Church AI Agent: Settings

The Settings page controls how the Church AI Agent appears and behaves for donors. It is also where you enable or disable the assistant entirely. This article covers the Settings page, chatbot intent integration, embed customization, and a practical launch checklist.

Key Takeaways

• Welcome message sets the tone—customize it to match your church’s voice.
• Church AI Agent toggle enables or disables the chat widget instantly on your giving pages and store.
• Rate limit displays how many messages a visitor can send per session (default: 100, managed by OnlineGiving.org).
• Security Status is always Protected—no manual configuration needed.
• Chatbot intents integrate seamlessly—the AI hands off to guided flows and returns after completion.
• Embed customization lets you override header color, welcome message, and SSO on a per-page basis.

Welcome Message

The welcome message is the first thing donors see when they open the chat. It sets the tone for the entire interaction. The default message is friendly and functional: it lets donors know the assistant can help with giving, payments, account info, and more.

Customize the welcome message to match your church’s voice. Examples:

• “Welcome to Grace Community! I’m here to help with giving, events, and any questions about our church. How can I serve you today?”
• “Hi there! Whether you want to give, check your giving history, or learn about our ministries, I’m happy to help.”

To update the welcome message:

1. Navigate to Church AI Agent → Settings.
2. Edit the text in the Welcome Message field.
3. Click Save.

Keep the welcome message concise—one or two sentences. Donors want to start asking questions, not read a paragraph.

Church AI Agent

The Church AI Agent toggle controls whether the Church AI Agent is live on your giving pages and store. When Enabled, donors see the chat widget and can interact with the AI. When Disabled, the chat widget is hidden—useful during initial setup while you build your Knowledge Base, or temporarily if you need to pause the assistant.

To change the status:

1. Navigate to Church AI Agent → Settings.
2. Toggle Church AI Agent to Enabled or Disabled.
3. The change takes effect immediately on your giving pages and store.

A best practice: keep the assistant disabled while you add your first Knowledge Base articles and test Skills, then enable it once you are confident the AI can answer your most common donor questions.

Messages per Session

The Messages per Session card on the Settings page shows the maximum number of messages a visitor can send within a single chat session. This is set by OnlineGiving.org and defaults to 100 messages per session—a generous allowance that comfortably covers even lengthy conversations involving giving setup, account questions, and follow-ups.

This value is managed by OnlineGiving.org directly and cannot be changed from the control panel. If you notice legitimate donors hitting the limit during unusually complex conversations, contact OnlineGiving.org support and we can adjust it for your organization.

Security Status

The Settings page displays a Security Status indicator, which is always shown as Protected. This reflects the built-in security measures that safeguard the Church AI Agent:

• The AI cannot be persuaded to reveal its internal instructions or configuration.
• Attempts to override, bypass, or manipulate the AI’s behavior are automatically declined.
• Skills pass through safety review before activation.
• Conversation guardrails monitor for repeated off-topic or probing messages.
• Authenticated donor data is accessed only through secure, permission-checked tools—the AI never exposes one donor’s data to another.

You do not need to configure security settings manually. The Protected status confirms these safeguards are active at all times.

Quick Links

The Settings page includes quick links to Knowledge Base, Skills, and Conversations for convenient navigation during setup and ongoing management.

How the AI Works with Chatbot Intents

Many OnlineGiving.org churches already use Chatbot Intents—guided conversational flows for tasks like event registration, volunteer signup, prayer requests, baptism inquiries, and custom forms. The Church AI Agent integrates with these intents seamlessly, so you do not have to choose between AI conversation and structured chatbot flows.

Here is how the integration works:

1. A donor chats with the Church AI Agent and says something like “I’d like to sign up to volunteer” or “I want to submit a prayer request.”
2. The AI recognizes this as an action (not just a question) and triggers the matching chatbot intent via natural conversation—no keyword required.
3. The conversation enters intent mode: follow-up messages are handled by the chatbot flow, which may ask structured questions, collect form responses, or perform actions like adding the person to a list.
4. When the chatbot flow completes, the conversation returns to the AI. The donor can continue asking questions or request further help.

This hybrid approach gives donors the best of both worlds. They start with natural conversation and seamlessly transition into a guided flow that collects the right information. Your existing chatbot intents continue to work exactly as configured—the AI simply provides a more natural front door to reach them.

If your church has not yet set up chatbot intents, the AI still handles giving, information lookup, prayer requests, and connection requests on its own. Adding chatbot intents later extends what the AI can do without any reconfiguration of the agent itself.

Embed Customization

The Church AI Agent appears on your giving pages and store automatically when enabled. For churches that embed the chat widget on additional pages or want to customize its appearance, several options are available through the chat embed script.

Common customization attributes include:

• Header background color: Override the chat header color using the data-header-bg-color attribute. Match your church brand colors for a seamless look.
• Custom welcome message: Set a page-specific welcome message using the data-default-message attribute. A campaign landing page might greet donors differently than your main giving page.
• Custom header text: Change the text displayed in the chat header using the data-header-text attribute.
• SSO integration: For churches using MinistryPlatform or Rock RMS, pass SSO tokens through the embed attributes so donors arriving from your ChMS are automatically recognized. This enables authenticated tools (giving history, orders, payment methods) without requiring a separate login.

For complete embed documentation—including all available attributes, container placement, mobile behavior, and SSO setup—see the Giving Assistant Embed Code article in the Developer Center section of your control panel under Support Documents.

Getting Started: A Practical Launch Checklist

Ready to launch the Church AI Agent for your church? Follow this checklist to go from zero to a confident, donor-ready assistant.

1. Import or add Knowledge Base content. Start with a full website crawl or add manual articles for your top ten donor questions: service times, giving options, contact info, major ministries, and current campaigns.
2. Create Skills for priority topics. If you have an active campaign, seasonal emphasis, or recurring pastoral topic, create a Skill with clear trigger context and instructions. Test it using the Test Skills panel.
3. Customize your welcome message. Write a greeting that sounds like your church. Keep it warm and brief.
4. Test as a donor. Open your giving page, start a chat, and ask the questions your congregation actually asks. Verify answers are accurate and links work.
5. Enable the assistant. Toggle Church AI Agent to Enabled on the Settings page.
6. Promote it. Mention the chat assistant in your bulletin, email newsletter, and social media. Many donors do not notice the chat bubble unless invited to use it.
7. Review conversations weekly. Check the Dashboard and Conversations page for the first few weeks. Add Knowledge Base articles for questions the AI could not answer well.
8. Refine over time. Add Skills for new seasons, update articles when information changes, and adjust based on what you learn from conversation transcripts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I temporarily disable the chat assistant?

Navigate to Church AI Agent → Settings and toggle Church AI Agent to Disabled. The chat widget disappears from your giving pages and store immediately. Your Knowledge Base, Skills, and conversation history are preserved—re-enable the assistant anytime by toggling back to Enabled.

Does the AI work with our existing chatbot intents?

Yes. When a donor’s request matches a configured chatbot intent (such as registration, volunteer signup, or prayer requests), the AI triggers that intent through natural conversation. The chatbot flow handles follow-up messages until complete, then the conversation returns to the AI. You do not need to reconfigure your existing intents.

Is donor data secure in AI conversations?

Yes. The Church AI Agent includes multiple security layers: conversation guardrails, safety review for Skills, protection against prompt manipulation, and secure authenticated data access. Personal giving data is only retrieved for the logged-in donor in that conversation—never for other users. The Settings page displays a Security Status of Protected at all times.

Can the AI process payments directly in the chat?

No. When a donor wants to give, the AI provides a link to your secure giving page with the amount, fund, and frequency pre-filled when possible. The donor completes the transaction on the giving page using your existing payment gateway. This keeps payment processing within your established security and compliance framework.

Need Help?

Our support team offers complimentary assistance to help you get the most out of the Church AI Agent:

• Website content import — we can help crawl your church website and load the content into your Knowledge Base so the AI can answer questions about your ministries, events, and programs.
• Custom Skills setup — we can help create Skills that correct inaccurate information, add context the AI doesn’t have, or tailor responses to match your church’s specific needs.
• General configuration — welcome message, rate limits, embed customization, SSO for MinistryPlatform or Rock RMS — we’re happy to walk you through any of it.

Reach out anytime at support@onlinegiving.org or call (615) 206-4000.