Online Giving Q&A and Tools
Some churches are going to be very nervous about how they will continue missions, salaries, and/or building payments. While we will not address all concerns with this we hope some of it is useful.
THEOLOGICAL: While there is much more that could be said on this the concern is about “giving” on a day other than Sunday. The text is 1 Corinthians 16. Paul gives “order” that the church at Corinth give when the come together on the first day of the week, of what they have previously purposed. This is a very neat verse that actually makes the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper even stronger. Paul is actually saying, you could give anytime, I could even go house to house and pick up this offering BUT since you are together on the first day of every week already to partake of the Supper, give then, so a special “giving meeting” doesn’t have to be called. MOST all of our congregations would accept an offering pre-Sunday from someone going on vacation who drops their check by or post-Sunday if someone left their check at home. We also understand that technically we are not really giving on Sunday with a check since that money can’t be deposited until the bank is opened on Monday. Actually, online giving can allow giving on Sunday. We have members who go into the app we use while the plates are being passed and make their offering then.
OTHER OBJECTIONS: The biggest concern that we have heard are the associated fees. There are fees whether put on the giver or the church or both with most any kind of giving except pure cash offerings. Whether that is a monthly bank fee that the giver or the church has or a check fee. Some of these services would pass that fee on to the giver. My suggestion would be that you be upfront that there is a fee for this convenience/service and MOST people will understand and accept that reality even if they don’t like it. Our resource person wanted to be sure to let you know “to let your members know that giving online from their checking account usually has lower fees than from a credit card. More of their giving goes to ministry.”
A FEW STATS: We have done three polls/surveys on online giving. Here are some of the results from the 350+ churches who responded:
- 84% do not offer an outlet for online giving
- 43% of those who do not offer that option were considering it
- >5% do not offer this option because of biblical concerns
- 34% of those offering this option have seen a related increase in their offering total
- Only 2% of those do have chosen this option would not recommend it for others
*NOTE: One real benefit is that most who use this option will have their account automatically give each week and they will give 52 weeks a year, even if they are sick or out of town.
ONE WAY “WE” ARE DIFFERENT: When a company calls and offers you this service they will promise you a big percentage increase in your giving if you use them. Remember, they are salespeople, selling something! And, remember that most of them do not understand churches of Christ. The churches of Christ are different. Joe Baptist in order to be in good standing with the Baptist church is required to tithe. He might not ever darken the doors but he tithes. Online giving lets him do that every week. So, in most towns you will have highly successful businesspersons who will tithe online and feel faithful. WE do not teach tithing, sadly, many of us do not teach giving well or often. So, while a denominational church they will experience a bump from that, we typically will not. While at the congregation I am at we have had significant growth in our giving over the last 10 years we have also grown in numbers, benefitted from a positive economy, and from plans by our Shepherds to systematically teach members here to give faithfully.
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS: Our technology deacons did extensive studies and determined that for us the cheapest fees and simplest to use and set up was easytithe.com. There are many others but this one has a very excellent record and is easy to use. I would recommend that you:
Have the elders make the announcement in whatever form you can that this is beginning.
Send out an email or present at the close of a service how to give online in clear 1,2,3 Steps. We used a PowerPoint presentation and have screen shots that were sent out.
Put links to the online giving where they are easy to access on the church’s webpage.
Here are some other services:
Bank Draft
Realm: https://www.acstechnologies.com/products/realm/features/giving
May God bless you and all of His church as we navigate the days ahead. If you have questions feel free to contact us: TJI@TheJenkinsInstitute.com. We also have an excellent church giving resource person if you’d like to contact them let us know.