Mosque, Church and Temple Websites: Donations and Livestreams

What a religious organisation website needs

Keep the most-used information, such as today's service times and the donation QR, one tap from the home page on a phone. Many visitors check it on the way.

Charity status, IPCs and tax-deduction wording

The Commissioner of Charities' About IPCs page says Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) are authorised to issue tax deduction receipts, and that IPCs must carry out activities that benefit the local community and are not confined to sectional interests or groups based on race, belief or religion, unless the Minister grants a waiver.

In practice, that means most churches, mosques and temples are not IPCs, even if they are registered charities. Donations to them do not qualify for tax deduction. Per IRAS, only donations to approved IPCs (and certain other approved recipients) qualify.

• If you are not an IPC, say so on the donation page: "Donations to [name] are not tax deductible." It avoids awkward questions at tax time.
• If a related welfare arm is an IPC, give it a separate donation page and separate PayNow details, so donors know which body receives the money and which gifts get a deduction.
• Do not collect NRIC numbers on a non-IPC donation form. They are only needed when an IPC submits donation records to IRAS.

Taking donations by PayNow and online

PayNow is the most common way Singapore congregations give online. A PayNow QR for your organisation's UEN shows your registered name in the donor's banking app before they confirm, which is the donor's main protection against a fake code.

1. 1

   Get a PayNow QR from your bank

   Generate it for the organisation's UEN through your corporate banking. Name the purpose in the reference field, such as Building fund or Zakat.

2. 2

   Publish the registered name next to the QR

   Write exactly the name donors should see in their banking app, and ask them to stop if it differs.

3. 3

   Separate funds with references or codes

   Ask donors to put a fund code in the reference, or use separate QRs per fund, so treasurers can reconcile.

4. 4

   Add card payments if you need them

   Overseas members and visitors may prefer cards. A payment provider can offer a donation page with PayNow and cards. Our guide to accepting PayNow on your website compares the fees.

5. 5

   Check printed QR codes regularly

   Volunteers should check that the QR codes on donation boxes and notice boards have not been covered with a sticker pointing elsewhere.

For IPC donation pages, receipts and IRAS donation records, our guide to charity donation websites covers the extra requirements.

Calendars and multilingual content

Congregations in Singapore often run services in English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil or a dialect, sometimes with different times for each. A website that lists them in one long page is hard to use.

• One calendar, filtered by language. Tag each event with its language so people can filter, rather than keeping separate calendars that drift apart.
• Translate the essentials first: service times, address, donation page and how to contact the office. Full translations of every article can come later.
• Use a native speaker for religious terms. Machine translation handles directions and times well but often gets religious vocabulary wrong.
• Festival dates that follow lunar or Islamic calendars should be checked each year with your own religious authority rather than auto-generated.
• Readable on older phones: large text, high contrast and buttons big enough for older members.

Livestreams and recordings: congregation privacy

Livestreams became normal for many places of worship and are valued by elderly and overseas members. But a camera pointed at the congregation records people at prayer, which can be sensitive.

PDPC's Advisory Guidelines on Selected Topics say consent is generally required to photograph or film an identifiable individual, including people in the background, though consent may be deemed or an exception may apply. People who cannot be identified, for example because they are too small or obscured, are not personal data in that recording.

For choosing a platform for classes and committee meetings, see our comparison of Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.

Volunteer, member and committee data

Religious organisations collect personal data from volunteers, class participants and members. The PDPA applies: state the purpose on each form, collect only what you need, and protect it.

• Forms go to an organisation account, not a committee member's personal Gmail or phone.
• Role-based email addresses such as secretary@ and treasurer@ on your domain survive changes in office holders. Hand the passwords over in a password manager, not on paper.
• Member directories need consent before details are shared with other members.
• Sensitive details, such as pastoral care notes or welfare applications, should be kept in restricted folders with MFA, not in group chats.

If your organisation is a registered charity, our guide to charity website governance and disclosure pages covers the reports and policies to publish.

Do it yourself or get help?

A volunteer with web skills can build a simple site with a calendar, PayNow QR and livestream link on a hosted builder. The risk is that the site, domain and email end up in that volunteer's personal account. Whoever builds it, register the domain and hosting in the organisation's name.

If you want it done for you, our Business Website package (S$1,490) builds a multilingual-ready site with a calendar, donation page and volunteer forms. Online Payment Setup (S$290) adds PayNow and card donations through a payment provider in your organisation's name.