Frontend · Branding Case Study
Effortless recurring giving for churches
Pledge gives church members a simple, beautiful way to set up automated tithes and offerings, with funds settling straight to the church's own bank account.
Role
Frontend Developer & Brand Designer
Type
Church giving platform
Payments
Paystack · PCI DSS
Devices
Mobile · Tablet · Desktop
01 / Overview
A giving solution built for churches
Simple for members, powerful for administrators.
Pledge is a complete recurring-giving platform designed specifically for churches. Members get a branded giving page carrying their church's own identity, set up their tithes and offerings once, and let them run automatically: daily, weekly or monthly. Every contribution is processed securely through Paystack and settles directly into the church's bank account, with no middleman holding the funds.
As both the brand designer and frontend developer, I shaped Pledge's identity and built the product interface, a responsive experience that works across mobile, tablet and desktop, and a flexible visual system that adapts to each church's brand.
Auto
daily, weekly & monthly deductions
Direct
settles to the church bank account
PCI DSS
compliant payments via Paystack
Any device
mobile, tablet and desktop
02 / The challenge
Why church giving falls through the cracks
Most churches still rely on cash, envelopes and one-off transfers.
Giving is inconsistent because it depends on members remembering, showing up, and having cash on hand. Administrators have little visibility into who gave, when, or how much, and reconciling it all for the treasurer is manual, error-prone work.
Pledge's job was to remove that friction on both sides: make giving effortless and automatic for members, and give church admins real-time clarity, while earning the trust that handling a congregation's money demands.
03 / Approach
Principles that shaped the build
Trust first
PCI DSS compliance via Paystack and direct-to-bank settlement, surfaced clearly so members give with confidence.
Effortless for members
Set giving up once (daily, weekly or monthly) and it runs automatically, with no reminders needed.
Flexible church identity
A branded giving page per church meant a design system that flexes to each congregation's logo and colours.
04 / Features
Everything your church needs
A complete giving solution: simple for members, powerful for administrators.
Automated recurring giving
Members set up their giving once. Daily, weekly or monthly. It runs automatically. No reminders needed.
Secure & direct
Funds go directly to your church bank account via Paystack. No middleman holding your money.
Real-time dashboard
See exactly who gave, when, and how much. Track trends. Export reports for your treasurer.
Multiple giving categories
Tithes, offerings, building fund, missions: define what matters to your church.
Member management
Members can manage their own giving: pause, adjust, or cancel anytime. Full transparency.
Instant setup
Get your church giving page live in minutes. Share the link. Start receiving contributions.
05 / How it works
Get started in minutes
Four simple steps to start receiving automated giving from your members.
Sign up your church
Enter your church details, upload your logo, and connect your bank account.
Set up categories
Create giving categories like Tithes, Offerings, and Building Fund.
Share your link
Share your unique giving link with your congregation.
Receive giving
Funds settle directly to your church bank account. Track everything in real time.
06 / Branding
An identity churches can put their name to
Warm enough for a congregation, credible enough to hold their money.
Pledged handles a congregation's money, so it has to read as seriously as a bank, but it lives inside church life, where a cold fintech tone would feel wrong. The mark, a heart cradled in an open hand, carries that warmth, so a single confident blue, generous space and plain language can do the rest without the badges and seals financial products reach for.
The brand also rarely appears alone. Every church gets its own branded giving page, so the identity had to recede and let the congregation's logo and colours lead while the trust cues stay constant, which is why blue is used sparingly and structurally, on the giving action itself.
Pledged Blue
#0065F4
Primary: actions, emphasis, the giving moment
Ink
#0B172B
Headings and figures
Surface
#F9FAFC
Page and card ground
07 / Technology
How it's built
A typed Next.js frontend against a REST API, kept live over a WebSocket.
Marketing site, onboarding wizard and member dashboard are one Next.js App Router application in TypeScript. Tailwind holds the brand as tokens and shadcn/ui supplies the primitives, restyled to Pledged so the same components can carry each church's colours.
React Query owns server state, so pausing a plan or giving once updates the totals, plan list and history together. Paystack handles contributions over a typed REST client while a WebSocket pushes settlements live; card details never touch the frontend.
Next.js
App Router: marketing site, church onboarding and the member dashboard in one typed application.
TypeScript
End to end, including the API layer, so response shapes are checked at the boundary.
Tailwind CSS
Utility styling with the brand palette and spacing scale held as tokens.
shadcn/ui
Accessible primitives (dialogs, tabs, tables, selects) restyled to Pledged rather than used off the shelf.
React Query
Owns server state: caching, background refetching and invalidation after every mutation.
REST API
Typed client against the Pledged backend for plans, contributions, categories and reporting.
WebSocket
Pushes giving events as they settle, so dashboards update live instead of polling.
Paystack
PCI DSS card processing and recurring deductions that settle direct to the church account.
08 / In action
Seamless self-giving for churchgoers
Churchgoers can set up their giving in minutes, and it runs automatically, making giving simple, consistent and stress-free.
Outcome
Giving that runs itself
Pledge turns a manual, easily-forgotten habit into something automatic and transparent. Members set it up once; churches watch contributions arrive directly and track everything in real time: giving that's simple to start and consistent by design.