UR

Verified User in Religious Institutions

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/19/2019

"Review of Planning Center giving for our church"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

We use Planning Center People and Registration so it's nice to have them all under the same platform. I also appreciate how quickly they respond back to my emails with questions/problems I have. Not all answers have been satisfactory (i.e. the feature is not yet supported) but they are quick to try to find a solution for me.

There is a group of users on slack that is helpful to see what others are doing or ways they have solved problems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

I don't like that we currently can't have giving units (households) - it has to be by individual. That being said I believe they are close to adding in that feature … it just hasn't happened yet.

While I understand why they only allow giving (and not payments for items) it would be nice if there was a feature to allow non-tax-deduction payments rather than recording it on a separate spreadsheet.

I have yet to figure out a good way to reconcile my statements at the end of the month. I currently do a lot of things manually after printing out sheets and am still working on figuring out a way to make this smoother.

I don't like that the fee for each donation is attached to the donation rather than a fee that is just charged to us monthly … this messes up my accounting a little bit and I have to work around that. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Planning Center Giving:

Make sure it can produce the reports you want based on how you have your giving set up. Make sure the donors are willing to make the switch. It has taken awhile to get our donors all moved over from our other platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Planning Center Giving solving and how is that benefiting you?

Our attendance, registration, and giving are all on one platform and can work together and access the same database. This is a plus.

We've also recently added a check reader. Initially, we have to enter things with each check and the checks sometimes take a few swipes to go through. I'm hoping in the long run, it saves us time which would reduce hours to enter deposits. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

JG

Jeremy G.

Champion Success Manager

Computer Software

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/22/2019

"One of Many Church Management Systems"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

Ease to setup giving profiles and system settings. Text to give options and customizable giving optiioons for users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

No major complaints. The system is easy to use and setup an account from either the end user or as the admin staff. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

TM

Trenton M.

Youth Pastor

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/21/2019

"Great Additional Aspect to Planning Center Services"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

This isn't the main service that we use with this program (Planning Center) but it has been a great addition and we may even be switching over to in order to replace our current giving programs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

There's really nothing specific that I dislike about this product because it's done everything we've needed it to for us. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Planning Center Giving:

This is a very easy to use software that gives you multiple avenues for people to give to. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Planning Center Giving solving and how is that benefiting you?

We're able to keep track of our giving and even offer more avenues to give through this software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

TT

Tim T.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

9/20/2018

"A wonderful way to manage the Gifts your ministry receives. "

5/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

I love the ability to consolidate all giving activities, both cash and electronic into one report. Further, the highlight of first time giving is amazing. This software makes year-end reporting a breeze. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

I'm frustrated that the actual online giving portal isn't the best. Further, there is no kiosk function. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Planning Center Giving:

I recommend you commit fully to the program. Also incorporate services, people, and check-ins for the full experience.

Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Planning Center Giving solving and how is that benefiting you?

We were able to have a seamless and professional looking giving platform for credit card and ACH. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

UN

Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/13/2019

"Planning Center is versatile"

4/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

The best part about it is the ease of it all. It’s easy to set up, user friendly and allows for different permissions to be set within it. The mobile friendly capabilities are also seamless. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

There’s not much to dislike. It’s more a trial and error sort of software. You work through the kinks to see if you like it for your own purposes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

MM

Matthew M.

Sr. Pastor

Religious Institutions

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/31/2018

"Planning Center Giving is simple and easy to use."

5/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

We use the planning center suite for multiple uses at our church. The face that they are all integrated help the system work flawlessly together. They have made online giving easy for us to implement as a church. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

Not much to dislike. Love the web interface and the mobile apps work great as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Planning Center Giving:

Planning center can meet multiple needs of a church and they really understand churches. You do not have to try and make a business software work for religious needs. The cost is also scalable based on the size of the congregation. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Planning Center Giving solving and how is that benefiting you?

Planning Center Giving helped our church transition to online giving for the first time. They made it easy and are cost effective. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

RF

Ricky F.

Lead Pastor

Religious Institutions

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

11/29/2017

"Great giving platform when tied to overall suite of services."

4/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

The fact that it is tied to the other products that we now use. I can use my other Planning Center tools, as well as MailChimp, my email marketing tool. I can also use and am exploring a background check tool that is directly connected to PC. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

The necessity to have a login link sent to you when you give online through a browser (laptop or desktop). Why do they make you do this? I'm not quite sure! The other area that I'm not crazy about is the fact that you can add multiple ways for people to give (excellent), but there is no "notes" area for people to explain more on their gift. In other words, they can drop down to "Student Missions Trips", but not put in a specific missions trip "Nicaragua" "Russia". Having had multiple trips in the past, this would be super helpful! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Planning Center Giving:

If you are going Planning Center for all your database, PCG makes sense. On it's own, I don't know how it would do in integrating with other systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Planning Center Giving solving and how is that benefiting you?

PCG gives us the ability to cut down on workload hours by seamlessly connecting to other PC products, specifically PCPeople. PCG also gives me the ability to do several jobs at once rather than skip from program to program to do multiple tasks, I can do them all in one consistent product. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

CD

Chris D.

Business Manager

Non-Profit Organization Management

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/25/2018

"Love Planning Center Giving"

5/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

The ease of donor to gift tracking. The reporting. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

Really, there's nothing for me to complain about. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Planning Center Giving:

Not much research is needed. It's a worthwhile switch. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Planning Center Giving solving and how is that benefiting you?

It has given us a great platform to track our giving, while being able to see trends. The benefits are great as our organization would not be able to function without it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

DG

Dave G.

General Manager

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/23/2017

"Excellent Church Giving Software"

5/5

What do you like best about Planning Center Giving?

Beautiful giving interface with easy admin Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Planning Center Giving?

Sometimes difficult to reconcile all giving with general ledger Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Planning Center Giving:

Definitely makes giving easier Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Planning Center Giving solving and how is that benefiting you?

Almost eliminates all the of the work with accepting monetary gifts, counting them, recording them, depositing them, and providing end-of-year statements Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.