Start receiving gifts
The dashboard lists what is left before your church can receive gifts, under To start receiving gifts, on the Overview and in the Integration Guide:
- Setup approved. Roster verified your church. While the status at the top reads Almost ready, we're still finishing your bank connection; nothing to do.
- Giving button detected. The giving button is on your website and reported in within the last 3 days. See Install the giving button.
- Cancel button detected. The cancel button is on your website. See Install the cancel button.
Until your church is approved and its cancel button has been seen on your website, a donor who opens your giving button reads "Paycheck giving isn't enabled for this church yet" and is asked to use another giving method.
This checklist is for a church that signed up with Roster directly. A church registered by a giving platform through the Partner API needs neither button on its website.
Create your account
Your dashboard is at https://church.rostergiving.com. On its log in page,
choose Create an account and enter your church's name and your email. This
starts a new church: if your church is already on Roster, ask a teammate to
invite you from Team instead. The invitation
says who invited you and with which role; enter your name and select Join
(the button names your church).
We email you a sign-in link. Opened in the browser where you asked for it, within 15 minutes, it signs you in right away. Anywhere else, it opens a page that shows the email you're signing in with, and opening the link there doesn't use it: select Sign in on that page. The first time, the page asks for your name, which is how your team sees you. A link works once and expires after 15 minutes; if it has expired, the page sends a new one to the same email. You stay signed in while you use the dashboard, up to 12 hours.
Verify your church
Setup has six steps: Basic information, Address & contact, Authorized representative, Verification, Bank account, and Review & submit. Save and exit keeps what you have typed, so you can pick up where you left off. Only an Owner can change the setup.
Verification
We check your church's tax-exempt status with the IRS as soon as you finish Basic information, and once more when you submit. The Verification step shows what we found. If the IRS online list doesn't confirm your church, which is common for churches, upload one of these letters right after you submit:
- IRS Determination Letter
- Group Ruling Letter (from your denomination)
- IRS acknowledgment of your e-filing
No letter? Choose I don't have any of these letters: the step lists the documents to send instead.
Bank account
Gifts are deposited in this account. Log in to your bank in a secure window (we never see your login), or choose My bank isn't listed: send a voided check or a letter from your bank, and we make a one-cent deposit to confirm the account. That takes a few business days. The name on the account must match your church's legal name.
After you submit
Setup shows where your church stands as soon as you submit. If we can confirm your church right away, it reads Verified, and we email you. If we need another document or a change, Setup reads Action needed and says what to do. Otherwise your church is in review: when Setup shows the expected time, within 5 business days, we email you by then. Meanwhile you can add the giving button and the cancel button, so your church starts receiving gifts as soon as it is approved.
Your church's status
After you submit, the top of Setup shows your church's status, and All churches shows it for each church you look after. When your account is in review or not active, the Overview and Gifts show it too. It is one of these:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Active | Your church is verified and its bank account is confirmed. |
| Almost ready | Your church is verified; we're finishing your bank connection. Nothing to do. |
| In review | We're going over your church's details, within 5 business days. |
| Account in review | Your account is in review, within 5 business days. Book a call if you need it sooner. |
| Not active | We couldn't verify your church with the information provided. Our team will reach out. |
Once your church is verified, Setup reads Verified, with your bank account next to it: being checked or in review until we confirm it, then verified.
Later changes
- Bank account. Switching banks? Payouts pause until the new account is confirmed as your church's. Every Owner gets an email when the account changes.
- Authorized representative. Once your church is verified, an Owner can Change representative. Saving puts your church in review until we confirm the change.
