A Problem That Should Not Exist
There is a quiet tax on generosity in the nonprofit world, and most people do not even know it is there.
When a donor gives $100 to a church or faith-based nonprofit through a typical giving platform, the organization might receive $94 after Stripe's standard processing fee. That is reasonable — payment processing costs real money, and Stripe provides real value. But then the giving platform takes its cut: a monthly subscription fee, a per-transaction fee, or both. Suddenly that $100 gift puts $88 or $90 in the ministry's account.
For a large church with millions in annual giving, the math is annoying but survivable. For a small congregation of fifty families or a startup nonprofit running on volunteer energy and prayer, those fees can represent thousands of dollars per year — money that was given for ministry but ends up funding someone else's software company.
We built StewardKit because we believed that problem should not exist.
The Cost of "Affordable"
Before building StewardKit, we spent months talking to pastors, treasurers, and nonprofit directors. The same story came up again and again:
- A church plant paying $150/month for a giving platform it could barely afford, because the free tier limited them to 50 transactions.
- A rural congregation that avoided online giving entirely because the quotes they received started at $99/month plus a per-transaction fee — more than their monthly utility bill.
- A faith-based nonprofit that switched platforms three times in two years, each time losing donor data in the transition, because every "affordable" option turned out to have hidden costs.
- A treasurer who spent hours each month manually reconciling between a giving platform, a spreadsheet, and QuickBooks because the platform charged extra for reporting features.
The church giving software market is full of products that call themselves affordable. But "affordable" is relative. A $200/month platform fee is trivial for a megachurch with a six-figure technology budget. It is a significant burden for a church where the pastor is bivocational and the entire annual budget is under $100,000. The organizations that can least afford platform fees are the ones that need the tools most.
What "Free" Actually Means
When we say StewardKit is free, we mean it without asterisks:
- No monthly subscription fee — ever.
- No per-transaction platform fee — the only processing fees are Stripe's standard rates, which go directly to Stripe.
- No feature gating — every church and nonprofit gets the same features: online giving, recurring donations, fund management, donor management, tax-compliant receipts, year-end giving statements, and reporting.
- No donor limits — whether you have 10 donors or 10,000.
- No transaction limits — whether you process $500/month or $500,000.
This is not a freemium model where the free tier is crippled and you eventually have to upgrade. There is no upgrade. The full platform is free.
How StewardKit Sustains Itself
The obvious question: if you do not charge churches and nonprofits, how do you keep the lights on?
The answer is simple and transparent. When a donor makes a gift through StewardKit, they see an optional prompt: "Would you like to add a small amount to support the StewardKit platform?" The donor can add a dollar or two, or they can skip it entirely. It is never required, never pressured, and never deducted from the organization's donation.
This model works because it aligns incentives correctly:
- Churches and nonprofits pay nothing — the platform is free regardless of whether any donor chooses to support StewardKit.
- Donors choose voluntarily — the support amount is a separate, optional addition on top of their gift. It is clearly labeled and easily declined.
- StewardKit earns trust — because we only get supported when donors feel good about the experience, we are incentivized to build the best possible product. If the giving page is confusing or the receipts are unreliable, donors will not support us. Our revenue depends on our quality.
This is not a new concept. Wikipedia has operated on voluntary donations for over two decades. Many open-source software projects sustain themselves through optional sponsorships. We believe the same model works for church technology — and the early results confirm it.
The Biblical Case for Free Tools
StewardKit is not a charity. We are a business, and we intend to be a sustainable one. But our business model is shaped by a conviction that predates software by a few thousand years.
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." — 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)
The concept of stewardship runs throughout Scripture. We are not owners — we are managers of what has been entrusted to us. That applies to money, to time, and to the skills and resources we have been given. If we have the ability to build technology that helps churches and nonprofits manage donations more effectively, stewardship demands that we make it as accessible as possible.
Charging a small church $200/month to accept donations is not stewardship. It is extraction. It takes resources intended for ministry and redirects them to a software vendor. We do not believe that is right, and we built StewardKit to prove that a better model is possible.
Tools Should Serve the Mission
Consider the economics of a small faith-based nonprofit with an annual giving budget of $80,000. A typical giving platform might charge $100/month ($1,200/year) plus a 1% platform fee on transactions ($800/year). That is $2,000 per year — or 2.5% of total giving — going to a software company instead of the mission.
Over five years, that is $10,000. Over ten years, $20,000. For a small organization, that is a staff member's stipend, a year of building maintenance, or a missions trip that never happens.
With StewardKit, that $2,000 stays in the mission. Every year. That is not a minor difference — it is transformative for organizations operating on thin margins.
"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much." — Luke 16:10 (NRSV)
Why Other Platforms Charge What They Charge
We do not think every paid giving platform is exploitative. Building and maintaining software is expensive. Customer support, server infrastructure, security compliance, and ongoing development all cost real money. Many of the companies charging subscription fees are doing honest work and providing genuine value.
But the church and nonprofit technology market has a structural problem: the buyers (churches and nonprofits) are price-insensitive because the decision-makers (pastors and board members) are not the ones paying. The money comes from donations, and it is easy to rationalize a $200/month expense when it is spread across hundreds of donors. The result is that prices drift upward, features get gated behind premium tiers, and the organizations that need the most help get the least.
We chose a different path. By keeping our overhead low, building on modern open-source infrastructure, and relying on optional donor support instead of mandatory fees, we can offer the same core features as platforms that charge ten or twenty times more.
What We Are Building Toward
StewardKit started as a giving platform, but our vision is broader. Churches and faith-based nonprofits need a complete, integrated toolset for managing the administrative side of ministry — giving, people management, communication, reporting, and compliance. Today, most organizations cobble together five or six different tools, each with its own subscription fee and learning curve.
We are building toward a single platform that handles all of it, and we intend to keep it free. The same optional donor support model that funds giving features can fund people management, email tools, and reporting. As the platform grows, the value proposition for donors to optionally support it grows too.
This is a long-term bet. We are not trying to maximize revenue this quarter. We are trying to build something that serves the Church and faith-based organizations for decades.
An Invitation
If you are a pastor, treasurer, nonprofit director, or board member, and you are paying for a giving platform — or worse, avoiding digital giving because of the cost — we would love for you to try StewardKit.
There is no sales call. No demo you have to sit through. No credit card required. Create an account, connect Stripe, customize your giving page, and start accepting donations. If it works for you, great. If it does not, you have lost nothing but a few minutes.
We built StewardKit because we believe that generosity should not be taxed by technology. Every dollar given to your mission should go to your mission. That is the principle we started with, and it is the principle we will never compromise.
"Freely you have received; freely give." — Matthew 10:8 (NIV)
That is why StewardKit is free. And that is why it always will be.