If your church still relies on cash and checks alone, you are likely missing gifts from members who rarely carry either. The way people give has changed, and churches of every size are adopting tools that make generosity easier, faster, and more consistent.
Here are five digital giving innovations that can strengthen your ministry, and how Donatefy helps you put each one in place.
1. Donation kiosks for on-site giving
Nobody should need cash in hand to give during a service. A donation kiosk at the church entrance or in the lobby lets members give with a card or a phone in a few taps.
With Donatefy kiosks, you can:
- Accept credit cards, debit cards, and phone wallets through a reader built into the kiosk.
- Offer several funds, such as tithes, missions, and the building fund, by assigning campaigns to the kiosk from the Admin Portal.
- Let members start a monthly gift with a card tap before they leave the building.
- Give members and visitors a private, secure way to give, with a receipt sent automatically.
- Choose the format that fits your space: the floor-standing FS-22 for prominent, flexible placement, or the wall-mounted WM-22 for a permanent giving point that uses no floor space.
The result: members who rarely carry cash can still respond in the moment, so spontaneous generosity stops walking out the door.
2. Online and QR code giving
Your members already have their phones with them, so bring giving to their fingertips. With online and QR code giving, a donor scans a code in the bulletin, on a welcome card, or on the screen during announcements, and completes the gift in moments.
With Donatefy online giving, you can:
- Run a branded giving site that shows every active fund and campaign, so donors choose where their gift goes.
- Place campaign QR codes in bulletins, pew cards, and presentation slides.
- Accept gifts at any hour, including midweek and outside service times.
- Add donate buttons to the church website you already have.
The result: you capture gifts in the moment of inspiration, during the service or midweek, and keep support steady between Sundays.
3. Recurring digital tithing
Predictable income helps a church plan ministry budgets with confidence. Recurring giving automates tithes on a monthly schedule, or another frequency the donor chooses, so faithful giving continues even on the Sundays someone is away. Here is more on why recurring giving makes donations predictable.
With Donatefy, you can:
- Offer recurring giving online, at the kiosk, and in the field.
- Let members manage their own plans in the Donor Portal, with no call to the church office.
- See every active plan and upcoming charge in the Admin Portal.
- Soften the dips in giving that come with holidays, travel, and summer schedules.
The result: steadier support for year-round ministry and missions.
4. Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android for the phones you already carry
Some moments call for giving right where people are: after a moving testimony, during a mission update, or at a community meal in the fellowship hall. Contactless giving on a phone lets anyone give in seconds, with no fixed device nearby, and members already know the motion from paying everywhere else. Here is more on why people tap to donate with NFC.
With the Donatefy Mobile App, you can:
- Accept card and phone wallet gifts on compatible phones with Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tap to Pay on Android.
- Skip cash, checks, and typed card numbers during the giving moment.
- Start collecting in person without buying hardware, on phones your team already owns.
- Record every tap with its campaign and send the same automatic receipt as every other channel.
The result: giving fits the flow of worship and fellowship instead of interrupting it.
5. Centralized donor management
Managing gifts from several sources can be hard, so Donatefy brings them together. Whether a gift comes from the kiosk, the giving site, or a phone, it lands in one ledger and joins the giver's donor record.
With Donatefy, you can:
- See donations from every channel in one dashboard, by campaign and by channel.
- Follow each member's giving history, including recurring and one-time gifts.
- Use that history for thoughtful follow-up and personal thanks.
- Send branded, tax-ready receipts automatically, and on paid plans let members download their own year-end summaries in the Donor Portal.
- Enter the weekend's cash and checks in the same ledger, so your reports match reality.
The result: hours of office work saved, and stronger relationships built on one organized view of every gift.
Why now is the time to go digital
Every innovation above removes a barrier to generosity. When you offer several easy, secure ways to give, members can support your mission whenever and wherever they feel led.
Donatefy brings all five into one platform:
- FS-22 and WM-22 donation kiosks
- Online and QR code giving
- Recurring giving on every channel
- Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android in the Mobile App
- One donor record for every gift
Planning the move away from cash? The guide to cashless giving for congregations walks through it step by step, and the page for faith-based organizations shows how the pieces fit together for a church.