Radically increase YOUR church tithing & donations

Q. What will I need to start the application for my church?
To apply, you’ll need basic information about your church - legal name, DBA, EIN, legal address, bank account information as well as the social security number of the signer - the person opening the merchant account on behalf of the church. The SSN of the signer is required because each account must be tied to an actual person - not just an organization. No hard credit check is done - it is just a basic identity verification and soft credit check. 

Q. When will our funds be deposited into our bank account?
All of your funds will be deposited into the bank account provided on your application. All funds, from both card and e-check, are automatically deposited to your bank account 3 business days after they batch (exact timing may vary depending on your bank.) This deposit is delayed on bank holidays. You can find estimated deposit amounts and dates on the Batches page.

Q. How long after setup does it take to build a form and make it live for donors?
Applications are typically approved same or next day. Your account will be live and ready to process within an hour of being approved. This gives you full access to all your forms and events. When you first login, on the forms tab you’ll see a ‘first giving form’ template that’s already been created for you. Feel free to edit this one or make your own. 

Q. How do deposits appear and when do we get billed?
Deposits appear in your bank account with the text HP*. Fees are deducted from each deposit. If someone donates $100 on their credit card on Monday, you’ll receive the deposit on Thursday for the net amount, less the fees. This means you would receive a deposit for $97 ($100 X 3% = $3). If you are enrolled in our text giving, billing occurs on the first of the month. 

Q. Are all processing fees the same? Regardless of the card?
Yes. The only fee you pay is 3% no matter the card type. 

Q. We had an e-check transaction returned, what happens now?
When an e-check transaction is returned it is usually because the donor entered an invalid account or routing number or because there was insufficient funds in the account. We do provide the exact reason on the Transactions page under ‘More Info’ in the drop-downdown button. Within a day or two of an e-check being returned we will automatically retrieve the funds from your bank account for the original transaction plus a $5 returned e-check fee. Unfortunately we are not able to refund the original processing fees.

Q. We had a credit card transaction reversed, what happens now?
When a credit card transaction is charged-back (or disputed) it is usually because the donor called their bank and claimed a transaction was fraudulent or unauthorized and instructed them to reverse the transaction. A Chargeback is never a good thing for an organization because it can raise some flags that make your organization look as though you’ve charged a card when you shouldn’t have. If a donor mistakenly initiates a chargeback, which also happens on occasion, we recommend they call their bank again to drop the dispute. Within a day or two of the chargeback our system will automatically retrieve the funds from your bank account for the original transaction plus a $15 chargeback fee. Unfortunately we are not able to refund the processing fees on the transaction. 

Q. What is a merchant account?
A merchant account is what you need in order to process transactions. Essentially, it’s a bank account that allows you to accept credit/debit and ACH payments and donations. 

Q. Who and what is HaloPays?
HaloPays is the company that provides your merchant account for processing within Sharefaith Giving. When you apply for a merchant account, you are applying with HaloPays. This is a separate agreement from your agreement with Sharefaith. 

Q. What is the difference between Sharefaith Giving and HaloPays?
Sharefaith Giving provides the software that you use. HaloPays provides the backend processing that works in conjunction with your software. 

Q. What payment methods are allowed? What is ACH?
With HaloPays, you can accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and ACH (e-check). ACH is a transaction in which someone donates directly from their bank account by inputting their account and routing number. Checking accounts are recommended as most savings accounts do not allow ACH transactions. 

Q. What are the merchant fees?
The only fees associated with processing are the per transaction fees - 3% for credit/debit and 1% for ACH/e-check. We have an add-on text giving feature which is available for $10 per month. We also offer access to our Virtual Terminal (for those who need it). To access our VT, we require PCI Compliance which we provide for $50 per year. There are no other fees - no monthly, no set up, no cancelation. NONE! 

Q. What is a Virtual Terminal?
A Virtual Terminal is a place where you, as an administrator within the software, can enter a payment or donation on behalf of someone else. For example, if someone wrote their credit card or bank account information on a donation card to donate $50 and you need to process it for them, you would do so within the VT. In the VT, you would enter their name, billing zip code, and card information and process the payment for them. The VT also has the added ability to store payment information for easy recall for future repeat donations and payments. To access the VT, click ‘organization’ on the top right and select ‘Add-Ons.’ Because you must directly handle credit card information to use the VT, it is required that your organization be PCI certified. You will be required to opt-in to PCI Compliance and to complete this compliance before gaining access to the VT. Once we receive your PCI Compliance certificate, we will grant access to the VT.

Q. How do I customize my giving form’s colors, font, text, etc?
We cannot perform this kind of customization for you but you can change fonts, colors and the like by going to the Forms page and selecting ‘Edit Styling’ in the action drop down on the form you wish to edit. With this option you can add custom HTML and CSS to any form (if you’re not quite sure what this is or how to do what you want, we’d recommend contacting a web developer).

Q. How do I share and use my giving form?
Once you’ve created your giving form, go to the form and select ‘Get Code’ in the action drop down. Select the code you’d like to use (such as the Give Now button) and copy it. Next, paste it into your own website. Each website editor is different, but you may need to make sure you are pasting it in as HTML code. For example, in WordPress you would need to edit a page/post in text mode (as opposed to visual mode). You can also use the secure link to send out your giving page link via email, newsletter, etc. The secure link can be found in the ‘Get Code’ section or by clicking ‘see live’ next to any form and pulling the URL from the new window that opens. 

Q. What is PCI Compliance?
PCI DSS: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. PCI compliance is a security standard and requirement for any organization or business that stores, processes or transmits payment card data. Unless you need access to our Virtual Terminal, PCI Compliance is NOT required. If you do need access to our VT, then you can enroll in our PCI Compliance portal for $50 per year. Once you enroll, you’ll receive a welcome email with a login to our PCI Portal where you will be prompted to answer a set of questions to verify that you will handle credit card data in a secure manner. Once the questions are completed, you’ll receive a certificate verifying your compliance which is valid for one year. HaloPays is here to assist if you have questions as you complete compliance. 

Q. Can I do one-time and recurring donations?
Yes - with HaloPays, donors can give one time or set up a donation to reoccur regularly - weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. Donors can even set an end date if they want to give for a specific period of time. This can all be done with or without creating an account within Sharefaith Giving. If a donor sets up a recurring gift without creating an account, they can edit that gift by clicking the link in their last email confirmation or receipt. 

Q. Can I have multiple giving funds?
Yes - you can add as many funds as you’d like to your giving or payment forms. Go to the Forms page and on the form you wish to edit, select ‘Action - Edit Funds.’ You can drag and drop any number of funds and fund groupings onto your form. Simple click and drag from right to left. Then rename each fund or group of funds. You can drag funds under group headings to group them together. 

Q. Can donors give to more than one fund at a time?
Yes - donors can give to as many funds as they’d like to in each transaction. Once they add their first gift, they’ll simply click “add another donation” to add another line. 

Q. How secure is Sharefaith Giving and HaloPays?
We like to describe our security as “secure to a paranoid level.” All of our forms are secure so even if your website isn’t, our forms will take care of it. HaloPays processing is PCI Compliant and we have many flags and filters in place to prevent and catch fraudulent transactions. All sensitive data is sent to our system via encrypted channels (using the same browser-based Transport Layer Security [TLS] as financial institutions). 

Q. Can I also do Event Registration with Sharefaith Giving?
Yes! Our event forms are very versatile for all kinds of events. They can be added to your website the same way giving and payment forms are added. We also have some extra features where you can quick view how many people have registered for an event, add discounts and much more. 

Q. What about Kiosk giving?
We have 2 types of swipers available for kiosk type setups. Our USB swiper ($25 each) can be used with all of our forms and events on a laptop or computer. Our Mobile Swiper ($35 each) can be used with our donation and payment forms (not events) and works in conjunction with our free iOS app on an iPhone or iPad (not currently available for Android). Swipers are typically shipped out within 1 to 2 business days.

Q. Can I add multiple administrators to Sharefaith Giving?
Yes - the first administrator that is created for Sharefaith Giving will have full administrative access. They can then add more users by clicking ‘organization’ on the top right and selecting ‘administrators.’ Here, you can add as many users as you need to. We have 3 types of users: admin (full access), webmaster (access to forms and events only), and accountant (access to the reporting, account billing and VT only). 

Q. Can I monitor and run reports for accounting, tax purposes and donors?
You can run reports within the reporting summary, transaction and batch sections, setting your own search criteria by clicking “custom date” or “advanced search.” You can also setup Auto-Reports to be emailed out on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. You can setup your auto-report to include all donations, payments and events or just a subset. You can also set up an email address to be BCC’d on every email receipt that is sent out. This can be setup on the organization ‘Settings’ page.

Q. Can I export donation data?
Yes - you can create export from the reporting summary, transactions and batches pages. Each page has an export button at the top. 

Q. What’s the best way to reconcile deposits?
We recommend starting on the Batches page. Transactions are batched on a daily basis and processed together for deposit. You will find a total for each batch as well as fees, estimated deposit amounts and dates. You can view all the transactions that are a part of the batch by clicking the ‘View Transactions’ button. Another handy feature is the ability to mark a transaction as reconciled by clicking the checkmark button on the far right of the Transactions page.

Q. Can donors login and change their own information?
Yes - if a donor created an account, they can login and manage their information and set up one time or recurring gifts. If a donor logs in on your giving form, it will automatically retrieve their stored payment information so they won’t need to manually enter it. You can manage the donors who have created an account by clicking the donor tab on the left. You can reset their passwords, view their transactions etc. 

Q. Do I have to be a Sharefaith member to use Sharefaith Giving?
Yes. To use our tithing platform you have to be a Sharefaith member. You can however join any yearly membership plan. 

Q. How is Sharefaith Giving and HaloPays better than other tithing solutions?
At HaloPays, our goal is and has always been to keep giving simple and help churches keep more of their funds. We have a heart to serve churches and aren’t in it for the ‘bottom line.’ We’ve developed our processing to reflect this by offering low, flat rate fees and by creating deposit timelines that are easy to follow and reconcile. We want to make it as easy as possible for donors to give. Just an extra step or a misunderstanding can cause a donor to abandon their gift. For this reason, we’ve made our processing as simple and easy as possible. 

Q. Will my tithing increase if I use your tithing solution?
If only 15% of church going Christians tithe, we need to be much more pro-active in teaching the Biblical principle of tithing. Sharefaith Giving taps into the 85% that does not give and provide them with all the tools they need to give. The success of your giving relies on your promotion of these tools to your members. 

Q. Does Mobile and Text giving work on all smartphones?
Yes!

Q. We’re not a “Techy/Modern” church. Is Sharefaith Giving still for us?
Yes! Sharefaith Giving is for all churches of any size. 

Q. Can I use my own merchant account?
HaloPays is designed specifically to work with your Sharefaith Giving software. Unfortunately other merchant accounts can not be used in conjunction with the software.

Q. Can we refund transactions and what is the fee that applies?
Yes - you can refund any transaction by going to the Transaction page, clicking the action button then selecting “Partial Refund” or “Full Refund.” There is no fee for a refund but the original processing fees will not be refunded. 

Q. Do donors get a receipt after the transaction processes?
Yes - immediately after their gives processes, they will see a receipt on their screen and if they provided an email, they will receive a copy in their inbox as well. If someone has a recurring gift, they’ll receive an email confirmation a week before it processes as well as a receipt after it processes.

Q. How is a recurring gift updated or canceled?
There are a few different ways a recurring gift can be managed. (1) The donor will receive an email whenever their gift is processed. In that email there is a link that allows them to manage their recurring gift. This is also true of the reminder email they receive a week beforehand. (2) On every donation form there is a link that says “Update recurring gift.” When a donor clicks on this link they are able to request an email giving them access to their recurring transactions. (3) If a donor created an account and setup their recurring gift within it, then they are able to edit all of their recurring gifts by logging into their account. They have the ability to change dates, payment method, amounts and designations after logging in. (4) Account administrators are able to manage all recurring gifts by going to the Recurring page under Reporting. 

Q. How do I update the bank account where our funds are deposited?
Contact HaloPays at support@halopays.com to update a bank account. Just a heads up, they will need a voided check or bank letter with the new account information in order to make this change (they cannot accept starter checks).

Q. My church has multiple campus locations. Can we still use Sharefaith Giving?
Yes - with Sharefaith Giving, you can create multiple forms, events and as many funds as you need. This allows you to track giving, create auto reports for specific funds and much more.
 
Q. What is Text Giving?
Text Giving allows your donors to give to your organization by simply sending a text message to your organization’s specially reserved phone number. The first time they give, the donor will be prompted to fill out a short sign-up form. But every time after that, giving is as easy as sending a text message.

Q. Can I try it out?
Text a gift of any dollar amount to 440-760-0010. If it is your first time giving you will be asked to complete a one-time setup form. It’s short and pops up right in your mobile browser. Fill in your personal (test) information. Use our demo credit card 5454 5454 5454 5454 with any 3 digits for the security code and any expiry date after today, then click Submit. You’ll get a text back right away thanking you for your gift and a receipt will be sent to your email. Now you never need to enter your information again. Just text an amount at any time and your gift is processed automatically! Try giving to a specific fund. Text an amount to Katrina or Child and see the results… “$40 to Katrina”

Q. How do I enable Text Giving and find a phone number?
You can find all the Text Giving settings on the Add-Ons page, under the Organization drop-down. On that page you’ll see a checkbox to enable Text Giving as well as a few other options.

In order to enable Text Giving you need to select a phone number to use. When you click the Search for Number button you’ll get a search dialog. You can fill in any number of digits (or letters) when searching. As an example, if you wanted to find a number that had the word BLUE in it, you’d simply search for “BLUE”. You can also use the asterisk (“*”) as a wildcard when searching. For instance, if you want to find a number in the 626 area code that ends with four one’s, you’d search for: “(626) ***-1111”.

Q. Will I be able to switch my reserved phone number?
Yes, you can switch your phone number at any time. But proceed with caution: You can’t switch back. Your old phone number will be released and will not be available again. Donors will no longer be able to use your old number.

Q. How do donors use Text Giving?
You would instruct your donors to “Text any dollar amount to (555) 555-5555.” Once they text an amount (like “$20” or “120.50”) they would either be sent an acknowledgment for the gift (meaning it processed) or given a short link to click in order to provide their payment information. The donor is prompted by text message with instructions. The whole process is designed to be explanatory and self-explanatory.

Donors can use both Credit/Debit and E-Check when they set up Text Giving if both are available on your Sharefaith Giving account. Unless required, donors are given the option to provide their email address and receive email receipts. If the donor just gave and would like to receive an email receipt, they can text their email address and Sharefaith Giving automatically sends out a copy of their receipt for their last gift.

There are a series of text message commands that are made available to the donor throughout the giving process. The donor can text the word SUPPORT at any time to receive some help for basic commands. They are directed your organization’s phone number for additional help, if needed. If they text the word UPDATE they’ll receive a custom link they can use to update their payment information online. They can text the word DELETE if they would like to delete their payment profile from Sharefaith Giving and unsubscribe. If the donor unsubscribes from text messages but later changes their mind, they can re-subscribe by texting the word START. If a donor makes a mistake with their gift, REFUND is available to reverse the authorization (up to 4 hours after a donation is made).

Q. How long until the text gifts are deposited into our bank account?
Text message gifts are processed the same as any other one-time gifts on your account and are deposited in the same amount of time. Please contact your processor if you have specific questions about deposit timelines.


Q. What information do you collect from donors?
We require a donor’s first and last name, billing zip/postal code (and country, if international donations are enabled on your account) along with their payment method. We also store the donor’s mobile phone number and give them the option of entering their email address. You can require the email address of all donors by changing the settings on the Add-Ons page, but we do recommend leaving it as optional for your donors.

Q. Are there any limitations?
We are only able to accept text donations that are at least $10 and no more than $2,000 in an effort to reduce the potential for fraudulent activity and texting mistakes (e.g., accidentally typing an extra zero). While we’ve found that the vast majority of gifts fall within this range, we do inform donors of our limits if they attempt to give outside of them and we send them your organization’s contact info if they inquire about other ways to give. We also prevent a donor from giving the same amount (to the same fund) within 5 minutes, just to be sure we aren’t accidentally processing a duplicate. At this time, we are only able to provide this service to donors with US and Canadian phone numbers.

Q. What about recurring gifts?
Donors will not be able to set up recurring gifts via Text Giving. Text Giving was designed to be incredibly simple, easy and enjoyable to use. As such, we made the decision to leave the complications of recurring giving out of our initial version of Text Giving. Thus far we have found that the experience of Text Giving to be so smooth and barrier-free that automated recurring gifts are not needed. A donor simply pulls out their phone and texts their gift: that’s it!


Q. Can donors login to their existing accounts for Text Giving?
While we do hope to be able to add this feature in the near future, we do not currently offer it. Donors who use Text Giving must enter their payment information manually the first time they attempt to give- whether or not they have already created a separate donor account.

Q. What are Text Giving keywords?
Keywords are words that donors can include in their text message in order to designate their gifts towards a certain fund. You can set up an unlimited number of Text Giving keywords by clicking the Edit Keywords button on the Add-Ons page. As an example, if you wanted to give donors the option of giving towards the youth fund, you could setup the keyword YOUTH and then tell donors to include this keyword after their dollar amount. If they then texted “$50 YOUTH” their $50 donation would be appropriately assigned to the youth fund.

Q. Are there any fees for Text Giving?
There is a monthly fee of $10 for using Text Giving. Your first month is pro-rated and billed after you sign-up. Each monthly after that is billed on the 1st. We bill directly to your organization’s bank information on file with Sharefaith Giving. Note that you will receive invoices via email and you will be able to see past invoices on the Account Billing page.

Q. If I disable Text Giving, can I keep my phone number?
Unfortunately not. Once you disable Text Giving or switch to a new phone number, your old number is immediately released and is made unavailable by our telephony service prSetup.

Q. How Do I Set up a Giving Kiosk
Need to setup a giving kiosk? Giving kiosks are a great way to enable constituents to give electronically when they are present. It is a quick and secure solution. The Sharefaith Giving solution uses an iPad with a credit card swiper all mounted in a robust stand.
First, you’ll need the following items:
An iPad! An iPad stand (we really like these stands) A credit card swiper (here’s a link to purchase one)
Now that you have got your hardware assembled, time to get the software working for you:
Install the Your Church mobile app (download here) Connect the Sharefaith Giving mobile app to a form on your account (you will need to get the RID for a form and plug it into the app — you’ll find the RID displayed just below each form) Optional: Setup “Guided Access Mode” on the iPad (more info here). With this iOS feature enabled you can prevent users from exiting the App and using the iPad for other things, like playing games or surfing the net.

And that’s all you need to have a giving kiosk setup and ready for donors.

Q. How Do I Put the Giving Form on My Website, App or Social Media?
You can create and manage an unlimited number of giving and payment forms in Sharefaith Giving. To use the forms, you have to provide your donors with a link to them. We have a few different options for this. You can find them by going to the Forms page, and under the Action drop down, clicking on the “Get Code” option. Get Form Code Modal  A screen shot of the available options to share your giving or payment form.

The most common option is to place the giving form on your website with an “iframe”. When you do this you are actually placing a website within a website: The “iframe” becomes a secure window to the Sharefaith Giving-hosted giving form. You can use this option by copying and pasting the Secure iFrame code into your website. The drawback to this approach is, of course, that the donor cannot see the web address of the “iframe” and has no way of knowing that the page is securely loaded (i.e., they can’t see the “https”).      Our recommend solution is to place a “Give Online” button or URL onto your website. When donors click it they will be taken to the Sharefaith Giving form. You can use this option by copying & pasting the GiveOnline Button code into your website.      You are also able to share a link to your form on various social media outlets or even in an email. We provide the direct link under Secure URL in the “Get Code” modal.     Another great feature is the QR codes that we provide (there are links provided to large versions). The QR code can be scanned by smart phones (a QR code scanning application is required) and will take the donor directly to your giving form. You can use QR codes everywhere: Signs, flyers, bulletins, newsletters, etc.