Report updated May 13, 2026
ELCA Giving Tool by Tithe.ly
For members and visitors of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations seeking a digital method to manage their tithes and stay informed on church news.
ELCA Giving Tool by Tithe.ly is an established lifestyle app that is completely free. With a 5.0/5 rating from 2 reviews, it shows polarized user reception.
What is ELCA Giving Tool by Tithe.ly?
The ELCA Giving Tool is a donation management app for Evangelical Lutheran Church in America members, available on iOS and Android.
Users hire this app to fulfill recurring tithes and designate gifts to specific ministries, serving the need for digital financial stewardship within a trusted denominational framework.
Current Momentum
v4.12 · 48mo ago
Zombie- No major feature releases since 2022
- Android build stagnant since 2019
Active Nemesis
Fragmented niche
No dominant direct rival identified yet. See Other Rivals below.
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
LifestyleNo ranking data
Rating Pulse 🇺🇸
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
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What Are The Key Features?
Allocate a single transaction across multiple specific ministry funds
Schedule recurring donations on weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly intervals
Access to Living Lutheran magazine, news releases, and social media feeds
How much does it cost?
- Free to download and use for members of registered congregations
The app functions as a B2B distribution tool for Tithe.ly, where monetization occurs via the church's subscription to the platform rather than end-user fees.
Who Built It?
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
View Publisher Intel →Enrichment in progress
Publisher profile available very soon
What other apps does Evangelical Lutheran Church in America make?
What do users think recently?
Analysis in progress, available soon
View the full user-sentiment analysis
Mood gauge, ratings & review-volume history, every praise / complaint / request, and sentiment over time.
What is the competitive landscape for ELCA Giving Tool by Tithe.ly?
Where is it available?
Localized markets (1)
How's The Lifestyle Market?
The app serves members of ELCA congregations seeking digital tithe management. It operates as a B2B distribution tool for Tithe.ly, where monetization occurs via the church's platform subscription rather than end-user fees.
Which niche is ELCA Giving Tool by Tithe.ly in?
to manage charitable donations and church giving
Explore the full Bible Study Courses niche
Every app in this space (443 tracked), the niche's live rankings, and Marlvel's editorial take on the job-to-be-done.
The rivals identified
Same space(4)
Both platforms serve the religious non-profit sector by providing dedicated digital giving modules for congregational financial management.
Differentiators
- Offers deep integration with broader church management systems beyond just simple donation processing
- Provides robust recurring gift management tools that encourage consistent donor retention for congregations
This app competes directly by offering a comprehensive suite of church-focused financial tools and administrative management features.
Differentiators
- Includes specialized self-service child check-in features that drive daily utility for church families
- Provides a more holistic church management system integration compared to the target's giving-only focus
As the parent platform powering the ELCA Giving Tool, it represents the primary ecosystem and feature set the target app is built upon.
Differentiators
- Maintains a massive, active user base with significantly higher review volume and engagement metrics
- Offers an all-access bundle that provides a complete digital ecosystem for church operations and growth
While focused on a different cultural market, it competes for the same 'digital finance' wallet share by facilitating community-based financial contributions.
Differentiators
- Utilizes a unique financial Jameya model that gamifies saving and community-based lending for users
- Implements an Imhal service that provides flexible payment solutions not found in standard giving apps
New entrants(1)
This newcomer introduces AI-driven financial management that could disrupt traditional giving apps by automating expense tracking and income allocation.
Differentiators
- Leverages AI receipt scanning to simplify personal finance management in ways traditional giving apps ignore
Compare ELCA Giving Tool by Tithe.ly against every rival
All rivals in one side-by-side table: identity, store metrics, ratings & sentiment, and strategic intel, plus a head-to-head page for each.
The outtake for ELCA Giving Tool by Tithe.ly
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Multi-fund designation mechanism simplifies complex donation workflows
- Denominational branding builds trust within the ELCA user segment
Critical Frictions
- Android version has not been updated since 2019
- Lack of recent feature additions suggests a maintenance-only lifecycle
Growth Levers
- Integration of broader church management features could increase daily utility
- Wearable or widget-based giving could simplify the donation flow
Market Threats
- Competitors like EasyTithe offer holistic management systems that drain user attention
- Stagnant update cadence risks platform-level compatibility issues on newer mobile OS versions
What are the next best moves?
Audit Android compatibility because the last update was in 2019 → prevent OS-level crash rates
The Android version has not been updated since 2019, creating a significant risk for modern OS compatibility.
Trade-off: Pause the ELCA content feed refresh — platform stability is a higher priority than news feed updates.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's lack of updates is a deliberate B2B strategy to keep the interface static for non-technical congregants, rather than a sign of neglect.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Self-service child check-in (available in EasyTithe)
- Deep church management system integration (available in ShelbyNEXT | Giving)
Key Takeaways
The ELCA Giving Tool secures donor retention through denominational alignment, but the lack of feature evolution against holistic competitors like EasyTithe creates a churn risk, so the PM should prioritize a parity audit of the parent Tithe.ly platform features to prevent user migration.
Where Is It Heading?
Stable
The religious non-profit sector is consolidating around all-in-one management platforms that provide daily utility beyond simple giving. The ELCA Giving Tool remains exposed to churn as these competitors integrate more deeply into church operations, so the PM must decide whether to expand the feature set or accept a long-term decline in user engagement.
The lack of Android updates since 2019 creates a technical debt barrier that will eventually force a complete rebuild to maintain store presence.
The app remains a stable utility for existing congregants, but it fails to capture new users who expect the holistic features of modern church management apps.