How Pushpay is using AI to serve church leaders better

You’re preparing for an elders meeting, and you know the questions are coming. Someone will ask about giving trends. Someone else will want clarity on engagement.

You’re confident the answers exist. But getting to them means pulling reports, cross-checking numbers, and double-checking filters, all while hoping one missed detail doesn’t change the story.

You have the data. What you need is clarity when the moment calls for it. We’re building AI that removes the steps between question and answer.

Help every person feel known and connected

Create space for relationships to flourish beyond Sunday morning, turning fleeting faces into a deeply connected church family.

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A focused approach to AI at Pushpay

Pushpay is building AI with a clear purpose: to reduce the friction that slows leaders down in everyday ministry work.

That emphasis matches what church leaders are already doing with technology more broadly. In Pushpay’s State of Church Technology 2025 research, 86% of church leaders say technology increases connection in their community, and 70% say technology boosts generosity. Those aren’t abstract benefits: they’re the outcomes leaders are protecting when they evaluate new tools.

AI is part of that same story when it’s applied in the right places. And adoption is accelerating. That same 2025 research reveals “nearly half” (45%) of church leaders say they currently use AI, representing an 80% increase from the prior year’s findings.

The takeaway: churches are moving quickly, but they’re moving carefully.

Finding the right people without rebuilding the search

People Search inside ChMS has always been powerful, but it has also required precision. Selecting the right combination of filters takes time, especially when the question changes week to week.

AI People Search removes that friction by letting leaders type what they’re actually trying to find.

Instead of navigating menus, users can ask:

• “Find people who gave for the first time this year”
• “Show families with missing contact information”
• “Find people who haven’t attended recently”

The AI translates those questions into advanced filters instantly.

The outcome is faster follow-up, better preparation for meetings, and fewer people slipping through the cracks because finding them took too long.

Getting answers from giving data when decisions are due

Church leaders ask straightforward questions about giving, often with a deadline attached. The problem is the path to the answer: exporting reports, cross-referencing totals, and double-checking assumptions before a finance team huddle or a board meeting.

AI for Giving Data removes those steps. Leaders type what they want to know, and the system returns clear summaries, charts, and tables directly inside Pushpay Giving.

Common questions include:

• “How does giving this month compare to last month?”
• “Which funds are growing fastest this year?”
• “What percentage of donors are giving recurring gifts?”

Results appear visually, with an “interpreted as” explanation that shows how the question was understood. Leaders can adjust the query, change the visualization, or expand the underlying data as needed.

This changes the rhythm of financial conversations. Leaders spend less time assembling data and more time discussing what it means.

Built into existing workflows, not added on top

A critical design choice behind Pushpay’s AI features is where they live. These tools aren’t separate dashboards or standalone experiences. They exist inside ChMS and Giving, alongside the workflows teams already know.

That matters because the church’s relationship with AI has been defined by caution as much as curiosity. Early research from Gloo showed that 62% of church leaders rarely or never used AI in their work, and ethical concerns were widespread. Even as adoption has surged since then, the “make it simple and make it trustworthy” requirement hasn’t changed.

There’s no new system to manage and no technical setup required. AI functions as an interface layer that speeds up work leaders are already doing. Small reductions in friction compound over weeks and months.

Spend less time on tech and more time with people

Streamline your administration and eliminate digital barriers so your team can focus on what matters most—building a community where everyone is known.

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Security and trust remain foundational

Church data requires care. Pushpay’s AI features operate within the same enterprise-grade security environment as the rest of the platform.

AI interactions respect user permissions, do not alter underlying data, and function as filter-building and insight tools. Results are designed for review before action. This aligns with the line many people draw around AI: support operational work, protect the relational and spiritual center, and stay transparent about what’s happening.

What comes next

AI adoption in the church is no longer fringe. It’s mainstream, and leaders are asking better questions about how to use it wisely.

Pushpay’s next steps stay focused on the same problem they started with: helping church leaders move from question to clarity faster, without adding complexity. Expect continued investment in natural-language ways to interact with giving and engagement data, plus AI experiences that save time in the workflows churches run every week.

Now, the work looks different. The search takes seconds. The answer is clear. The laptop closes earlier, and tomorrow’s meeting starts with confidence instead of scrambling.