To increase giving at your church, you must understand the value of giving your members multiple options. At OnlineGiving.org, we provide our church partners with over a dozen ways through which their members and attendees can give. A recent study shows why we offer so many options. Consider these key church-giving statistics:
- 44% of US adults are digital donors.
- 49% of all donations to churches come from credit cards or other electronic means.
- 40% tithe using cash.
- 60% are willing to give to their church digitally.
- Churches that accept tithing online see a 32% increase in overall donations.
- 37% of regular church attendees don’t give money to church.1.
That is an interesting mix of how people are currently giving. Here are some thoughts on these statistics and the overall value of multiple giving options.
The current state of giving to the Church in America is complex and fluid. As technology changes, so does commerce, and we are in the midst of a technological revolution that impacts how we do commerce and, thus, how people give to their church.
At OnlineGiving.org, we stay on the cutting edge of technology to offer our clients the best digital giving platform. Check out some of our recent changes in this post:
https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/100-updates-since-the-new-year
Based on the above, here are a few questions I would like to ask you. Has your church kept up with the changes in technology? Are you providing the giving options your members are most likely to use? Does your digital giving provider give you multiple options? If not, you could be missing out on potential giving.
Another thought is, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” This study reaffirms the importance of offering multiple giving options to increase giving. We must give our members and attendees the options they prefer to use for commerce, thereby increasing their willingness to give. We have found that multiple giving options lead to an increase in giving. Even though cash is becoming less used for commerce, you will still find people giving cash at church. You might not use your cell phone to give, but many people do. You might never write a check again, but many churchgoers still do write checks.
Read more about giving via check at this post: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/check-scanning-gives-your-time-back
One statistic that caught my eye was the fact that 37% of regular church attendees do not give to the church. This shows that we have an untapped reservoir of potential givers. The question becomes, how do you get those who are not giving to give? One thing I can tell you that does not work is guilt. I advise church leaders to utilize the connecting power of the vision of their church to motivate people to want to give. Here is a post on how to do that: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/connecting-the-dots-for-donors
Reading the above statistics reminded me of my long-time Stewardship Coach mantra: To increase giving, you must make it quick, easy, and meaningful. OnlineGiving.org churches have all of this with our platform and tools. We do not just process your digital giving. We help you deliver meaningful messages that can instantly communicate with your donor base 24/7. Here is a post that talks about how our platform can help increase your messaging and giving: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/show-and-tell-to-increase-generosity
What about your church? Are you providing multiple giving options? From how we communicate the message of our appeals to the platforms we provide for our members, we must all take a multi-channel approach.
When it comes to telling your story and making it easy for donors to give, our platform leads our industry in providing the tools to communicate your life-changing mission for God. We would love to showcase how with a free demonstration. Contact us today to schedule your time at (615) 206-4000 or email us at support@onlinegiving.org.
The Stewardship Coach
At https://t.co/u2tMB6uoI4, we provide our church partners with over a dozen ways for their members and attendees to give. A recent study shows why we offer so many giving options and why your church should, too!https://t.co/kHalgfuKva pic.twitter.com/swfCrgqcI3
— Online Giving (@onlinegivingorg) July 11, 2024
1. https://www.churchtrac.com/articles/the-state-of-church-giving