The Story Behind Tithely

When Tithely co-founder and Co-CEO Dean Sweetman walked into a Starbucks one morning in 2012, he had no idea his coffee order would eventually help change the way thousands of churches receive donations.

After using Starbucks' mobile payment technology, the longtime pastor had a simple thought:

If I can use my smartphone to pay for coffee, why can't I use my smartphone to give to church?

That question became the beginning of Tithely, a church giving app that would eventually grow into a complete church technology platform serving more than 53,000 churches worldwide.

A Pastor With a Passion for the Local Church

Long before founding Tithely, Dean Sweetman spent decades in ministry as a pastor and church planter. That experience gave him a firsthand understanding of both the spiritual mission of the Church and the practical realities of running one.

“Church is not a business. Church is building God's kingdom, preaching the gospel, and doing good works,” explains Dean. “But there is a business side of church. When you generate revenue, you are able to reinvest that revenue.”

For churches, that revenue largely comes through the generosity of their people.

“God wants people to give for two reasons,” says Dean. “Most importantly, we give to elevate Him above our propensity for greed when it comes to money. Two, we give to fund the work of the Church.”

But as a lead pastor in Atlanta, Dean saw a problem.

For many churches, giving was still largely tied to the Sunday morning offering. If someone missed church, forgot their checkbook, or simply wasn’t ready to give at that moment, the opportunity could easily pass.

Recurring giving could also be cumbersome to set up.

Dean began wondering what might happen if churches could make generosity simpler, more convenient, and available beyond a few hours on Sunday morning.

The Starbucks Visit That Sparked the Idea for Tithely

By 2012, mobile apps were quickly becoming part of everyday life, and Dean was eager to try Starbucks’ new mobile payment experience.

“I put in my order to the app for an iced latte, went to the Starbucks that I went to just about every day, and said, ‘I'd like to pay with the app this morning.’”

The technology was still so new that Dean had to show the employee how it worked.

After paying for his drink, a thought hit him: Wouldn’t it be great if giving in church could be that easy?

It was a simple idea, but it addressed a very real problem. People were increasingly using their phones to shop, communicate, bank, and manage everyday life. Why shouldn’t they also be able to use their phones to give to their church?

Who Founded Tithely?

Tithely was co-founded by Dean Sweetman and his son Barnabas “Barn” Sweetman.

After Dean shared his mobile giving idea with Barn, Barn went to work building it. About six months later, he returned with the first version of the Tithely giving app, including an important feature that would become central to digital generosity: recurring giving.

Dean introduced the new app to his congregation in Atlanta.

“I stood up in front of my church in Atlanta and announced the app,” says Dean. “Donations started flooding in.”

The concept had worked.

Church members could now give from their phones quickly and conveniently, whether they were sitting in a Sunday service, traveling, or at home during the week.

What began as a solution for one local church suddenly looked like something that could help many more.

From a Church Giving App to a Growing Company

For a time, Tithely remained a side project while Dean continued exploring what might come next in his life and ministry.

Then, in 2014, Dean teamed up with Frank Barry and Steve Klein, bringing together experience in ministry, technology, finance, and business.

The group met in San Diego, California, and committed to building Tithely into something much bigger.

Their goal wasn’t simply to create another piece of software. It was to help churches remove barriers to generosity and give ministry teams better tools to serve their people.

That mission helped transform Tithely from a mobile giving app into one of the most widely used church technology platforms in the world.

Why Tithely Was Created

At its core, Tithely was created to make giving to church easier.

Traditional giving often depended on someone physically attending a service and having cash or a check available. Digital giving expanded that window from a few hours on Sunday morning to any time, from almost anywhere.

It also made it easier for church members to establish recurring gifts, helping churches develop more consistent giving and giving ministry leaders greater stability as they planned for the future.

Over time, that same desire to simplify church administration expanded beyond giving.

Churches needed more than a donation tool. They needed technology that could help them manage people, communicate, organize events, build websites, engage their congregation, and reduce repetitive administrative work.

Tithely began building those tools too.

From Online Giving to a Complete Church Technology Platform

Today, Tithely serves more than 53,000 churches worldwide.

What started as a simple mobile giving solution has grown into a broader suite of church technology designed to help churches simplify administration and spend more time focused on ministry.

Tithely now offers tools for:

• Online giving
• Recurring giving and donor management
• Church management Software
• Church websites
• Custom-branded church apps
• Messaging and communication
• Events and registrations
• Worship and service planning
• Free church media

Through Tithely All Access, churches can bring these tools together in one connected platform instead of relying on multiple disconnected systems.

The technology has changed significantly since that first mobile giving app, but the purpose behind it has remained remarkably consistent: help churches use simple, effective, affordable technology to advance their ministry.

Tithely’s Mission Hasn’t Changed

For Dean, the Tithely story has always been about more than software.

“In 2014, I was kind of worn out. I didn't know what I was going to do,” says Dean. “I didn't want to go back into full-time ministry, but I loved serving God. Sometimes God brings things in front of you and He's like, Here's an opportunity. Do you want to do it?”

Dean said yes.

What began with a pastor ordering a latte became an opportunity to help churches around the world make generosity easier, strengthen engagement, simplify administration, and free their teams to focus on ministry.

And it all started with one simple question:

If giving could be as easy as paying for coffee, what might that make possible for the Church?

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