Most of the members of your church desire to give.
Not only are they interested in supporting your church, but they also sense a call by God to be generous.
As you invite your church to participate in God?s work in your church by giving, it?s essential to make it as easy as possible for your people to give.
Here?s why:
How people shop and give is changing before your eyes. From making purchases to donating money, online and mobile transactions are becoming the new normal for our culture.
Think about it.
How much cash do you have in your pocket right now?
Are you carrying any checks with you?
If you?re like most people, you probably only have a few dollars in your pocket, and you haven?t seen your checkbook in weeks (assuming you even have one). But there?s an excellent chance you have a debit or credit card with you?and a smartphone by your side.
There?s a growing trend among people in your community to use their phone, tablet, or computer to carry out everyday tasks?including banking and giving.
In order to unleash generosity in your church, you need to embrace this change in the way people shop and give by providing and promoting online giving and mobile giving.
In fact, most churches report an increase in giving when they offer people the ability to give online, to give with their debit or credit card, and to give through their church app or with their mobile device, which makes sense.
People prefer to donate money in a way that?s natural for them. For more and more people every year, donating online or with a mobile device is becoming the new norm.
Of course, you will still have members of your church who prefer to donate with cash or checks, and that?s totally fine. This will always be the case as long as cash and checks are in circulation.
As you invite people to give, remember to promote the different ways they can give on a regular basis. A lack of promoting your giving options is a surefire way to ensure no one donates online or sets up recurring giving.
Don?t believe me?
Consider this:
Based on a study conducted by Dunham+Company, the number of smaller churches (less than 200) who provided online giving significantly increased.
Sounds good, right?
Well, not exactly.
During this same period of time, online donations to smaller churches slightly dropped, while online donations to larger churches (200 or more) nearly doubled during this same period of time.
There are a few reasons why this may be the case, including:
- Not making online giving a priority
- Lack of promotion
- Demographics
- Complicated technology
- No church app
- Unavailable giving kiosks
So, what?s the takeaway?
Simple.
You have to regularly promote online giving to lead the people in your church to donate online.
Over to you
Take a moment to research the different options available for online, mobile, and text-based giving for your church.
Review several options.
Consume multiple resources.
See what works best for your church.
After you implement your new giving solutions, make sure to put together a plan to regularly promote this new option.
Providing more ways people can give is beneficial. But promoting all of the ways your congregation can donate is one step closer to unleashing generosity and increasing giving in your church.
Does your church currently offer a variety of giving options to make giving as easy as possible for every member? Where are you falling short? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
