Why your church should offer online giving
Many churches are asked to consider online giving. Most often it is by those that rarely carry cheques or cash and simply want a convenient way to give. Many times, however churches decide against offering this option. Many times the choice is made for one or more of the following reasons: 1) the credit card company takes too much 2) no one will use it who wouldn’t give anyways 3) we don’t believe in encouraging the use of credit. Though these may all be valid there are some important points to consider when evaluating your options.
Payment methods are changing
The Bank of Canada has been tracking a move away from cash retail transactions towards cash/debit transactions for 20 years. Their study found that both the volume and value of cash transactions has been overtaken with cash and debit transaction. Of note the same study noted a marked generational difference with younger Canadians showing greater preference for credit/debit over cash as well as an across the board preference for large transactions to be made by credit/debit. For churches these are two trends that really cannot be ignored, if you don’t accept credit/debit you may be missing your younger donors and you may be settling for smaller donations.
Growth of Online gifts
A US study found that online giving grew by 13.5% in 2013 with faith-based giving growing over 18%. This is an incredible growth rate that no charity wants to miss out on. As people become more comfortable with online transactions, this area will continue to grow. The same study found that in 2013 30% of annual giving occurred in December with 10% of giving occurring on the last 3 days of the year. This is a pattern that is found in many churches with much of the giving coming at the end of the year with many a church asking its congregation to give earlier and more consistently. The trouble is, people will always leave it to the last minute and if they can’t easily give to their first choice, there’s a good chance they’ll give elsewhere.
Online giving is increasing amount and consistency of giving
One of the great benefits of setting up online giving is the ability to set up recurring giving. Many people are often discouraged by the big numbers and feel the little bit they can do is not enough to make a difference. Showing people what even a small, consistent amount can do can help people see the bigger picture and that their part does matter. Recurring giving is also done automatically so you don’t need to worry about missing them when someone is out of town or simply forgets. One group found that donors who were set up for recurring giving gave 42% more over the course of the year.
Many times churches, faced with increased costs and flat, or declining giving, are ignoring the value of engaging and encouraging small donors. On the other hand, those ministries that are connecting with and engage the regular donations, even if they are small, are seeing a greater level of consistency in their giving.
Sunergo is here to help
Our Sunergo Church Tools can have credit card processing integrated and when paired with our Website tools can create a branded donation page within your website. Our websites are fully optimized for mobile devices and the donation pages can be set to include a recurring donation option. Contact us for more information.