June and comes to the fall picnic. When every gift and every registration lands on one household record, you know each family by more than a card number.
Bless Giving has no monthly fee, charges 30 cents per gift plus Stripe, and lets donors cover the fees.
