Public Donation Page

The Public Donation Page allows your church members, visitors, and supporters to contribute financially to your ministry with minimal friction. No account or login is required.

Accessing the Donation Page

Each church's donation page has a unique URL:

https://finance.1stflock.com/donate/{slug}

Replace {slug} with your church's unique donation slug (e.g., grace-community-church). Share this link on your website, in bulletins, via email, or on social media to invite donations. You can also append ?return_url=https://yourchurch.org to send donors back to your own website after they give.

Donor Information

When opening the donation page, donors provide:

First and Last Name: The donor's name (displayed on receipts and donation records unless they choose to remain anonymous).

Email Address: Used to send the donation confirmation and receipt.

Anonymous Option: If your church allows anonymous giving, donors can choose to donate anonymously. Their name appears as "Anonymous Donor" in your Finance App transaction records, and they may skip the email field — but without an email, no receipt can be sent.

Fund Selection

Your church administrator configures which funds appear on the donation page. Donors designate their gift to one fund per donation (e.g., General Fund or Missions Fund) from a dropdown of your church's funds.

Members who are signed in to 1st Flock can split a single gift across multiple funds using the Donate button inside the Church Management app; the public donation page is one fund per gift.

Donation Details

Amount: Enter a custom amount or pick one of your church's suggested amounts. Your church's configured minimum and maximum donation limits apply.

Donation Type: The public donation page accepts one-time donations. Recurring giving (weekly, monthly, or yearly) requires a 1st Flock account — signed-in members set up and manage recurring gifts from the Donate button and My Donations in the Church Management app or the mobile app.

Donor Covers Fees Option: Your administrator can enable an option allowing donors to cover payment processing fees. If selected, the donor sees the exact fee before paying, their contribution is increased by that amount, and your church receives the full entered amount.

Payment Methods

Donations are processed securely through our PCI-compliant payment system:

Apple Pay / Google Pay: Shown when your church has digital wallets enabled and the donor's device supports them (Apple Pay appears on Safari and Apple devices).

Credit/Debit Card: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. The page collects card number, expiration, and CVV securely in an encrypted iframe. Card data never touches our servers (PCI Level 1 compliant).

Bank Transfer (ACH): Donate directly from a U.S. bank account — either link the bank securely through Plaid, or enter the routing and account number manually (manual entry is always available). Some banks redirect the donor to their bank's own login and back; that's expected. ACH transactions typically process within 1-2 business days. Card and bank-transfer acceptance activate together when your merchant account is approved; the page only shows payment methods that are active for your church.

Fee Preview

Before confirming the donation, the page displays:

• Donation Amount — What the donor entered
• Processing Fee — The exact fee for the selected payment method (bank transfers carry a lower rate than cards; your church's rates are shown in your donations settings)
• Your Church Receives — The net amount after fees

If the donor elected to cover fees, this section shows the adjusted amounts.

Confirmation

After payment completes successfully, the donor receives:

• On-Screen Confirmation — Immediate message with receipt number and donation summary
• Email Receipt — Sent to the donor's email address within minutes, including donation details and receipt number for records

Optional Redirect: Your administrator can configure a "Return to Church Website" button or automatic redirect after donation completion, allowing donors to return to your main website seamlessly.

Recurring Donations

Recurring giving is available to donors with a 1st Flock account. Signed-in members set up weekly, monthly, or yearly gifts (with a start date of their choosing) from the Donate button in the Church Management app, and manage or cancel them any time from My Donations — where they can also download year-end tax statements. The public donation page itself is for one-time gifts.

Security & Privacy

All donation pages use HTTPS encryption. Card and ACH data are tokenized and never stored on our servers. Your donation records are securely stored and accessible only to authorized Finance Admin users in your church.

Donations are tracked in your Finance App, where you can view full histories, process refunds, and generate reports for your finance team.