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Feature Updates › Additional Feature Updates 03/05/2026

Additional Feature Updates 03/05/2026

Additional Feature Updates 03/05/2026

Smarter PayPal and Venmo: Payment Fund Global Protection and Dedicated MinistryPlatform Payment Types

What's New

Two changes your accounting team has been waiting for.

First, PayPal and Venmo are now globally disabled for non-tax-deductible payment funds. Registration fees, event payments, invoices, and other non-donation funds will no longer show PayPal or Venmo as a payment option. This applies to every church automatically — when a giving form includes a payment fund, the PayPal and Venmo buttons are hidden. Donors paying registrations or invoices will use a credit card or bank account, keeping your books clean and your reconciliation simple. Previously this was on a request per account basis. Moving forward for now PayPal and Venmo are disabled for non-tax deductible transactions (payments).

Second, PayPal and Venmo donations now support a dedicated Payment Type in MinistryPlatform. Previously, all PayPal and Venmo transactions were categorized under "Credit Card" because there was no separate mapping. Now OnlineGiving can map these transactions to their own Payment Type — whether that's "P2P," "PayPal," "Venmo," or whatever your church prefers. Your reports finally distinguish PayPal and Venmo from credit card gifts, giving your accounting team the clarity they've been asking for.

Where to Find It

These improvements work behind the scenes — there is nothing new to click or configure for most churches. If your MinistryPlatform already has a Payment Type called "P2P," "PayPal," or "Venmo," OnlineGiving will find it automatically and start using it on the next transaction.

Churches that need a specific Payment Type can have their OnlineGiving representative set the exact ID. Once set, it will never be overwritten. 

Accurate Reports Without the Manual Work

Before this update, every PayPal and Venmo transaction was recorded in MinistryPlatform as "Credit Card." That meant your accounting team had to:

  • Pull a separate report from PayPal
  • Cross-reference every transaction against MinistryPlatform
  • Manually reclassify each one to the correct Payment Type

Now, OnlineGiving automatically maps PayPal and Venmo gifts to the right Payment Type in MinistryPlatform. Your reports are accurate the moment a gift comes in.

Why it matters: When your finance team pulls the monthly giving report, PayPal and Venmo transactions are already separated from credit card gifts. No manual cleanup. No spreadsheet gymnastics. Your board report is accurate from the start.

Automatic Setup for Most Churches

OnlineGiving now looks at your MinistryPlatform Payment Types list and automatically finds the right match. It searches for Payment Types named "P2P," "PayPal," "Venmo," or "PayPal/Venmo" — and if it finds one, it uses it going forward. If you do not have a P2P or PayPal/Venmo MP Payment Type setup, we'd recommend creating one in your MinsitryPlatform control panel today. Our system will automatically detect your new payment types.

If your church doesn't have a dedicated PayPal Payment Type in MinistryPlatform yet, everything continues to work exactly as before. There's no disruption. When you're ready to add one, just create the Payment Type in MinistryPlatform and OnlineGiving will pick it up automatically. If your Payment Type uses a different name — like "Peer-to-Peer" or "Digital Wallet" — just email support@onlinegiving.org with the Payment Type ID and we'll set it up for you directly.

Why it matters: You don't have to file a support ticket or change any settings. If your MinistryPlatform is already set up with a PayPal or P2P Payment Type, OnlineGiving finds it and starts using it — no action required from your team.

At a Glance

  • Correct MP Payment Type: PayPal and Venmo gifts are recorded accurately in MinistryPlatform — no more manual reclassification
  • Automatic Detection: OnlineGiving finds your P2P, PayPal, or Venmo Payment Type in MinistryPlatform automatically
  • Custom Override: Email support@onlinegiving.org with your Payment Type ID and we'll set it — always honored
  • Payment Fund Protection: PayPal and Venmo are hidden on forms with registration or invoice funds that are specifically marked as non-tax deducable (payments)
  • Zero Configuration: Works automatically for most churches — no settings to change, no tickets to file

 

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