GivebearGetting Started
Take a new organization from empty workspace to ready for a first real donation.
Use this guide when you are launching Givebear for a nonprofit, mosque, church, synagogue, school, community group, or similar organization. The goal is not to configure every feature. The goal is to reach a safe first launch: donors can give, money goes to the right Stripe connected account, staff know where to look, and the public page is ready to share.
Before you start
Gather the details that the onboarding flow expects:
- Organization name and public slug.
- Contact email that donors and staff can recognize.
- Website URL.
- Business address, city, state, ZIP code, and US EIN.
- Logo and brand accent color, if available.
- The person who can complete Stripe onboarding.
- The person who can choose the Givebear plan.
The public slug must be 3 to 40 lowercase letters, numbers, or dashes. Treat it like a public URL choice: keep it short, recognizable, and stable.
Launch checklist
Which starter toolkit should I pick?
Starter toolkits turn add-ons on for you. You can change individual add-ons later.
| Toolkit | Good fit | What it starts with |
|---|---|---|
| Generic nonprofit | Most organizations that do not need faith-specific tools on day one. | Volunteer Program. |
| Church / Parish | Churches with services, tithes, and public calendar needs. | Church Services, Church Tithes, Community Calendar. |
| Mosque / Masjid | Mosques with prayer times, Ramadan campaigns, and community programming. | Muslim Prayer Times, Ramadan Campaigns, Community Calendar. |
| Synagogue / Shul | Synagogues with holiday giving and calendar needs. | Jewish Holiday Giving and calendar-related tools. |
| Hindu Temple, Buddhist Temple, Gurdwara, Interfaith / Multifaith | Faith communities with calendar and event-oriented needs. | The matching calendar, event, or giving add-ons defined by the preset. |
| I'll pick later | Teams that want the smallest possible setup first. | No broad preset assumptions beyond the base organization. |
What should I publish first?
Publish one fund before you publish many funds. A first fund gives staff one known-good donor path and gives finance one place to reconcile early gifts.
A good first fund usually has:
- A donor-facing name such as General Fund or Ramadan Fund.
- A short explanation of what the money supports.
- Suggested amounts that make sense for the audience.
- A photo or brand image that looks intentional.
- A destination your finance team can recognize.
After the first fund works, add campaign pages for seasonal appeals or urgent needs. Campaigns are stronger when they tell a story, show a goal, or explain a deadline.
How do I know launch is ready?
You are ready to announce the donor page when all of these are true:
- Onboarding no longer blocks the organization.
- Stripe connected account setup is complete.
- Givebear billing readiness is complete.
- At least one public fund or campaign is published.
- A staff member can find the resulting transaction in the dashboard.
- The donor receives the expected receipt path.
- The finance lead knows where to review transactions, refunds, disputes, and reports.
The route files show public organization donation pages under /donate/[organizationSlug]. Use the dashboard's share action or copied link when announcing a real page so staff do not guess the URL format.