TL;DR
Social media is the new front porch of the church. In 2025, if your church isn’t using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to tell stories of impact, you’re missing a huge opportunity to inspire generosity.
People give to vision, not to budgets — and social media is the best way to show your church’s mission in action. Use the Three A’s strategy:
- Awareness – Share upcoming needs and stories early.
- Action – Make giving simple and immediate.
- Appreciation – Celebrate the results and thank donors.
When paired with a mobile-friendly, seamless giving platform like OnlineGiving.org, your church can reach more people, raise more funds, and make a bigger impact.
Let’s be honest: most churches are still playing catch-up when it comes to digital engagement. Many figured out how to livestream, a few got decent at email, and almost everyone has a Facebook page they barely use. But in 2025, if your church isn’t leveraging social media to fuel generosity, you’re missing out on a powerful tool that could significantly enhance your ministry's impact.
In today’s 21st century, there is a new front porch where people gather for news and information. That new front porch is social media, and wise churches are utilizing it to engage with their neighborhoods.
Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, or some new platform, people are spending more time on these sites not only for interaction but also for news and information. If you want to connect with your neighborhood — to hear the Gospel, to support the mission — then your church needs to be there, too.
Social Media: Where America Is
Social media isn’t a fad. It’s the new front porch of America. As of early 2025, social media continues to be a dominant force in global communication and engagement:
- Global Reach: There are approximately 5.24 billion active social media user identities worldwide, representing over 60% of the global population. Report on DataReportal
- Daily Usage: The average social media user spends about 2 hours and 21 minutes per day on these platforms. Report on SocialBee
- Platform Popularity: Facebook leads with 3.07 billion monthly users, followed by YouTube with 2.5 billion users. Report on SocialBee
- Demographic Insights: Millennials are the most active demographic, with 69.2% estimated to be using social media in 2025. Report on Sprout Social
These statistics highlight the crucial role of social media in reaching and engaging with audiences, making it a vital tool for organizations seeking to connect with their communities.
Why It Matters for Giving
Stewardship is storytelling. Always has been. People don’t give to budgets — they give to vision. They give to impact. That’s why we tell our partners: get a story, work your story, tell your story — and people will give to support it.
Social media is the ultimate “show and tell” tool for churches. It lets you:
- Raise awareness of ministry needs.
- Call people to action by making giving easy and immediate.
- Show appreciation and highlight the impact of generosity.
When you do that consistently, you see an increase in engagement and a measurable boost in offerings — especially online giving.
Three A’s of Social Media Strategy
We advise our partners to a giving strategy that incorporates social media, using a simple but powerful framework which we call the Three A’s of Social Media:
1. Awareness
Start early. Use social media to let your church know what’s coming. Are you funding a mission trip? Renovating the kids' wing? Supporting a local food pantry?
Tell the story weeks in advance. Post pictures. Share testimonies. Help people feel the need before you ever ask them to give.
2. Action
When it’s time to give, make the call to action simple and clear. Use photos and captions like:
“Your gift today helps feed 100 local families this week. Give now at [your link].”
Include a direct URL to your giving platform — don’t make people hunt for it.
3. Appreciation
Once people give, say thank you. Show the results. Post a follow-up photo and caption like:
“Thanks to your generosity, every child in our afterschool program received a backpack full of supplies. Thank you, church!”
Gratitude sets the stage for the next ask — and reinforces that giving leads to real-life change.
Build a Strategy, Not Just a Feed
Too many churches treat social media like a bulletin board. They post announcements but never inspire connection. Others set it up, post a few times, and let it die. Neither approach works.
Here’s how to make social media a real tool for ministry and stewardship:
- Pick the right platforms. Be where your people are. For some, it’s Facebook. For others, it’s Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok. Don’t try to be everywhere. Be strategic.
- Have a plan. What’s your message? Who owns the process? How often will you post? What’s the goal?
- Connect, don’t just broadcast. Social media is relational. Respond to comments. Share stories. Ask questions. Don’t just post to be posting.
- Make it visual. Show ministry in action. Baptisms. Worship. Service. Smiling faces. A good photo is more powerful than a polished paragraph.
- Make the ask. Tie generosity to life change. Add giving links where appropriate. Social media is a giving channel — treat it like one.
Work the Plan
It doesn’t matter how well-designed your strategy is if no one works it. Assign someone to own your social media. Post consistently. Evaluate results. Adapt.
We recommend posting at least once daily, with 2–4 of those posts per week focused on generosity, mission, or stewardship. The more your church sees stories of life change, the more they’ll want to be part of it.
Social Media and Your Giving Platform
Here’s the bottom line: social media is where people scroll, where they laugh, cry, react, and share. Why shouldn’t it also be a place where they give?
Social media is the new front door, and in many cases, it’s where your first-time giver is going to get introduced to your mission.
The Church has always been called to meet people where they are. In 2025, that includes online. So, stop thinking of social media as a distraction — and start thinking of it as a channel for discipleship and generosity.
Your church has a powerful story to tell. Social media gives you the platform to accomplish this. Don’t waste it. Show what God is doing. Tell the story. Make the ask. Celebrate the results.
Social media works best when it’s supported by a seamless, mobile-friendly giving platform. That’s where OnlineGiving.org comes in. We help churches link their message with modern tools that make giving simple, secure, and intuitive — all fully integrated with your social strategy. OnlineGiving.org provides a user-friendly interface for donors to make contributions, secure payment processing, and comprehensive reporting tools for church administrators to track donations and donor engagement.
If your current giving platform isn’t built for a digital-first world, it might be time for an upgrade. At OnlineGiving.org, we don’t just build tools — we build strategy. We help you connect, engage, and grow your giving by meeting people where they are.
Contact us today at (615) 206-4000 or support@onlinegiving.org to schedule a complimentary demo. And watch what happens — not just in your offerings, but in your impact.
The Stewardship Coach
Church leaders: Social media isn’t just for announcements — it’s your new front porch for storytelling & generosity.
— Online Giving (@onlinegivingorg) March 31, 2025
Use the 3 A’s (Awareness, Action, Appreciation), pair with a strong giving platform, and watch generosity grow.https://t.co/yur7MpjPYo pic.twitter.com/ycQOWpfMHF
