Donation QR code for giving pages and fundraisers
A donation QR code opens your giving page from a pew card, a poster or a collection tin: a PayPal or Stripe payment link, a GoFundMe page or your church's giving platform. It is static, so it never expires, and no money or data passes through this site. It is free with no sign-up, made in your browser, and verified by a real scanner before download.
Content: Donation link
Paste the donation page from your payment provider or a payment link (PayPal, Stripe, GoFundMe).
Style
PNG, JPG or SVG up to 2 MB. It stays on your device.
Your codes on this device
Off by default. When on, each downloaded code (type, content, style) is saved in this browser only, never uploaded. You can delete them at any time.
How to make a donation QR code
- Create the giving page with your provider and copy its link: a PayPal Donate button or PayPal.Me link, a Stripe Payment Link, the GoFundMe page address, or the giving page your church platform gives you.
- Paste it into Donation link and click Test link. Open it on a phone and check the amount fields and the name of the organisation look right.
- Optionally add your logo with Upload logo in the Style panel; the generator raises Error correction to H so the code still scans.
- Wait for the badge to read Verified, then choose Download PDF with a caption such as 'Scan to give to the building fund', or Download PNG for slides and newsletters.
Donation QR code details
A donation code is a link code. It contains the address of a page where money changes hands, and nothing else: no amount, no account number, no donor details. The payment happens on the provider’s site, with the provider’s receipts and reporting. QR Code Forever never sees the link, the donor or the amount, because the code is made and verified in your browser; the payment link QR code type works the same way.
Which link to use
- PayPal: a Donate button link from the fundraising tools, or a PayPal.Me address for informal giving.
- Stripe: a Payment Link with a preset or an open amount.
- GoFundMe and similar: the campaign page address.
- Church giving platforms: the public giving page they provide; most accept a fund parameter so the code can pre-select ‘Building fund’ or ‘Missions’.
Say what it is for
Trust decides whether anyone scans. Print a caption with the code: what the money supports, and the organisation’s name. When a donor scans, the phone shows the link’s host before opening it, so a code that leads to paypal.com or your platform’s domain reassures them; a shortened link that hides the host does the opposite. Download PDF adds the caption under the code at a physical size, the quickest way to make a pew card or a table tent.
Church QR code giving in practice
Put the same code on the order of service, the welcome screen and a card at the door, so people can give the moment they decide to. Keep a text version of the address for anyone who prefers to type. Check the printed card with the QR code reader to confirm the exact address.
Common mistakes
- Linking to the provider’s login page instead of the public giving page.
- A bare code with no caption.
This code never expires
The giving link is stored inside the code, so a card printed once keeps opening the same page for as long as the provider hosts it. This is a static QR code: the data is written into the pattern, so scanning it needs no server, no account and no subscription. There is nothing to renew and no redirect that can be switched off, which is why a code made here keeps working for as long as the printed copy exists. The trade-off is honest: a static code cannot be edited after printing and does not count scans. If you need either, encode a link to a page you control. Read how static and dynamic codes differ, and if a code you already have has stopped working, see why QR codes expire.
Styling, formats and print size
Every code can be styled in the Style panel: six dot shapes, corner shapes, solid or gradient colours, a transparent background, a quiet zone of 0–8 modules, and your own logo up to 30 percent of the width. A contrast checker warns below 3:1 and blocks downloads below 1.5:1, and after each change the preview is decoded again so the badge tells you whether the styled code still scans.
| Output | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PNG | Web, documents, quick prints | 256 to 4096 px; transparent background supported |
| SVG | Designers and print shops | Vector, scales without limit; logo embedded |
| Printing at an exact size | Vector modules at a chosen width in mm or inches, optional caption | |
| JPG | Platforms that reject PNG | White background; no transparency |
| EPS | Legacy print workflows | Vector from the module matrix, no logo |
| Copy / Print | Pasting into a document; a quick paper test | PNG to the clipboard; print view with caption |
Print size: as a rule of thumb the code should be at least one tenth of the scanning distance wide, with the quiet zone included.
| Scan distance | Minimum width |
|---|---|
| 0.5 m (arm's length) | 5 cm |
| 1 m | 10 cm |
| 2 m | 20 cm |
| 5 m | 50 cm |
Pew cards and table tents are scanned from 30–50 cm, so 3–5 cm is comfortable; a poster at the back of a hall read from 3 m needs 30 cm.
The QR code size guide has a calculator for module size, DPI and distance.
Frequently asked questions
Does a donation QR code expire?
No. The address is in the code itself and is generated in your browser; nothing on this site is contacted when someone scans it. The code stops working only if you close the giving page or change providers, and then you print a new code.
Does any money go through QR Code Forever?
No. The code holds only the link to your giving page. Donors scan it, their phone opens the provider's page, and the payment is processed there. This site never receives the link, the amount or the donor's details; the code is made in the browser and never uploaded.
Can I make a church QR code giving card for the pews?
Yes. Paste the giving page link, add a caption such as 'Give to St Mary's' and choose Download PDF at the card size, or use Print. A 4–5 cm code on a card is comfortable to scan from a pew. Print the address as text under it too.
Can the code pre-select a fund or an amount?
Only if the giving page supports it in the address. Many platforms accept a fund or amount parameter; PayPal.Me takes an amount after a slash, and Stripe Payment Links can fix an amount. Build the link on the provider's side, test it, then encode it unchanged.
How do donors know the code is genuine?
Their phone shows the link before opening it, so use a link on the provider's own domain or yours, not a shortener. Put your organisation's name and the purpose beside the code and on the page it opens. Never stick a code over another organisation's poster.
Can I add our logo to the code?
Yes. Upload it in the Style panel and keep it under a third of the code's width; the generator switches to error correction H and the badge confirms the code still decodes. Keep the modules dark on a light background so it scans under hall lighting.
Related
Last updated . QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED. Open-source engines are listed on the how it works page.