Date: 30 Sept 2026
Features church treasurers, Gift Aid secretaries and network leaders are likely to ask for, each classified with the same honesty as doc 03. Being in demand doesn't mean you should build it. Most of these are already met by someone. Demand signals are judgment unless a source is given in research/10.
Legend: TS = Table stakes, D = Differentiator, X = Distraction, L = Liability. Priority: P0 = v1 of the bureau, P1 = next, P2 = later, — = don't build.
A. Intake (getting donation records in)
| Feature | Demand signal | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Bank-statement CSV import (standing orders, transfers) | High. Most regular church giving arrives this way. | TS | P0 | AltarDesk and infoodle already do it. Support the 5 biggest UK banks' formats first. |
| Photo intake of envelope sheets and giving records | High for churches with envelope schemes | D | P0 | AI reading of handwriting is now cheap. Always show the image beside the extracted line for review. |
| Photo intake of paper declarations | High | D | P0 | Turns a shoebox of forms into records. Flag missing postcode, date or taxpayer wording. |
| Existing spreadsheet import | High | TS | P0 | Every church already has a spreadsheet. |
| Open-banking bank feed | Medium | D | P1 | Removes the monthly upload. Needs a regulated provider. Month 9+. |
| Xero / QuickBooks import | Medium (a Xero idea for native Gift Aid had 23 votes) | TS | P2 | infoodle already does Xero. |
| Card-reader / contactless plate data | Medium | TS | P2 | For GASDS. AltarDesk and ChurchSuite cover it. |
B. Matching and rules
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Donor-to-declaration matching (fuzzy names, joint accounts, references) | D | P0 | The core engine. Target ≥90% automatic matches by month 6. |
| Aggregated small donations (£20 or less per donor, per HMRC rules) | TS | P0 | Required for envelope-heavy churches. |
| GASDS calculation (£30 cap, £8,000 limit, 10× rule, community buildings, connected charities) | TS | P0 | Encode each rule with its HMRC source. |
| Exception queue (missing address, doubtful tax status, duplicates, declaration after donation) | D | P0 | Where your review time goes. Keep it under 10 minutes per church per month. |
| 4-year backlog finder | D | P0 | Donations older than 4 years are lost. Show the deadline per tax year. |
| Retrospective declaration capture | D | P0 | A declaration can cover past gifts. Link it to the backlog. |
| Higher-rate donor reminder (for givers' own tax returns) | X | — | Helps the donor, not the church. Out of scope. |
C. Filing and money
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| HMRC claim spreadsheet export (up to 1,000 donations each) | TS | P0 | Works before API recognition. |
| Charities Online API submission as authorised agent | TS | P1 | Needs HMRC's software recognition and each church's agent authorisation. Month 3–6. |
| Claim status tracking and repayment reconciliation | TS | P1 | The API supports "get information on claims". |
| Automatic fee invoice by Direct Debit after repayment | D (for you) | P0 | Collect your 5% automatically. Don't chase volunteers for invoices. |
| Receiving repayments on the church's behalf | L | — | Holding charity money brings trust and regulatory risk. HMRC pays the church. |
| Pay by Bank giving with a 1% platform fee | D later | P2 | ChurchSuite's model via GoCardless. Only after $3k MRR. |
| Card giving pages and kiosks | TS | — | Tithe.ly, ChurchSuite, SumUp and others. |
D. Compliance and audit
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Per-church audit file (declarations, matches, claims, 6 years) | D | P0 | The reason a church stays. HMRC can ask for records up to 6 years later. |
| Declaration validity checker (wording, name, address, date) | TS | P0 | Prevents claw-backs. |
| Annual donor reconfirmation prompt ("do you still pay enough tax?") | TS | P1 | The Methodist guidance suggests an announcement before claims. Automate it. |
| Data-processing agreement and UK hosting | TS | P0 | Religious membership is special-category data. |
| "Is this Gift Aid-able?" rules helper (sponsorship, events, sales, benefits) | D / L | P2 | Useful, but it becomes advice. Link to HMRC guidance, don't give rulings. |
E. Network features
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Network dashboard (Gift Aid per church, claims late, backlog found) | D | P1 | What network leaders pay attention to. Optional £49 a month from month 12. |
| Bulk onboarding (invite 50 churches, track who's set up) | D | P1 | The network channel only works if onboarding is easy. |
| Quarterly network report | D | P0 (manual) | Start by hand. It's the sales tool for network 2. |
| Training sessions for Gift Aid secretaries | TS | P1 | A recorded 30-minute session per term. |
F. Church management (the "as described" scope)
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Member directory, rotas, groups, events, check-in | X | — | Planning Center, ChurchSuite, AltarDesk. |
| Church app, livestream, sermon media | X | — | Commodity. |
| Church accounting | X | — | Xero, QuickBooks, ExpensePlus. |
| Safeguarding records | L | — | High-stakes data. Not your job. |
4.1 Net effect
Of roughly 30 features, about 10 are real differentiators for a network bureau, and about 12 belong in v1. Most are rules and intake, not screens. Everything in section F belongs to someone else.