In the Old Testament, God commanded his people to pay ten percent of their income to support the Levites—the religious teachers of the day. And there was not just one tithe but three, averaging roughly 23% of their annual income—in addition to the temple tax and voluntary offerings. Today, we have received so much more blessing in Christ than those Old Testament saints could ever have imagined. Giving for the Christian is a wonderful opportunity to take the temporal money that God has given us and invest it in returns that are eternal. It is an opportunity to loose the chains that money can wrap around our hearts by making it clear that God is sufficient, and though he may use my money, I don’t ultimately need it. But to really understand how much we should give, we need to carefully examine what the Scriptures say about giving.

Many Christians assume that their responsibility starts and ends with a gift of 10% to a favorite charity—though few do even this. But this is far from an accurate picture of Biblical giving. 10% of our income may well be a good starting point. After all, Abraham tithed to the high priest Melchizedek hundreds of years before the tithe was required the law that was eventually fulfilled in Christ. And Jesus nowhere tells us not to tithe. But it’s notable that in all the instructions to the churches in the New Testament, the tithe is absent.

But it’s notable that in all the instructions to the churches in the New Testament, the tithe is absent. Instead, we see Paul instructing each Christian to give “in keeping with his income” (1 Cor. 16:2, NIV)—in other words, give as much as he is able. And he writes to the churches in Galatia, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.” (Gal. 6:6). All good things—not just 10% of what God has given us.

And yet it’s clear that there are a few things we do with our money that are more important than giving to the church. If one were to give so much that he was unable to provide for his family’s basic needs, the apostle Paul would say “he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Tim. 5:8)

Ultimately, money is but one of many stewardships God has given to us. So along with our time and our abilities and our relationships, we should take our money and make “the best use of the time” (Eph. 5:16) for the glory of God. Start at giving 10% of your income (or less if Biblical constraints such as 1 Tim. 5:16 so require) and see every dollar as an opportunity to bring glory to God.

Would your next dollar better serve God if given to the church, or used to hire a babysitter so you can disciple a younger Christian? Would your next dollar better serve God if given to the church or used to take your family on vacation to enjoy God’s good gift of creation (1 Tim. 6:17) and build into those relationships (Eph. 6:4). These are the kind of questions you’ll need to answer as you determine how much to give.

1. Give to your local church first. A good application of Galatians 6:6 (cited above) is that since your local church is your primary source of teaching, it should be the primary recipient of your giving.

2. Give regularly and deliberately. Paul told the Corinthians to set aside money on the first day of every week (1 Cor. 16:2). Giving to the church should not be a spontaneous decision. Instead (ideally with your budget in hand), carefully consider how much giving will enable the best use of your money.

3. Give sacrificially and cheerfully. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7) and he calls all of us to take up our cross and follow him (Luke 9:23). So use your giving to make possible a life lived in sacrificial obedience, knowing that whatever you give up pales in comparison to what you are receiving in Christ.

4. Seek wise counsel. We should not give to impress others (Matt. 6:2). And yet we are foolish to make decisions about money alone (Prov. 15:22, 1 Tim. 6:10). Be transparent with at least someone at your church about your whole life—including how much and where you give.

Credit Cards or Debit Cards 💳

You can easily donate using major credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, and Amex, as well as CVV debit cards. This option is available for all donations up to $4,999. To pay via credit card, simply select the credit card payment method, enter the required information, and click on confirm.

ACH / PAD 🏦

For donations exceeding $4,999, we offer the ACH (Automated Clearing House) / PAD (Pre-Authorized Debit) payment method. To proceed, simply select this option and click "donate" or "complete" at the bottom of the page. You'll then be prompted to provide your banking information. ACH/PAD transactions are secure and follow industry standards, just like credit card payments.

Apple Pay / Google Pay 🍎

If you have Apple Pay or Google Pay enabled on your devices and browsers, these options will be automatically available during the donation process. No additional configuration is needed.

Activate your Zeffy donor account from the link sent in your confirmation email.

After you've made a donation or purchase, you can activate your account from the link sent in your confirmation email or from here.

To log in, you should enter the same email address as the one used in your transaction. You'll then receive an email to create a password. After your password is created, your account will be activated!

From your account:

you will find a history of all the donations/purchases you have made through Zeffy.

1️⃣ By clicking on "edit" or "view more" you will be able to see the receipt associated with this donation, if any. For monthly donations, you can also change the amount of your donation, change your credit card or stop the donation. For more information, please visit the page here.

2️⃣ Your donor dashboard also allows you to edit peer-to-peer fundraising pages, if you have signed up to participate in a nonprofit's fundraising efforts as a team or individual.

Easily edit your monthly donation, update your credit card, or cancel your donation from your dashboard.

To make any changes to your monthly donation, you will first have to log in to your Zeffy account. If this is your first time logging in, you can go and click the link to activate your account in your most recent confirmation email from Zeffy (you will find the link at the top). If you already have an account, you can simply log-in.

In your dashboard:

Once in your donor dashboard, you should see a list of all your most recent donations on Zeffy. To the right of your most recent monthly donation, click on "Manage."

A window will open towards the right with details of your transaction.

🖊️ To edit the amount of your monthly donation: click on "update amount." You will be able to enter the new amount that you would like to donate from your next payment onwards.

💳 To edit your credit card: click on "update" to the right of "payment method." A secure Stripe page will open where you will be able to enter your new credit card information.

❌ To cancel your monthly donation: click on the red "stop." This will cancel your recurring payment meaning you will no longer be charged for this donation.

Zeffy does not store, use or sell your personal data.

The data collected by the nonprofit you supported can be seen by the nonprofit in their dashboard (i.e. donor names/addresses/payment method - this is only written credit card, ACH, or manual). Any personal information you shared with a nonprofit will only be used by them for purposes linked to your transaction.

It is against our terms of service to use this data for any other purpose.