Short answerTo accept tithes and offerings online, put a donation form on your WordPress site connected to your church's Stripe or PayPal account. Offer recurring giving so members can tithe automatically, add designated funds (General, Building, Missions), and record cash and check gifts alongside online ones. With Donor Merchant this is free, recurring tithes included.
What churches need from online giving
- Recurring tithes - members set giving once and it continues, which smooths your monthly income.
- Designated funds - let givers direct a gift to General, Building, Missions, or a specific appeal.
- Phone-friendly giving - card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay so a member can give in the pew in seconds.
- Statements and records - automatic year-end giving statements save your treasurer hours.
- Offline entry - record cash and check gifts so each household's giving lives in one place.
Set it up in an afternoon
- Make sure your site uses HTTPS (free with most hosts).
- Create a free Stripe account - and PayPal, if members ask - in your church's name.
- Install Donor Merchant, paste your Stripe keys, and place the donation block on a page called
/give/. - Turn on recurring giving and add your funds under Settings.
- Test a $5 gift, read the receipt, then link "Give" from your main menu.
Designated funds (building, missions, and more)
Add fund options - General, Building, Missions, Benevolence - and members choose where their gift goes on the form. Every gift is tagged to its fund in your records and exports, so reconciliation is a filter, not a spreadsheet marathon.
Recurring tithes are the whole game
Recurring giving is the single most valuable thing a church can enable online: it turns generosity into a habit and your income into something you can plan around. Present monthly as the default and keep amounts realistic - more tactics in our recurring giving guide.
Cash and check still matter
Not everyone gives online. Record offline gifts in the same system so year-end statements are complete for every household - one donor record per family, online and offline combined.
Why free matters for churchesEvery dollar not spent on software is a dollar toward ministry. Donor Merchant gives churches recurring tithes, designated funds, statements, and offline entry with no platform fee and no annual license.