Entering Gifts on Behalf of a Congregant

A church administrator can enter gifts or online registration event payments on the behalf of a congregant using a paper authorization form. Congregants may call your church office or stop by in person to change their giving information, add a new gift, or make an online payment for a registration event -- but there are some things you should know.

Entering credit or debit card data on behalf of a congregant, will increase the scope of your church’s PCI responsibility.

A form must be completed any time an online payment is added or edited.
Any time you add or update contributions or online event payments, a confirmation email is automatically sent to the congregant.
Authorizations taken by phone may only be for one-time gifts or payments.

If you have questions, contact Vanco’s Compliance and Risk Management Department at 1-800-675-7430 or pcisupport@pci.vancopayments.com.

Download authorization form

Follow the best practices outlined below when obtaining written authorization for transactions.

Telephone Orders

If using a credit / debit card

The administrator should enter the credit card information directly into the system and complete the authorization form without recording the card data.
In the signature field, enter "TO" to indicate Telephone Order.
Be sure to record the date and the initials of the person who took the Telephone Order.
Completed forms must be retained in a locked cabinet and kept on file for at least 3 years.

If using ACH, enter the congregant’s bank account information they provide and be sure to keep the authorization forms on file for 2 years.

In Person Orders

For credit / debit card or ACH

The congregant must complete the authorization form.
After entering the gift, the administrator must make all but the last four digits of the account number unreadable.
Completed forms must be retained in a locked cabinet and kept for at least 3 years for credit / debit cards and 2 years for ACH transactions.

Additional Information

Authorizations may be retained as either paper forms or scanned images.

If you retain paper forms:

Limit access to those individuals who require access in order to perform their job duties.
Store them in a locked cabinet or safe.
Mark them as confidential.
Maintain an inventory log of forms on file.
Use cross-cut shredding when destroying documents.

If you retain scanned images:

Store them in encrypted, password-protected files.
Limit access to those individuals who require access in order to perform their job duties.
Never store credit/debit card or banking information unless it is encrypted and password protected.
Ensure that your computers have up-to-date virus protection programs.
Ensure that your organization’s website has a minimum of 128-bit SSL encryption.
Never write down or share your MyVanco User ID and/or password.
Review all Vanco reports and compare them to your bank statement to ensure transactions are being processed and deposited as expected.