Should My Church Use a Donation Software?

The short answer is: YES!

When it comes to managing donations, having accurate slips is not just a legal requirement—it’s also a reflection of good stewardship. As a church, providing timely and accurate tax receipts demonstrates to your congregation that their giving is valued and managed responsibly.

Thankfully, with the right donation software, this process can be simple and efficient.

Donation software does more than just issue receipts. It can help increase giving by making it easier for people to contribute online. Church websites will have a clear “Donate” button displayed and with just a few clicks, their gift has been received and the system automatically records it. This kind of seamless experience encourages generosity and saves your team time and effort.

However, like any tool, donation software needs to be set up and managed properly. A key best practice is reconciling the donations recorded in the software with the actual bank deposits. This ensures everything is accurate. Ideally, all giving—whether it’s from a mobile app, cheque, online banking, cash, or e-transfer—should be recorded in one place. This is a key factor when choosing a software.  Issuing tax receipts at the end of the year can be straightforward and stress-free.

POPULAR DONATION SOFTWARE OPTIONS

Here are many options of donation software for churches in Canada, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.  Below we’ve listed out some of the most common that we’ve worked with:

1. CANADA HELPS

CanadaHelps is a third-party tool that collects donations on your behalf and automatically creates and sends tax receipts every time someone donates.

• Why You Might Like It: It’s simple and efficient for online giving. Donors receive immediate receipts without any extra work on your part. Canada Helps has been around for a long time. 

• Things to Consider: The transaction fees are higher, and it only works for online giving. Donations from cheques or other methods still need to be tracked and recorded separately.  The church will need to issue tax receipts for gifts given outside of Canada Helps.

• Best Fit: This is a great option for smaller churches or charities looking for a quick, no-fuss way to accept online donations.

2. TITHE.LY

Tithe.ly is a user-friendly platform with a mobile app and recurring giving options.

• Why You Might Like It: Affordable pricing tiers make it accessible for smaller churches. Donors can easily set up recurring giving, and Canadian-compliant tax receipts are included.

• Things to Consider: Manually entering non-online donations can be a bit clunky and time-consuming.

• Best Fit: Churches looking for a dedicated online giving tool with some flexibility.

3. PLANNING CENTER GIVING (Our Recommendation)

Planning Center Giving can be used on it’s own, but works best as an add-on module for churches already using Planning Center’s suite of tools, like Check-Ins, Services, and People.

• Why We Love It: It integrates seamlessly with other Planning Center tools, so all your data—from attendees to volunteers to donors—lives in one place. It’s affordable, with pricing tiers for all church sizes. Recording all types of giving is straightforward so all the donations can be entered and reconciled in the software, which makes end-of-year tax receipts accurate.  Also the tax receipts are fully CRA compliant and customizable.

• Best Fit: Any church looking for a unified system to manage their people and finances efficiently.

4. PUSH PAY

Pushpay offers advanced donor engagement and analytics tools but comes with a steeper learning curve.

• Why You Might Like It: It’s a robust platform with powerful tools for understanding and engaging your donors.

• Things to Consider: It’s more expensive, and the setup can be complex. Tax receipting isn’t as straightforward, often requiring manual steps.

• Best Fit: Larger churches with dedicated administrative staff who can fully utilize its advanced features.

WHY WE RECOMMEND PLANNING CENTER GIVING…

At Bookkeeping Solutions, we’ve seen firsthand how Planning Center Giving simplifies the lives of church leaders. Many churches already use Planning Center modules such as People, Check-ins, and Services. Adding the Giving module means you’re building on a system you already know. 

• A Unified System: Everyone who attends, volunteers, or donates is in one database. No more juggling multiple systems.

• Streamlined Giving: Whether it’s online, in-person, or through e-transfers, all giving is recorded in one place and easy to reconcile.

• Tax Receipt Simplicity: Fully CRA-compliant receipts are customizable and easy to issue at year-end.

• Affordable for All Churches: Pricing scales with your church’s size, making it accessible to everyone.

We recommend Planning Center Giving to nearly every new church we work with because it’s reliable, user-friendly, and designed with churches in mind.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Whether you’re a small church just starting out or a larger one with complex needs, there’s a solution for you. For us, Planning Center Giving continues to stand out as the best choice for most churches. With its seamless integrations, affordable pricing, and user-friendly features, it’s a tool that supports both your ministry and your mission to be faithful stewards of God’s resources.  However, each church has to evaluate their own needs and fit the software to the team they have.