Maximize Gifts and Reduce Rates with ACH
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Maximize Gifts and Reduce Rates with ACH

Mon, Dec 5th 2022 · Mark Brooks

Americans are in love with acronyms. Our government certainly loves them. Think FBI, IRS, CIA, DIA, and on and on. The military goes crazy over acronyms with WMD, IED, and many others. Each of these organizations uses countless acronyms for shortening long names. Not to be outdone, the Church has its acronyms in UMC, SBC, PCA, WCA, KJV, NIV, etc. In this post, we want to show you how one acronym can simultaneously increase giving and save you money. That acronym is ACH.

ACH stands for Automated Clearing House. Automated Clearing House or ACH payments refer to the direct transfer of funds between two bank accounts. How does that work for a church? When members land on your giving page, they can choose to make their gift recurring. There are multiple giving options, but let’s stick to the ACH process. To set up a recurring ACH gift, your members input their banking information (routing number, account number) and personal information. The processor then uses that information, and the amount donated is withdrawn from the donor’s bank account and directed to the church’s bank account.

How does this increase giving and save you money? Here are a few reasons.

  • The first is lower costs per transaction. If you have an online donation platform, you know about processing fees. The fees charged are higher on credit cards than on ACH transactions. While the difference might be only 1% to 2%, depending upon the type of card used and other factors, over time, that small percentage can add up to hundreds and thousands of dollars saved. More dollars can then go to missions and ministry.
  • Studies show nonprofit organizations that focus on ACH donations have higher retention rates than those that do not offer this service. One reason why is that,
  • Unlike credit cards, ACH payment methods do not have an expiration date, allowing recurring donations to continue without interruption.
  • As a result of the above, organizations that encourage recurring donations through ACH payments raise more money than those that don’t.
  • An added value for your staff is the time saved tracking down donors whose cards or accounts have expired or been canceled. It also means fewer trips to the bank to make deposits - another time saver.

ACH is a win for the church and a win for your donors. Donors can set up their giving to be automatic, and they never need to worry about forgetting to give. Your church wins by keeping those donors longer and paying less in processing fees.

One of our goals for church partners is to help them increase the number of people setting up recurring giving through ACH. We have features to gently promote ACH first over credit cards for cost savings to the church. Our system is easy for your donors to use. We also allow ACH to be used for text giving and for multiple checking accounts to be linked to a donor profile.

Will your members sign up? I first got involved with online donations in 2012. At the time, my parents, lifelong 10% tithers, were in their early eighties. My mom commented that she would be uncomfortable setting up her giving online. I asked her, “Aren’t your utility bills set up to be automatically withdrawn from your bank account?” She replied, “Yes, but I like putting my offering in the plate.” Fast forward to the present day, and my parents, now almost 94 years old, have set up their monthly tithe check to be automatically withdrawn from their checking account. Even though they can no longer attend church, their tithe shows up on the first of every month. That is the power of the acronym ACH.

Let us show you how to put that power to work for you. To learn more about how we can help you use ACH to increase giving at your church while saving you money, contact us at (615) 206-4000 or drop us a line at support@onlinegiving.org.

Written by Mark Brooks
The Stewardship Coach

 
 

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