Looking for the best church giving platform? We have curated a list of the top nine platforms along with a glimpse into their church giving features and pricing to help you make the decision. In addition, we provide insights into the 12 essential aspects of an ideal church giving platform, so you know which one would fit your church's fundraising strategy and goals.
Online donation platforms offer your church a convenient way to collect gifts and fund meaningful projects. But, there are so many donation platforms to choose from that it can be overwhelming to evaluate each option. Maybe you’ve avoided setting up a donation page for fear of choosing the wrong platform – or maybe you’ve chosen a platform that no longer serves your needs.
In this post, you’ll learn the 12 key features to consider when choosing a new church online giving platform and the 9 best online giving platforms for churches.
While these depend on what your church is looking for in a giving platform – could be simplicity, low fees, free solution, customization, integrations, multiple payment methods, whatever – there are 12 important factors you can’t miss at all.
Donorbox is an online fundraising solution that helps thousands of churches across the globe accept online tithes and offerings. It’s free to start and there are no monthly fees. The platform fee that’s deducted from the donations is one of the lowest in the market and you get tons of customizable features to boost your donations. We’ll talk about Donorbox’s feature and pricing later in the blog.
First, let’s check out the 12 important features to look for in a church giving platform.
Some church donation software takes just minutes to set up, while others require lengthy paperwork. To minimize time and hassle, look for giving software that allows you to easily create an account and a fundraising page in minutes.
For example, Donorbox lets you get started in about 15 minutes. There’s no need for documentation and you don’t have to pay to sign up either. The tool guides you to create your customizable donation form and set up the fundraising page. It’s just 4 simple steps. And simplicity remains one of the top reasons why 50,000+ organizations love Donorbox.
Donorbox also easily integrates with web design platforms like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, and Webflow so that you can easily embed the Donorbox donation form, membership form, or the event-ticketing form in your website.
Software and donation fees can really cut into the funds you’re raising. Keep more money in your church’s budget by reviewing the fees for each service you’re considering. Some charge a monthly fee, while others might charge a startup fee or donation processing fee.
Pro tip: Be sure to look at the fine print for your church donation platform. Be mindful of any monthly fees, add-on costs, or other sneaky fees that can add up. For a straightforward approach, consider a platform like Donorbox that has no startup fees, no monthly fees, and no contracts.
A customized donation form with your organization’s brand colors and logo can help you put your best foot forward and entice donors to give. Additionally, a professional-looking donation form can build feelings of trust with donors.
Some donation platforms offer hardly any customization, while others allow personal touches and even custom CSS code. Be sure you understand any design limitations of the donation platform you’re considering.
Donorbox lets you easily customize the donation form and the page. You can add your church’s logo, colors, any images, etc. to give them a branded look. This helps people connect with your church and trust the donation process, and you can use a page like the one shown below to securely accept your online donations.
Create a Branded Donation Form
One way to ensure your church doesn’t leave money on the table is to accept as many legitimate payment options as possible when fundraising. These days, many people prefer to donate with Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal – or even cryptocurrency! Choose a service that accepts the payment methods your congregation is likely to use when making a donation.
Donorbox UltraSwift™ Pay lets your donors give via digital wallets like PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Google Pay, as well as choose other methods like credit cards, bank transfer, direct debit, etc. The donation process is also super fast as donors don’t have to input their personal details and can directly go to complete the payment. This feature comes automatically enabled with all your new campaigns on Donorbox. All you need to do is sign up for free and create a fundraising campaign for your church. Your donors will get a plethora of convenient options to make a donation.
Offering flexible recurring donations is a convenient way to collect weekly tithing gifts as well as monthly, quarterly, or annual support. Choosing a system with robust recurring gift capabilities can help boost online tithing for churches.
Donorbox Recurring Donations are easy to set up. You just need to select the recurring intervals you want to add to your donation form while creating it. That’s all. They will reflect on your donation form automatically. Donorbox also gives you the option to highlight the preferred interval with a tiny heart icon next to the interval, as you can see in the example below.
A text-to-give campaign can be a powerful way to raise money for a church project. This is especially true in the days of virtual church services when a physical collection plate isn’t passed around. Text-to-give is also convenient for your donors as most of them don’t carry cash to the church anymore. When you ask them to give, it’s better to let them know of another simpler way to make a donation. Just share with them a texting number and your online campaign ID. They will send the ID to the number and receive the link to your online campaign page. Simple, isn’t it?
Donorbox Text-to-Give works in the same way. In addition, it also offers 2 plans for you to choose from. With the shortcode plan, you get access to a shorter number that’s easier for you and your donors to remember. You also get a custom keyword for your online campaign. Repeating a donation with Donorbox Text-to-Give is even simpler. Your donors won’t have to again open the donation page to make a donation. See how it looks –
To learn more, read our blog post on why text-to-give campaigns are an important part of church fundraising.
Crowdfunding allows congregation members to combine their many small gifts into transformative collective action. Check to see whether the donation platforms you’re looking at offer features such as a goal thermometer, virtual donor recognition wall, and campaign updates.
Donorbox Crowdfunding lets you set up a crowdfunding page in minutes. Like other features, this is also free to start. You can create a crowdfunding page that comes equipped with a donor wall, updates tab, goal thermometer, subscription button for visitors/potential donors, social media sharing buttons, a popup donation form, and more. You can send email updates to your subscribers thus inspiring them to turn into donors. The moment you add an update to the updates tab, all your donors receive emails including that update. The donor wall helps you recognize the generosity of your donors and add social proof to your page. Here’s an example of a crowdfunding page created using Donorbox.
Create a Crowdfunding Campaign
Many supporters are willing to cover donation fees because they realize it helps more of their gift support the mission. Some online donation platforms offer the ability for donors to choose this option, while others do not. Look carefully – this one feature can potentially save or cost your organization a lot of money! See how Donorbox makes it possible for you to allow your donors to cover the processing fees.
Some online giving platforms can help you build relationships with your congregation members. Look for a giving tool that allows you to track donor communications or that integrates with your existing CRM system if you’re using one.
Pro tip: Build strong donor relationships by keeping track of your supporters’ birthdays, giving anniversaries, and other milestones. Reach out with a note of gratitude and celebration to build the connection. Donorbox’s donor management tools make this process easy!
Along with managing your donors, look for a platform that gives your donors the power to manage. Imagine a system wherein your donors can have a secure account for themselves, can log in, and manage their recurring giving plans as well as donation receipts. The ease of all this will only strengthen your relationship with your donors and make them want to stay. Donorbox offers you all of that, along with QuickDonate with which you can let your donors repeat a donation right on the go. Here’s a peek into this feature to help you learn more –
When church community members make a gift, ideally, they should receive an automated electronic receipt instantaneously. Make sure your chosen giving platform offers this. Otherwise, you may spend unexpected time creating and issuing receipts on your own.
Donorbox not just sends an automatic donation receipts after every donation but also lets you customize it as per your liking. This helps you better connect with your donors in the way you like.
Think about the systems your church might already be using to send emails, manage records, or organize projects. When possible, picking a donation platform that integrates with your existing systems can minimize headaches and administrative time.
Donorbox integrates with a number of third-party tools including Salesforce NPSP, HubSpot, Zapier, Blackbaud RE NXT, Double the Donation, MailChimp, and more to help make your donor management and donor communications better.
Plus, Donorbox integrates seamlessly with church management software like Rock RMS and Planning Center. These native integrations streamline your workflow so all your key data can live in one place!
It goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: your online donation platform must be secure. Look for a system like Donorbox that has built-in, automatic fraud detection, SSL/TLS encryption, tokenization of financial data, and strong customer authentication.
Not sure which online giving platform is the best for you – or even where to start? Below, you can get the details on 9 church giving platforms that help with online donations for churches.
These platforms offer a variety of features and pricing models. Read on to discover the best one for your church.
Donorbox is an all-in-one church fundraising solution that offers a quick setup process and a variety of enticing features. More than 50,000 organizations in 96 countries trust Donorbox with their online giving, including many churches. Plus, you won’t pay any start-up fees, monthly fees, or have to deal with a contract.
Donorbox makes online giving for churches easy, convenient, and hassle-free. You can get started in just 4 simple steps – sign up for free, set up your donation form, embed it in your website (as in the example below) or use it as a popup or use the Donorbox-hosted fundraising page, and connect you payment process. That’s it!
Let us have a look at the top church giving features that Donorbox has to offer.
Donorbox has helped thousands of churches worldwide, including Unity of Boulder, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, Calvary Family of Churches, and more.
With its state-of-the-art fundraising features and donor management tool, it has ensured that they get the best solution in terms of online fundraising.
1.5% Donorbox fee, plus payment processing fees. Some features such as event-ticketing, peer-to-peer, and memberships come at a platform fee of 2.95%. However, you can also ask your donors to cover these fees and most of them love to do that to support your church. Optional add-on integrations are available for a modest additional monthly cost. Learn more here.
PayPal is a popular payment processing service used by millions of people around the world. While this is a trustworthy and commonly-used option, it does have a few major drawbacks.
For example, setting up an account requires providing a wide variety of legal and contact information about your business and yourself – including your social security number. PayPal also doesn’t offer flexible recurring gift options or the ability for donors to cover processing fees.
PayPal comes with some other drawbacks as well – read more here.
PayPal’s standard processing fee is 2.9%, plus $0.30 per donation. Eligible 501c3 charities can apply to receive a discounted nonprofit rate of 2.2%, plus $0.30 per donation. Get the details here.
Tithe.ly is a church and ministry-focused online fundraising tool. Along with digital church giving tools, Tithe.ly also offers add-ons for church management software (ChMS). Plus, you can choose to add on the ability to create a custom app for your church. While these tools come at a cost, some larger churches may find them worth the added monthly expense.
Giving platform pricing starts at 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, plus payment processing fees. Add-on services are available for additional monthly fees. Read more pricing details here.
Continue to Give facilitates online giving for churches, nonprofits, and mission-based organizations. They offer online giving tools, a church management system, and a fund accounting system.
One drawback of Continue to Give is that some features that are standard in other platforms, incur additional monthly fees with this system. This includes the text-to-give option as well as the option for donors to cover gift processing fees.
Monthly fees and transaction fee rates vary depending on your church size. Get the scoop. Additional fees apply to purchase the option for donors to cover processing fees as well as for text giving options.
RebelGive is a solution for church online giving that prides itself on doing things differently. The platform’s flat fee and straightforward approach make it a solid choice for those who want a no-muss, no-fuss solution. With RebelGive, you get what you pay for without any surprises.
That said, with RebelGive, donation form customization is limited to a logo and picking a color hue. With that in mind, this system may not be the best solution for churches that prioritize customization and a cohesive brand image.
Annual plans are $948 per year ($79/month) and monthly plans are $99/month, plus processing fees. Learn more.
Mogiv is a multi-platform solution that helps nonprofits and faith-based organizations accept online church donations. Their mission is to build productive, sustainable relationships between nonprofit organizations and their givers.
Mogiv notes that with their service, your church can begin accepting donations in under 24 hours. They also pride themselves on their reporting capabilities, which allow you to quickly pull data on information such as donation trends, new donors, and average donation amount.
Monthly fees range from $19-69/month, and processing fees vary. Get the pricing details here.
Pushpay is a contract-based online payment processing service for online church giving. They offer a variety of additional services including church management software, church giving apps (customization available for an undisclosed fee), and donor relationship-building tools.
One thing to note is that PushPay does not allow donations to be made through Google Pay or Apple Pay. This service may be more useful for churches where the majority of members prefer to pay via a traditional credit card, debit card, or bank transfer.
PushPay does not list pricing on their website – instead, they build a custom pricing quote for each church, plus payment processing fees. Learn more here.
EasyTithe offers online donation solutions for churches of all sizes. They provide a relatively straightforward all-in-one portal for collecting donations, recurring gifts, and text gifts. With EasyTithe, you can view graphical reports of monthly trends, recurring gifts, forecasting, and more. EasyTithe also offers a free demo to get an in-depth look at this service.
As with some other services listed here, EasyTithe does not allow for donations via Apple Pay or Google Pay. Donations can be made via credit card, debit card, or ACH bank transfer.
EasyTithe’s fees range from $19-69 per month based on church size, plus processing fees. Get all the pricing information here.
Givelify offers online giving options as well as a giving app for churches and nonprofits. This platform is used by nearly one million donors. With next-day deposits, no monthly fees, and no contracts, this is a simple solution for online church giving.
Bear in mind: Givelify is another online church donation option that does not allow for donations via Apple Pay and Google Pay. To get a more interactive look at this system’s features, sign up for a free demo with Givelify.
2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for credit card processing. When donors give via American Express, this fee is 3.5% plus 30 cents per transaction. Learn more about Givelify’s pricing here.
As you can see, there are a variety of online giving options available for your church, each with its own unique strengths and drawbacks.
After reading this, hopefully, you feel equipped with the information you need to determine which online giving platform is best for your church. Be sure to pay the closest attention to the features that you know are “deal breakers” for you and your church community. Also, be mindful that some pricing models (for example, a flat monthly fee versus a percentage transaction fee) may be more or less suited to your budget and needs.
With the right online fundraising solution, you’ll be well on your way toward boosting your church’s fundraising efforts and continuing to create positive change in the world.
Find more nonprofit management tips and resources in our nonprofit blog.
Set up your church’s online giving page in just 15 minutes with no set-up fees, no monthly fees, and no contract – sign up here!
Heather is a writer, business owner, and nonprofit professional. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) with more than a decade of experience leading fundraising efforts and creating communication materials for arts, education, and social services nonprofits.
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Heather Karellas