Giving
The Giving module records every gift that comes into your church and produces the reports your treasurer and tax authority will ask for. It supports cash and check entry, online donations through a hosted donation form, and recurring (subscription) giving with a card on file.
Funds vs donations
Two concepts, often confused:
- A fund is a category — General, Missions, Building. You define them once.
- A donation is a single gift, attached to one fund.
Every donation goes into exactly one fund. Reports group by fund so you can see how each fundraising target is doing.
See Manage funds for setting up the categories before you record gifts.
Manual vs online giving
GCM accepts donations through both paths:
| Path | When to use |
|---|---|
| Record a donation | Cash, check, bank transfer — anything off-platform |
| Online donation form | Card or wallet payments, hosted checkout |
| Recurring donations | Members giving weekly / monthly on a saved card |
All three paths land in the same donations table. Reports don't care how the money came in — the donor still appears in their member profile's giving tab, the fund total still moves, the year-end statement still gets the gift.
Privacy mode
Churches handle giving visibility differently. Some make it transparent to all leaders; others restrict it to the senior pastor and the treasurer. GCM supports both.
In Settings → Giving, you can:
- Hide donation amounts from shepherds.
- Hide donor identity from non-treasurers.
- Mask amounts on the dashboard for screen-sharing.
When privacy mode is on for a viewer, the amount appears as "Hidden" in the giving tab but the donation still feeds totals — so charts work without leaking individual numbers.
WARNING
Tax statements always show the real amount to the donor, regardless of privacy mode. The mode is about who-can-see-what internally, not what the donor sees.
What gets recorded
Each donation row has:
- Donor — linked to a member if known, free-text name if not.
- Fund — the category.
- Amount — in your church's currency.
- Payment method — cash, check, card, transfer, other.
- Date — when the gift was received.
- Notes — optional context (check number, memo line, "Sunday offering").
- Gateway reference — for online donations, the payment processor's transaction ID.
Gateway integration
For online donations we use a gateway-agnostic adapter pattern. PowerTranz is the default; Genius Checkout is the hosted-checkout option for visitors. Your card-on-file is tokenized — GCM never stores the full PAN. See Recurring donations for the card lifecycle.
Permissions
| Action | Admin | Treasurer | Shepherd | Member |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record manual donation | yes | yes | no | no |
| Edit donation | yes | yes | no | no |
| Delete donation | yes | yes | no | no |
| View totals | yes | yes | depends | own only |
| View individual gifts | yes | yes | configurable | own only |
| Issue statement | yes | yes | no | no |
Treasurer is a built-in role you can assign in Users & Roles.
Common questions
What currencies are supported? GCM stores donations in your church's primary currency (set in Settings). The online donation form charges in that currency.
Are donations tax-deductible? That depends on your jurisdiction's rules for religious charities. GCM produces the donation records and statements — your tax authority recognition of the church is separate.
Can I see one member's lifetime giving? Yes — open their profile and go to the Giving tab. Totals appear at the top, with a full transaction list below.
Next steps
- Manage funds — set up your categories first.
- Record a donation — your first manual entry.
- Online donation form — let visitors give themselves.
- Recurring donations — for subscription-style monthly support.
- Statements & receipts — year-end tax season.