Integrating with GoCardless for online bank donations
In this article
About GoCardless
Completing the GoCardless integration
Adding accounts for fund-specific payouts to other bank accounts
About GoCardless
GoCardless is a secure online payment service, which ChurchSuite uses to handle bank payments for online donations processed through Donate. Opening an account with GoCardless is free, with no monthly subscription or minimum spend. GoCardless deduct a small transaction fee from each transaction processed and you receive the 'net of fees' amount. You will only need a GoCardless Standard account (no monthly fee), not the Advanced or Pro accounts. While many Direct Debit payment providers impose a transaction limit of £800 per giver per month. GoCardless offers a standard limit of £5,000 per transaction, which can be lifted with some simple checks.
Please note that the GoCardless service is not available in all countries. Check their website for the latest list of supported countries. Note that it is also possible to accept recurring and one-off card donations through Stripe - a debit card donation is the same as a direct debit/ACH payment, with the donation paid from the same bank account. See our related support article for further information about Integrating Stripe for online card payments. For more information about GoCardless, click here.
GoCardless Pricing
Standard Pricing
Full details of the latest GoCardless standard pricing are found here. Direct Debit and Instant Bank Pay donations accepted through ChurchSuite Donate are subject to an additional 1% application fee (inclusive of VAT and capped at £2).
Charity & Non-Profit Pricing
Charities and non-profit organisations may be eligible for a 25% discount on the GoCardless standard-pricing fee element. For further information, GoCardless has produced an article on Charity and Non-Profit FAQs on their Customer Hub which you can find here.
In addition to the UK-based BACS Direct Debit system, ChurchSuite also supports the SEPA Direct Debit system used across the Eurozone. The payment provider for this is also GoCardless. For more information on countries and availability, click here.
Fees are correct as of 5th September 2023.
Completing the GoCardless integration
From the Administrator area, click into the Integrations section and then on the GoCardless integration in the list.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the Integration. You'll need some basic information about your organisation to open an account with GoCardless. Click Add account to begin the process.
Follow the on-screen instructions to Sign Up for a new account, or to Connect an existing GoCardless Account to ChurchSuite.
During the GoCardless account-opening process - if signing up - you'll be prompted to select your organisation's legal status. Full details of supported non-profit/charity statuses and instructions for opening an account for each status can be found here.
After completing the online account-opening form or connecting an existing account to ChurchSuite, you will be returned to the GoCardless integration page indicating that integration was successful. The integration is complete and you're now ready to begin accepting online donations. Note that GoCardless will carry out its own security and account verification processes before payouts to your bank account begin - log in to your GoCardless account for updates on the account verification progress.
Note the option to Add account, which enables you to optionally integrate your other GoCardless accounts that are linked to other bank accounts. Once integrated, you can designate which Giving module Funds should pay out to which GoCardless bank account - ideal if you want online donations for your "Building Project Fund" to be paid out to a different bank account than your regular giving. See later in this article for further information about adding additional accounts.
Need multiple signatures?
For further information, see the GoCardless support page on multi-signatory mandates.
Changing your GoCardless payout bank account
To update your payout bank account details, log into your GoCardless account. From the account dashboard, navigate to Settings > Company info > Edit account details > Connect your bank account > Update, and follow the on-screen instructions - if requested, be sure to select the GoCardless Standard (free) account.
Note: The process will take you through the verification of the new bank account details provided. Once finished, verification with your bank may take several working days to be completed, during which time you can continue to receive direct debit donations through Donate, but your GoCardless payouts to your bank account will be frozen. Payouts will automatically resume to your new bank account once GoCardless has completed its checks.
Adding accounts for fund-specific payouts to other bank accounts
The Giving module enables you to add any number of Funds for the purpose of distinguishing the different types of donations you receive and record in the module. Funds may be unrestricted, restricted or designated - you have complete flexibility. We've produced a related support article about Managing funds in the Giving module. When only one GoCardless account is integrated, online donations for All Funds payout to the bank account that you linked to that GoCardless account.
However, you can optionally integrate other GoCardless accounts that you may have that are linked to different bank accounts. Once integrated, you'll be able to choose which of your integrated GoCardless accounts donations for different Funds should be paid out to. For example, you may wish online donations for the Building Project Fund to be paid out to a different GoCardless bank account than donations for your Missions Fund. Here's how...
Head to the GoCardless integration page located in the Integrations section of the Administrator area and click Add account.
Follow the on-screen instructions to Sign Up for a new account, or to Connect an existing GoCardless Account to ChurchSuite.
During the GoCardless account-opening process - if signing up - you'll be prompted to select your organisation's legal status. Full details of supported non-profit/charity statuses and instructions for opening an account for each status can be found here.
After completing the online account-opening form or connecting an existing account to ChurchSuite, you will be returned to the GoCardless integration page indicating that integration was successful. Continue to add other accounts as necessary. Note the account Actions enabling you to change the Default account to be used for donations to any Funds not yet assigned to another account. Click Edit to make changes to a non-default account's fund assignment.
On the Edit pop-up, select the Funds to be linked to this GoCardless account and Save any changes made. Note that changes will only apply to new donations - previously-made donations and pledges are locked to the account against which they were first created. For anyone whose pledge donations are for a fund paying out to a bank account that you want to change, they will need to cancel their current pledge and set up a new one so that future payments for that fund payout to your organisation's preferred alternative bank account.
In the example below, online donations collected by GoCardless for the Building Project fund will payout to the non-default account, and donations for all other funds will pay out to the default account.
