Express Giving: A Simpler Way for Your Community to Give

When someone in your kehillah feels moved to give — during the High Holidays, for a Yahrzeit, or in response to a community need — Shulcloud Express Giving makes it easy to act in a moment, right from their phone, with no new account to create.

What makes it different from a generic donation button: Express Giving already knows your congregant. Because it lives inside Shulcloud, the form can reflect someone's giving history, recognizing funds they've supported before and surfacing suggested amounts based on their own pattern of giving, not a generic default. It feels less like filling out a form and more like being recognized by your shul.

And because it's built into Shulcloud rather than bolted on, the gift lands directly in the member and financial records your bookkeeper already works from. There's no second system, no export/import step, and no separate ledger to merge into your pledge and statement runs at the end of the year.

What Your Congregant Experiences

• Opens a mobile-friendly form — no app download, no password

• Sees funds and suggested amounts informed by their own giving history (repeat donors don't start from a blank form)
• Can direct the gift to the right fund from the start — General, Yizkor, Building Campaign, or others, especially useful when several appeals are running at once (like the High Holidays)
• Gets an automatic confirmation and receipt the moment the gift is made
• No reconciliation project. Gifts post directly to the member and financial records already in ShulCloud — the same system your staff uses today. Nothing to manually match up or re-key.
• No new accounting process. Express Giving doesn't introduce a parallel system your bookkeeper has to learn or maintain. It's a giving form, not a new ledger.
• Designations are set up front, so gifts arrive already sorted by fund instead of needing to be identified after the fact.

What Changes for Your Staff

This is the part that matters most to whoever closes your books.

The Money Questions, Answered

Does it cost anything beyond processing fees? No. Express Giving does not add a separate platform fee. Standard card processing rates apply.

Is this a separate ledger I have to merge into our books? No. Gifts post into ShulCloud's existing financial and member records — the same system of record you already use for pledges and statements.

When are funds deposited, and how does this show up on year-end giving statements?

Express Giving currently supports one-time credit card gifts. ACH and recurring giving are on the roadmap — if either matters for an upcoming campaign, check current timing with your ShulCloud account team before promoting it to your community.

Funds are deposited the same as their existing deposit schedule, and these gifts will flow automatically onto year-end giving statements as another donation from the member.

What's Available Today

Express Giving currently supports one-time credit card gifts. ACH and recurring giving are on the roadmap — if either matters for an upcoming campaign, check current timing with your ShulCloud account team before promoting it to your community.

Getting Started

No coding required — Express Giving is configured inside ShulCloud.

1. Decide what you're collecting for (General, Yahrzeit, Building Campaign, etc.) and set up designations before sharing the link.
2. Keep the form short — only ask for what you actually need.
3. Make a test gift yourself, on your own phone, before sending the link out. Check what it looks like on your staff's side, too.
4. Put the link everywhere the ask already lives — email, website, appeal, or a direct text for something personal like a Yahrzeit.

If you're moving off a PayPal button or standalone donation page, you don't need to switch everything at once. Introduce Express Giving on your next campaign and phase out older links as your community gets used to it — just try not to leave multiple giving links live indefinitely, since that confuses congregants and staff alike.

[Setup time estimate to add once confirmed with Product/Alan.]

Have Questions?

Reach out to your ShulCloud account team, or a ShulCloud Pro consultant if you'd like help thinking through setup.

Have questions about setting up Express Giving for your congregation? Reach out to your Shulcloud account team.