Church Setup Guide | All In One Nonprofit

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The order matters. Identity first, then governance, then compliance, then people, then money, then communication. Each phase feeds the next: the board you enter in Phase 2 signs the resolution in Phase 2, the minister you add in Phase 4 uses the designation that resolution created, and the givers you import in Phase 5 are who the Offering count credits in Phase 6. You do not have to finish in one sitting; this page remembers where you stopped.

Have handy: your determination letter (if you have one), articles and bylaws, your board roster with emails, your staff list, a member or giver list from whatever you use today (a CSV export or spreadsheet), and your church's Stripe login. Tax items get confirmed by your CPA or tax counsel before anything is filed or paid.

Phase 1. Identity: who your church is

Everything else reads from this, so it comes first.

1.1

Complete your organization profile. On My Organization, enter your legal name, EIN, address, phone, email, and website.Done when: every field is filled. Letters, statements, and filings pull from here, so a blank here becomes a blank there.

1.2

Set organization type and IRS classification: Church or faith based, and your 501(c)(3) classification.Done when: the green church note shows. If you skipped the 14-factor check in the walkthrough, take it now; this answer drives your filings.

1.3

Upload your letterhead or logo and a signature.Done when: a generated document (try any letter) comes out on your letterhead with a real signature block.

1.4

Set your vocabulary. Adjust the per-term overrides to your tradition: elders, deacons, session, vestry, whatever your bylaws say.Done when: the apps speak your language everywhere you look.

1.5

Invite your team. Add the people who will actually work in here: admin(s), your treasurer or counting team lead, your clerk or secretary.Done when: each person has accepted their invite and can sign in with the right access.

Phase 2. Governance: your board on the record

The board you enter here signs the resolutions everything else depends on.

2.1

Enter your board roster in Board Management: every member with name, email, role, and term dates. Mark your officers.Done when: the roster matches reality, because sign-off requests and board packets go to these addresses.

2.2

File your founding documents. Upload articles of incorporation, bylaws, your EIN letter, and your determination letter (if any) into the Document Library.Done when: the documents a funder, bank, or lawyer always asks for are findable in one place.

2.3

Collect conflict of interest disclosures from every board member using the disclosure workflow.Done when: each member has a signed disclosure on file for the current year.

2.4

Set up your committees (finance, missions, personnel) in the Committees app, if your church uses them.Done when: each committee has its members and charge recorded. Skip if you have none.

2.5

Adopt this year's housing allowance resolution, for real. Run the worksheet in Clergy Compensation with your minister's actual figures, then use the prefill band on the Resolutions page and send it to your real board for sign-off.Done when: the adopted resolution is in your Document Library and the designation is recorded before the payments it covers. If it is November or December, designate for next year now.

Phase 3. Compliance: your calendar of obligations

Ten minutes of setup here is what keeps deadlines from surprising you all year.

3.1

Complete Compliance Tracker onboarding: your state, fiscal year end, and registrations at compliance.allinonenonprofit.com.Done when: the filings list shows only what your church actually owes (no 990 series), with real due dates.

3.2

Assign a responsible person to each filing so every deadline has a name on it, including the Housing Allowance Designation item.Done when: nothing on the list says unassigned.

3.3

Subscribe to the calendar feed (Google, Apple, or Outlook) and turn on the weekly digest email.Done when: your filing deadlines appear in the calendar you actually look at.

Phase 4. People: staff, clergy, and volunteers

Payroll and safeguarding both start with accurate people records.

4.1

Add your employees in HR Management, and mark your minister as a minister with the flags set: FICA exempt, withholding election, Form 4361 status if applicable.Done when: the minister record carries the housing designation from Phase 2 and the payroll checklist shows church-correct items.

4.2

Generate your core HR documents if you do not have them: handbook, offer letters, and the policies the generators produce.Done when: the basics exist on your letterhead in the Document Library. Skip what you already have.

4.3

Add your volunteers in Volunteer Management (import the CSV if you keep a list).Done when: the people who serve regularly are on the roster.

4.4

Track safeguarding credentials. For anyone serving with children or youth, record background checks and training in Credentials & CEUs, with renewal dates.Done when: every children's ministry worker has a current check on file and renewals will surface in your digest before they lapse.

Phase 5. Congregation: members and givers

Bring your people in before the money, so every gift lands on the right record from day one.

5.1

Import your membership list into the Membership app (CSV import with column mapping; re-importing matches on email, so it updates rather than duplicates).Done when: your member roster matches your directory.

5.2

Import your givers into Donor Management. Coming from a donor CRM? Use the guided Import from another CRM wizard to bring giving history too.Done when: your giving households are in, with history if you had it.

5.3

Assign offering envelope numbers to your giving households, either on each record or in one sitting via Gifts → Offering count → Envelope assignments.Done when: the numbers in the app match the physical envelope boxes you hand out.

5.4

Link duplicate records. Where the same person is a member, a giver, and a volunteer, link them into one shared contact record.Done when: updating a phone number once updates it everywhere.

Phase 6. Giving: turn the money on

You proved this path in the walkthrough; now make it your church's real giving system.

6.1

Connect your church's Stripe account (if you did not in the walkthrough) and publish your giving page.Done when: a gift made on the page settles into your church's own bank account.

6.2

Create your funds as designations: general fund, building fund, missions, benevolence, whatever your church tracks.Done when: a restricted gift can be recorded to the right fund and the accounting export carries the restriction.

6.3

Put the QR code in the bulletin. Generate the scan-to-give QR code and add it to your bulletin, screens, or pew cards.Done when: someone in the pew can scan and give in under a minute.

6.4

Set up known recurring givers. Enter the tithes and pledges your committed givers have already promised, or invite them to set up recurring gifts online.Done when: expected giving is on the record, so fulfillment can be tracked against it.

6.5

Run your first real Offering count after this Sunday's service, with the actual counting team at the screen.Done when: the team enters the plate by envelope number in one sitting and says it beat the old way. If it did not, tell us why: support@allinonenonprofit.com.

Phase 7. Communication: reach your people

Optional pieces; adopt what your church will actually use.

7.1

Set up your newsletter. Import your email list into Newsletters and send a first bulletin or monthly update.Done when: your congregation list is in and one real send has gone out.

7.2

Publish events. Put your recurring services, studies, and special events into the Events app.Done when: the next month of church life is visible with sign-up or tickets where needed.

7.3

Need a website? Build one in the Website & Join Page app, free hosting included, with Give and Join buttons wired to your own Stripe.Done when: your church has a public page you control. Skip if you are happy with your current site.

7.4

Install the apps on your phone and turn on push notifications for gifts and the daily digest.Done when: Sunday's giving shows up on your phone Monday morning without opening a laptop.

Phase 8. Your rhythm: the ongoing cadence

Setup ends here; operating starts. Check these once you have done each for the first time.

8.1

Weekly: Offering count after the service; acknowledge and thank new givers the same week.Done when: you have completed one full week of the cycle.

8.2

Monthly: export gifts to your accounting, review the compliance digest, and send the board packet before the meeting.Done when: one month has closed cleanly.

8.3

Annually: housing allowance resolution before January 1, giving statements to every giver in January, conflict of interest disclosures refreshed, policy review on the calendar.Done when: each has an owner and a date in the Compliance Tracker, even if the date is months away.

8.4

Take the Workflow Assessment once a few weeks of real data are in, from your My apps portal.Done when: you have a prioritized list of what to improve next, each item deep-linked to the screen that fixes it.

That is a fully operating church back office. Governance on the record, compliance on a calendar, clergy paid correctly, the plate counted by envelope, online giving into your own account, and statements ready for January. Stuck anywhere, or convinced a step is wrong for how your church works? support@allinonenonprofit.com, and use Copy my progress above so we can see where you are.