The problem
A volunteer treasurer matching 70 standing orders a month to givers and funds by hand, at about 3 minutes each, spends 210 minutes, 3.5 hours a month. The annual giving statements for 60 givers take another 10 hours a year, about 0.8 hours a month. A gift matched to the wrong person, or a declaration not linked, means Gift Aid missed or claimed wrongly.
What the AI does
ChurchSuite's Giving module imports giving data from uploaded bank statements and reconciles it automatically with the right givers and funds. Gift Aid declarations are created and linked to all funds a giver gives to, or only specific funds, so you could claim on regular giving but not on a building fund. It also takes online gifts by Direct Debit, card or SMS through giving forms and the app, tracks pledges, and emails each giver a statement of their donations for a period. A module password adds a second login for giving records. The tour page says it helps you claim Gift Aid but doesn't say how the claim reaches HMRC, so ask ChurchSuite how the claim file works with HMRC Charities Online.
A worked example
An evangelical church in Leicester with about 180 contacts has 70 regular givers paying by standing order, a general fund and a building fund. A volunteer treasurer works on it at weekends.
Before
About 4.3 hours a month matching standing orders and preparing statements by hand
After
About 1 hour a month checking the automatic matches and the few gifts ChurchSuite couldn't place
What it's worth
About $67£50€60A$96C$94 a month in treasurer time saved, against about $28£21€25A$40C$39 for ChurchSuite. 3.3 hours a month saved (4.3 minus 1), valued at an assumed $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour; this is volunteer time freed rather than cash. ChurchSuite prices include VAT and depend on active contacts: for 100 to 199 contacts the Address Book plus one module is $27.27£20.50€24.40A$39.36C$38.54 a month, and the full Suite is $60.52£45.50€54.15A$87.36C$85.54. Fees for online card or Direct Debit gifts come from the payment provider, so check them before switching givers over.
How to set it up
- Record your Gift Aid claim timetable first in the treasurer's diary and the PCC or trustees' minutes, with a named person and a second person who checks it.
- Start the trial with the Address Book and Giving modules, and set up your funds.
- Import givers, then enter every Gift Aid declaration with its date and the funds it covers.
- Upload last month's bank statement and check each automatic match against your spreadsheet.
- Turn on the module password and limit giving records to the treasurer and one other named person.
- At year end, email each giver their statement from ChurchSuite.
What goes wrong
- Giving records are sensitive: they show who gives and how much. Keep access to the fewest people and use the module password.
- Matching is only as good as bank references. Ask givers to use a set reference and fix unmatched gifts each month.
- Check with ChurchSuite how Gift Aid claims are produced and submitted before relying on it for a claim; the treasurer still checks every claim.
- Online giving fees come from the payment provider, not ChurchSuite. Compare them with the cost of standing orders, which are free to the church.