If you’re considering Planning Center Giving as your online church giving platform, you’re in the right place. We know that switching donation platforms, or setting one up for the first time, can come with a lot of questions. So we put together answers to the ones we hear the most. By the time you're done reading, you'll have a clearer picture of what Giving can do for your church.

How much is Giving?

Pricing for Giving is based on the number of donations tracked through the platform each month. That includes donations processed through your online giving form and donations entered or imported into batches.

When you’re choosing your subscription, it’s helpful to think about the total volume across all your donation types:

To get an idea of what your Giving subscription might be, visit our Pricing page.

How do processing fees work?

Online donations in the US are processed at 2.15% + $0.30 per transaction for credit/debit card and 0% + $0.30 per transaction for ACH bank transfer. Offline donations (cash, check, etc.) don’t incur any fees. We offer the lowest processing fees available so churches can save more money for their ministry needs. To see how much you can save, check out our pricing calculator!

Can we migrate or import our giving history from our current system?

Yes! You don't have to start from scratch when you migrate to Planning Center Giving. We offer a donation history import tool that makes it straightforward to bring your existing giving records over.

This import donation history guide walks you through preparing your import file and getting your account ready.

How do year-end giving statements work, especially if we're in the middle of a transition?

With Giving, you can generate and share donor statements easily, even if you're in the middle of transitioning from another platform. Our guide on creating and sharing donor statements covers everything you need to know to get those out to your donors at the end of the year.

Can we keep our current payment processor during the transition?

You definitely have flexibility here, especially if you’re concerned about recurring donors who haven’t gotten set up with Planning Center yet. 

A couple of ways churches have handled this:

Approach 1: Track-only. You can use Giving purely to track donations without processing payments through it. You can complete the full Giving onboarding without setting up online payments, so you can get your records in order before making any changes to how donations are processed.

Approach 2: Dual-system transition. You can continue processing through your current platform while also processing new donations through Giving. This is a great option if you want to give donors a set window of time to migrate their recurring giving over to Giving.

We know how important it is to be able to track donations without losing people during transition, so you don’t have to make a hard switch overnight.

Can I record donations from outside of Giving, like cash, checks, or Venmo?

Absolutely. Whether your donors give by check, drop cash in the offering plate, or use a payment app like Venmo or Zelle, you can record all of those in Giving using batches. Batches let you manually enter, organize, and track donations that don't come through your online giving form. Giving also supports mobile church giving so donors can give from anywhere, any time.

Is there a QuickBooks integration?

There’s not a direct integration with QuickBooks or other ledger software. Giving offers robust CSV export options that make it easy to get your data into whatever accounting software you use. You can filter exports by date range, payment method, and even by deposit.

One tip: Instead of importing itemized donation records into your bookkeeping software, consider using journal entries instead. It saves time and keeps your records accurate. You can learn more in this guide for bookkeepers.

Can we export Giving reports?

Yes! Giving has a variety of reports you can pull and export. See our article Giving reports to learn what's available and how to use them.

How do we keep Giving and bookkeeping in sync?

The same CSV export tools that help with QuickBooks work well for keeping your books in sync. You can filter your exports by time period or donation type, and use journal entries in your ledger software to record the totals. Again, the guide for bookkeepers is your best friend here.

Switching giving platforms is a big decision, and it's okay to take your time getting there. We built Giving to make the whole process—from your first donation to your year-end statements—feel less like a challenge and more like one less thing to worry about.

Still have questions? We'd love to help! Reach out to our support team or start a free trial to experience Giving for yourself.