Most churches aren’t fully leveraging their digital giving and they don’t even know it.
Are you one of them?
What would happen if you saw a substantial increase in digital giving usage? It would be a game changer. Your giving would grow and remain more stable.
With that in mind, here are 7 simple yet foolproof ways to make your church’s digital giving more effective.
1. Don’t Be Afraid of Over Communicating
Here’s our general rule of thumb. If you feel like you’re over-communicating, you’re probably communicating just enough.
Don’t assume everyone knows about your giving platforms and how to use them. There’s going to be at least a handful of people that have never heard of text to give. Likewise, others who have never noticed the giving kiosk in your lobby.
If you feel like you’re over-communicating, you’re probably communicating just enough.
Take a few minutes during your offering moment to highlight the ways someone can give to your church. Whether it’s online, through a mobile app, text to give, or at a giving kiosk, tell your church about it. Let your congregation know that their gifts are important no matter how they chose to give. End this moment by thanking your givers for their generosity.
2. Regularly Teach Generosity
Growing your digital giving is more than just telling your church you offer it. Yes, communication plays an important part in the success of your church giving. But, what plays an even bigger role is regularly teaching stewardship and generosity.
Your church wants to hear what the bible says about generosity and stewardship.
Many pastors feel uncomfortable talking about money from the pulpit. And it can be even more uncomfortable dedicating an entire sermon to it. I get it. It can be intimidating. You may even worry attendees will not receive it well and will make negative comments. But, rest assured. Your church wants to hear what the bible says about generosity and stewardship.
By teaching generosity and stewardship, you empower your church to become generous disciples with a strong faith.
3. Graphics Make Giving Easy
Graphics can make digital giving easier for first-time and regular givers.
Put graphics on screen when you talk about giving during your offering moment. This will give your church extra time to process and write down the information. Consider displaying your text-to-give number and keywords when you encourage people to give.
Display icons to show the ways someone can give to your church, whether that’s in service, online, through a mobile app, texting, or at a giving kiosk. Share instructions by listing out 3 quick steps to complete your online donation.
Graphics can make digital giving easier for first-time and regular givers.
If you’re a SecureGive client who wants to use graphics but doesn’t have the resources to create your own, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Click the link here to download graphics you can use to highlight digital giving during your offering moment.
4. Create the Perfect Giving Page
Your church website is a crucial place to highlight digital giving.
Include a “Giving Page” on your website that shares how someone can give to your church and the impact those donations have in your community.
Digital giving is easy to use. But, first-time givers will have questions. So on this page, include brief instructions for how to give as well as contact info for a staff member or department who can answer questions as they arise.
Of course, don’t forget to include a link to your online giving site as well as your text-to-give number and keywords. This will allow your donors to quickly give whenever they visit your page.
Your church website is a crucial place to highlight digital giving.
For an example to help you get started, check out our previous blog post here.
5. Train Church Staff and Volunteers
Digital giving won’t be successful if your church is apprehensive to use it. This applies to both your staff and attendees.
Don’t get me wrong. Digital giving is easy to use. But you’ll still have donors who have questions about it. It’s rarely because they can’t do it, but actually because they’re afraid to try on their own. These questions could range from how to set up an account, how to use a giving kiosk, or security. Have staff and volunteers available on Sunday morning that can answer questions.
You’ll have donors who have questions about digital giving. It’s rarely because they can’t do it, but actually because they’re afraid to try on their own.
SecureGive makes tithing easy for donors and life easier for church administrators. Spend time learning the admin and dashboard features. SecureGive makes things easier with analytics at a glance, easy-to-run reports, and time-saving features. Taking a few minutes to familiarize yourself with helpful admin features can save you countless hours in the long run.
6. Utilize Church Emails
Church emails are a great place to introduce your church to digital giving. They can also be fantastic for encouraging attendees to give. And to share the life-changing work your ministry does because of generous donations.
In these emails, it’s important to tell your church how they can give. But it’s also important to share what your church is doing with those gifts. You can inspire people to give by sharing exactly how tithes are being used in and around your church. In other words, when people see how their dollars are making a difference they’re more likely to give for the first time or give more.
When people see how their dollars are making a difference they’re more likely to give for the first time or give more.
For example, share the recent backpack giveaway that provided 150 kids with what they needed to go back to school. Give an update about fundraising progress on the new church plant. Use this as a place to share upcoming church initiatives. Tell the reader how your ministry’s funds are being allocated and what good they are doing in the community.
And don’t forget to end your emails with a clear call to action. This can be a clickable button or a link that recipients can easily click to give.
7. Encourage Recurring
We automate what’s important. From our mortgage to our cell phone bills to car insurance, we automate it all. So, why not automate church giving too?
Recurring transactions make giving easier. But they also help givers strengthen their faith. How? By setting up a recurring transaction, a donor takes the next step in their giving journey. They have embraced the call to tithe and as a result become a more generous disciple. When they set up a recurring transaction, they are committing to giving consistently.
We automate what’s important. So, why not automate church giving too?
Make sure to highlight recurring giving often. Encourage your attendees to create one during your offertory moment on Sunday morning. With SecureGive, your congregation can create a recurring gift in just a few moments from their phone using either your online giving page or the SecureGive mobile app. This makes it easy to do right from their seat.
Let your church know that recurring giving is an option. Recurring transactions will make giving easy for everyone. They will also create a huge impact on your ministry by funding your church to do more for the Kingdom.
Underutilized digital giving is a common problem for churches. The good news is that there are simple approaches you can take to solve this problem. When you regularly use these 7 tactics, your church is guaranteed to embrace digital giving more and as a result your giving will grow.