Release More Money for Ministry With Our Onboarding
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Release More Money for Ministry With Our Onboarding

Thu, Dec 19th 2024 · OnlineGiving.org

TL;DR:

OnlineGiving.org helped Ward Church simplify their onboarding process, encouraging donors to shift recurring gifts while prioritizing cost-saving ACH donations. Their “Shift Your Gift” campaign increased recurring giving by 3%, freeing up more funds for ministry. With proven strategies and a seamless transition plan, OnlineGiving.org empowers churches to maximize their ministry impact.What if your church could transform the challenging onboarding process into a seamless transition that releases more funds for ministry? That’s exactly what Ward Church, near Detroit, Michigan, experienced with OnlineGiving.org.

Onboarding has historically been a nightmare for church staff. Many churches endure poor service to avoid the headaches associated with changing giving platforms. However, OnlineGiving.org specializes in making onboarding headache-free for donors, staff, and administrators alike. Our proven onboarding plan, often referred to as our "secret sauce," is gaining a reputation among churches nationwide.

Jeff Mitchell, Ward Church’s Director of Digital Experience, shared, “We had heard that OG had an impressive onboarding plan from other churches we had contacted. That was one reason that led to our switching to OG. We wanted to help make our transition as smooth as possible, but we also wanted to encourage donors to set up their giving to be recurring. We wanted to encourage them to do so in a way that would provide more money for the ministry. OG helped make that happen.”

The Process: Simplifying Giving While Maximizing Ministry Impact

Ward Church partnered with OnlineGiving.org in 2021, and Jeff’s team worked closely with our team to plan their onboarding process. One of the key components of their strategy was integrating a “cover the fees” initiative into their “Shift Your Gift” campaign.

Jeff explained, “The OG team told us they had a ‘cover the fees’ initiative, which we wrapped up into our ‘Shift Your Gift’ campaign. The primary focus was changing recurring gifts from one system to another. We developed an FAQ about the fees that encouraged donors in specific directions:

  • Making the ACH option the default (not prodding them to cover the fee, but prioritizing the lower-fee option first).
  • If they switched to a Credit Card and filled in an amount and CC number, it calculates the fee, and we had OnlineGiving.org add a custom statement to say, ‘To reduce the processing fees, consider using a Bank Account instead. Learn more.’ Learn more toggles open a panel that says, ‘In the U.S. alone, digital payments cost churches over $30 million yearly. Credit card companies charge between 2-3% on every transaction. Banks charge about 0.5%.’”

To support the campaign, Ward Church developed a series of slides asking, “How can I increase the impact of my gift on ministry?” These slides guided donors toward setting up recurring gifts while educating them about the cost savings of using ACH over credit cards.

  • Fact 1: In the U.S. alone, digital payments cost churches over $30 million annually. Credit card companies charge between 2-3% on every transaction. Banks charge about 0.5%.
  • Fact 2: Set up your gift using a bank account instead of a credit card. Bank account gifts cost the church significantly less to process—freeing up more funds for ministry.
  • Fact 3: Regardless of which payment method you select, this system allows you to cover the processing fees so that 100% of your intended gift can go directly to the ministry.

The Results: Incremental Improvements That Add Up

Ward Church’s “Shift Your Gift” campaign yielded impressive results. Jeff noted, “We already had a recurring average of around 55% of our donors. The ‘Shift Your Gift’ campaign brought that number up to 58%. That might not seem like much, but that small percentage adds up and can be released to ministry.”

Partnering for Ongoing Success

Since 2021, Ward Church and OnlineGiving.org have partnered to release more money for ministry. Today, our onboarding process is even better, thanks to collaboration with churches nationwide. Each partnership helps refine our tools and processes to maximize ministry impact.

We’d love to show you how our onboarding process can release more funds for your ministry. Contact us today at (615) 206-4000 or email support@onlinegiving.org to learn more.

 

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