Make giving even more simple by selecting the best church-giving solution from this list.
After 2020, the ability to engage with your congregation online has become a prerequisite element of a successful church. This new emphasis on the internet doesn’t just impact Sunday morning services, either. It can also have a profound influence on how your donors are able to financially support your organization.
Giving online has been a lifesaver for many ministries. However, setting up a system to properly handle online donations can be a bit challenging.
If you’re shopping for a good church giving solution, here are eight of the best options available, each with a brief overview and summary of their pricing structure.
Top 8 Church Giving Solutions
1. DigiGiv
DigiGiv is a digital giving solution that answers all of the needs of a modern, online church. The tool is designed by the experts behind the church website building company, Ministry Designs. This means it brings a veteran digital pedigree to the table.
DigiGiv makes it easy to give through a variety of portals, including:
- Church websites;
- Mobile devices;
- Text 2 Give;
- And even a native online giving portal.
Along with these options, DigiGiv has settings for recurring giving and pledge management. It’s also backed by the safety and security of the Ministry Designs brand and boasts a comprehensive admin management board that provides a plethora of important financial data.
DigiGiv doesn’t come with a monthly fee. Instead, the brand charges an impressively low 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction. That way, if you have a low volume of independent givers or you get scattered donations, you don’t have to feel trapped into paying a monthly fee.
2. Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly has created one of the more well-known giving platforms in the Christian world. Used by churches and secular-based ministries alike, the giving tool offers a robust number of features.
Tithe.ly also offers half a dozen different ways to give, various reporting data, and recurring giving features. In addition, it includes a nifty option to allow donors to increase their gifts in order to cover the fees.
While all of these perks are nice, they do come at a cost. Tithe.ly doesn’t have a monthly fee. However, it charges 2.9% + $0.30 on each transaction.
It also has additional fees for ACH and bank deposits as well as processing AMEX cards. Some of its add-ons also come with an extra cost, such as text giving or creating a church app.
Giving insights: 5 Powerful #GivingTuesday Statistics
3. Givelify
Givelify is another solid giving solution that can adapt to whatever your church needs. The popular app is used by 55,000 different organizations. It offers a sweet and simple way to give that has led to stats showing increased church financial totals, calculated by Givelify each year.
Givelify is easy to scale to the size of your church. It also offers ways to add church branding to your giving page. This is a great way to avoid the feeling that someone is being “redirected” elsewhere when trying to give a financial gift.
Givelify is another solution that doesn’t come with a monthly fee. However, the per-transaction fee is comparable with Tithe.ly, coming in at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. While it won’t break the bank, make sure you’re comfortable with the trade-off between a higher fee and the perks that come with it before signing on the dotted line.
After 2020, the ability to engage with your congregation online has become a prerequisite element of a successful church. Not only does this impact Sunday morning services, but also how your donors are able to financially support… Click To Tweet4. PayPal
Sometimes, going mainstream is the best option. If you feel more comfortable using a giving solution that comes with a recognizable name, you may want to go with nothing less than PayPal itself.
The financial transaction giant has an entire section of its site devoted to various forms of donor and charity pricing. Churches can be awarded a special “charity” rate if they can prove themselves — i.e. validating their 501(c)(3) status.
However, even if you can do that, the costs are still significant. PayPal only takes 1.99% of each charity transaction, but this comes with a higher $0.49 fixed fee. PayPal may be a recognizable name in the donation world, but using it as a long-term giving solution comes at a cost, especially if you have a lot of smaller donations from your congregants.
5. easyTithe
easyTithe is a giving tool that is all about options. As is the case with most of these high-profile giving solutions, easyTithe has various important features. This includes reporting and analytics, multi-church support, and custom payment forms.
The tool is designed to work with any size church, and the pricing structure reflects that, too. For instance, there are multiple payment tiers. The first starts at $0 per month, with fees coming in at 1.99% + $0.39 per credit or debit card transaction. However, you don’t get many of the features and even have to pay extra for text-to-give.
If you move up to the second tier you get more stuff, but the cost rises to $49 per month with 2.9% +$0.39 fees. The silver lining with all of this is that easyTithe offers a free trial version. This allows hesitant shoppers to “try before you buy,” which can be nice when you’re talking about such a significant investment.
Innovative online giving ideas: 7 Ways To Increase Online Tithing For Churches
6. Pushpay
Pushpay is another giving option that has a well-known following. The tool is used by over 11,000 churches and boasts a variety of supplemental services. These span the gamut from church apps and donor development to church management software.
When it comes to digital giving, the Pushpay app covers the basics like a blanket. You’ve got website giving, text-to-give options, and can accept tithes through a fully-customizable mobile church app.
As always, all of this comes at a cost. However, in this case, you don’t get to know the cost until you’re willing to commit some time to find out.
If you like the Pushpay route, you need to set up a meeting to talk with a rep from the company. They’ll be able to assess your situation and come up with a personalized quote. A tailored price can be great, especially for smaller churches. However, make sure you’ve done your homework and know comparables before you get your quote.
Digital giving lessons: 3 Creative Approaches To Church Giving Online To Learn From Amazon
7. RebelGive
If you’re looking for a simple and streamlined solution, you may want to consider RebelGive.
Yes, the name isn’t exactly an “instant sell” for an ethical nonprofit organization. But underneath the disaffected exterior, RebelGive is a giving tool looking to push back against complicated giving systems.
RebelGive removes many of the pesky extra fees, focusing on a single fee on the church end of the deal. That said, it does shift some of these costs onto the donors. The platform also has limited features — a natural expectation for a simple, cost-effective solution.
RebelGive insists that churches only have to pay a low, fixed monthly rate, which starts as low as $29 but adjusts depending on the size of a ministry. Once that’s set up, you’re good to go, albeit in a limited manner.
8. Faithlife Giving
Faithlife Giving is the only online church giving platform that also nurtures healthy stewardship through biblical content and tools. Faithlife believes using tools that are solely focused on finances emphasizes the wrong thing. The church isn’t a business. Giving is about spiritual formation—but the tech you’re using may rob your people of an opportunity for growth.
A differentiator of Faithlife Giving is that it provides tools to teach biblical principles of stewardship and empowers believers to make a plan to give—and stick to it. And because they are the makers of Logos Bible Software, you can be confident of the Biblical resources included.
For example, Faithlife Giving comes with a Goal Calculator feature so you can transform everyone in your church into a biblical steward. With it, members can set personal giving goals based on income. They’ll track their generosity over time and even learn biblical principles of stewardship through helpful articles and books linked right inside the tool.
Another highlight worth mentioning is their support. Faithlife Giving customer support is available to all customers from real people, 365 days a year—even Sundays. That's peace of mind for any church leader that needs support with technology.
Finding the Best Giving Solution for Your Church
Addressing the giving needs of your church can be challenging these days. With pandemic concerns, low attendance, live streaming, and countless other variables at play, it’s important that you find a tool that genuinely fits the needs of your church.
Before you commit to a giving solution, start by prayerfully doing some research and coming up with a checklist of priorities. A few to consider include:
- How high you’re willing to pay in fees;
- How much fixed-rate versus percentage-of-transaction fees will matter;
- The complexity of the technology, both to set things up and maintain the tool;
- Personalization of the donor forms and giving portal;
- The number of giving portal options you want or need;
- If you want to let your donors get involved in covering the fees.
By asking questions like these, you can create a priority checklist. Keep this handy as you research each of your giving solution options. That way, once you pick a service and set things up, you can charge ahead, confident that you’ve put your ministry in the best financial position possible.
Thanks for your article on fees for giving solutions.
However, I find it hard to believe that Subsplash isn’t in thew top 8, why did you omit them?
Thanks