Connect Stripe Connect

Connecting Stripe is a 15-30 minute process that requires your church’s legal documents. Do it once per church.

Before you start — have ready

Legal name of the church (identical to the one on tax documents)
EIN / Tax ID per country
Tax domicile
Legal representative’s info: name, birthdate, ID number, home address
Church bank account: account and routing numbers
Scanned legal documents (Stripe asks for some depending on the country):
- Articles of incorporation or equivalent
- Legal representative’s photo ID
- Recent proof of address

The flow, step by step

Donations → Settings → Connect Stripe.
Choose Production or Test mode (sandbox).
You’re redirected to Stripe.
Fill the Stripe Connect form:
- Entity type: Non-profit
- Church info
- Legal representative info
- Bank account
Upload documents.
Stripe reviews (typically 1-3 business days).
You’re redirected back to Ministrium.

While Stripe reviews, account state is pending. See Account states.

Test mode first

If this is your first time, connect in test mode first:

Skip the legal docs step (Stripe allows this in sandbox).
Complete the flow in 5 minutes.
Receive donations with test cards (4242 4242 4242 4242).
Verify the flow works as expected.
When ready, repeat in Production.

After connecting

Stripe sends the church:

Welcome email to the legal representative
Access to the Stripe dashboard (dashboard.stripe.com) — there you can see payments directly and configure advanced options

Ministrium only needs API access; you don’t need to use the Stripe dashboard day to day.

Normal operation

Once connected and approved:

✅ Can receive donations
✅ Payouts run automatically every 2 business days (configurable to weekly or manual)
✅ Webhooks arrive at Ministrium in real time

If Stripe rejects the account

Uncommon but happens. Frequent causes:

Illegible document: re-upload.
Legal name in Ministrium ≠ name on documents: fix it in Ministrium first, then retry on Stripe.
Unsupported country: see the list at stripe.com/global .

If in doubt, email support — we help with the Stripe flow.

Don't share credentials

Your Stripe account is the church’s property, not Ministrium’s. Stripe credentials should never be shared with third parties, including Ministrium support. If we need to verify something, we do it via the API integration, not with your credentials.