Here Are Some of the Best Online Giving Platforms for Churches:
Usability and Experience
Users of Tithe.ly love the sleek interface, which is easy to learn and navigate. Tithe.ly's comprehensive suite of tools and features make for an excellent overall experience, as users are able to toggle from one feature to the next.
Features
Tithe.ly offers features for receiving online donations, financial reporting, building a church website and app, marketing tools for generating awesome media, and a whole range of administrative tools for planning services, organizing and managing contacts, project management for church staff, accounting, and reporting.
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Benefits
Tithe.ly doesn't just help you boost giving with a secure platform; it helps you create an entire online presence with easy-to-use marketing tools for your website and church app. It also makes planning and communications a breeze.
Pricing
Tithe.ly Giving is absolutely free–making it a great choice for cash-strapped small churches. If you want to upgrade to additional tools, the cost of Tithe.ly increases incrementally. You can use the entire suite of tools (including accounting, marketing, and website/app building for only $99 a month).
Pros of Tithe.ly
Tithe.ly is a cost-effective way to manage your entire digital presence as a church, from outbound communications to internal project management. It also comes with minimal setup fees and add-on costs, making it a solid choice from a pricing standpoint. As far as church management software goes, it's the most comprehensive tool available.
Cons of Tithe.ly
By using Tithe.ly, you may lose the need for all your existing software tools and products!
Usability and Experience
Donorbox
ranks high in terms of ease of use and user experience.
Features
Donorbox is primarily a donation platform, providing organizations a donation button. It does not have features for marketing, communications, planning, or management.
Benefits
Donorbox is effective as a digital donation tool for a range of organizations.
Pricing
Donorbox offers a freemium version, but charges for integrations and text to give features ($17-$50 per month).
Pros of Donorbox
Donorbox offers a popular option for covering transaction fees, and has not startup fees.
Cons of Donorbox
Donorbox isn't a church software.
Usability and Experience
Paypal is easy to use, and offers a fairly intuitive user experience.
Features
PayPal is primarily an online giving solution. It's not tailored to churches, meaning that it doesn't have features for church management, communications, or marketing.
Benefits
PayPal is comprehensive as a payment platform. It integrates nicely with credit card companies, provides an easy bank transfer/automatic bank deposit option, and provides cutting edge technology for online givers.
Pricing
PayPal is free to use. A PayPal Pro account costs $30 per month. That makes it an affordable giving solution for churches that need help with online giving.
Pros of PayPal
PayPal's 23-year track record means that it's been vetted and tested by millions of users. It also comes with enterprise-grade security (to be fair, this level of security is standard for most donation platforms).
Cons of PayPal
PayPal is not ideal for creating a Biblical stewardship strategy. It doesn't offer tools for donor development, and it has no additional features for churches looking for more effective planning and marketing.
Usability and Experience
Users of Continue to Give report that it's easy to use, but challenging to learn.
Features
Continue to Give provides tools for online giving, accounting, sending newsletters, and texting, as well as a church CRM.
Benefits
This simple solution is specifically tailored to churches, missionaries, and non-profits.
Pricing
Continue to Give offers a freemium version (best for smaller churches), or an upgraded version for the monthly subscription fee of $29 a month.
Pros of Continue to Give
Users of Continue to Give report that they are easy to work with.
Cons of Continue to Give
Continue to Give is not ideal for larger charges, as the price increases with each new member of contact. Continue to Give doesn't include tools for building a website or church app, and
some users report that some church members struggle with the UX of Continue to Give.
Usability and Experience
RebelGive provides a simple, seamless giving experience for users (and an easy experience for admin users).
Features
RebelGive is primarily a church donation platform. It is not a church management system or comprehensive platform for churches, and does not include tools for event planning, marketing, or even text giving.
Benefits
RebelGive's core value proposition is that it does not charge transaction fees. That can help churches retain more cash from donations.
Pricing
RebelGive includes both monthly plans ($29-$199) and annual plans ($290-$1990).
Pros of RebelGive
RebelGive can help churches preserve more cash from online transactions. It has by far the lowest transaction fees out of any tool (because it's free).
Cons of RebelGive
Without comprehensive tools for donor management or marketing, RebelGive doesn't help churches develop a strong giving strategy (or reduce administrative time). Pricing also increases significantly for larger churches.
Usability and Experience
Some users of Subsplash report that the user interface is difficult to learn and understand.
Features
Some users of Subsplash report that the user interface is difficult to learn and understand.
Benefits
Subsplash is a more comprehensive tool than many church management tools. For example, it offers an app for churches, a church website, child check-in, and more
Pricing
Subsplash does have a freemium version, but does not have transparent pricing on their website. Some users report that it's a pricier option.
Pros of Subsplash
Subsplash is a popular option for churches looking for an entire suite of tools to help them with church communications, live streaming church, running a website, and more.
Cons of Subsplash
Many users report that Subsplash has very poor customer support.
Usability and Experience
Pushpay offers a simple, intuitive user experience.
Features
Pushpay was originally an easy, simple-to-understand replacement for the offering plate. It has now acquired Church Community Builder, and expanded to include a larger suite of features for church engagement and management.
Benefits
Pushpay helps churches to make a positive impact on giving, and is essentially an all-in-one church management solution.
Pricing
Pushpay is more expensive, making it less than ideal for price-conscious churches. It starts at $149 a month.
Pros of Pushpay
Pushpay has been used by thousands of churches for 10+ years.
Cons of Pushpay
Pushpay is expensive.
Usability and Experience
As its name suggests, EasyTithe is simple to learn and use.
Features
EasyTithe is primarily a platform for receiving online donations. It also includes admin reporting tools for gaining insight into your giving, and even an event registration tool and a mobile app.
Benefits
EasyTithe is an effective all-in-one church fundraising solution.
Pricing
EasyTithe has a limited-time offer freemium version. It also has a $49/month version for small- and mid-sized churches, or a $69/month version for larger churches.
Pros of EasyTithe
EasyTithe is simple to use, and offers great customer support.
Cons of EasyTithe
EasyTithe doesn't offer some tools for church marketing and management, including a website builder or tool for service planning.
Usability and Experience
Givelify makes it very simple for church members to donate. Users also report that it offers an easy, simple experience for admin.
Features
Givelify is essentially a giving app. It provides tools for donors to give, and for admin to track fundraising efforts and generate contribution statements.
Benefits
Givelify makes it convenient for church members to give, and even increases the likelihood of generosity.
Pricing
Givelify is free to use, but does charge transaction fees (like the majority of giving platforms).
Pros of Givelify
Givelify can increase donations for churches, and make fundraising campaigns more effective by giving potential donors mobile access.
Cons of Givelify
Givelify doesn't offer tools outside of a basic donation app.
Usability and Experience
SecureGive is simple to use and manage.
Features
SecureGive is essentially a giving app that allows admin users can customize and design their own donation app. However, it also includes in-depth resources for helping churches to develop fundraising and generosity strategies.
Benefits
SecureGive is essentially a giving app that allows admin users can customize and design their own donation app. However, it also includes in-depth resources for helping churches to develop fundraising and generosity strategies.
Pricing
SecureGive starts at $99 a month for its most basic plan.
Pros of SecureGive
SecureGive provides an abundance of resources for churches to grow in generosity.
Cons of SecureGive
SecureGive costs up to $199 per month for larger churches, making it one of the most expensive options out there.
Final Thoughts
There are many free options for hosting your own giving platform–including
Tithe.ly, Givelify, and PayPal. If you're looking for a one-stop, full-scale digital giving solution that provides comprehensive church giving features, a mobile giving app, accounting, service planning, text messaging, and more,
Tithe.ly is your best bet in terms of value and functionality.
What Do Churches Use for Online Giving?
Thousands of churches use Tithe.ly every month for receiving donations online. In fact, Tithe.ly is used by 37,000 churches around the world.
How Do Churches Set up Online Giving?
Churches typically pay a low fee for expert implementation of online giving, and then manage their own platform.
Can Churches Use PayPal for Online Giving?
Churches can use PayPal for online giving, but PayPal certainly isn't tailored to churches. That being said, it lacks a lot of features that help churches to create a successful giving strategy (including a church app for giving).
How Can I Get Tithes and Offering Online?
You can get tithes and offerings online by using a tool that allows churches to receive donations safely and securely online.
