How many checks a month do you write? How many checks do you write in a year? Either way, the answer is the same, few. For those under twenty, we might have to explain checks. The rest of us will probably need to hunt for our checkbooks. The reality is that today, fewer checks are being written than ever before. In America, today’s checks represent around 10% of all commerce.
How does this move away from check writing impact the Church? In 2018, Lifeway Research studied giving practices in American churches. They discovered that 6 in 10 churchgoers (62%) give to their church by check! 59% of that number gives their check at church.1. We would expect those numbers to be significantly less after the pandemic. Still, however, due to the age of most of our congregations, check writing is a major means by which American church attendees give.
When it comes to why you shouldn’t discount checks, the number one reason is that checks are not dead yet. Unless your church is made up entirely of younger generations, you are probably getting several checks a month. How many checks a month does your church receive? With our Church Metrics Donation Report dashboard, you can easily track the number of checks given to your church and the amount given by check. A quick look at the number of checks you process monthly will show the value they bring to your church.
Here is another reason why you shouldn’t discount checks. In our experience, people who write checks tend to give more often than those that give in alternative ways. Some of this is generational. For instance, my 93-year-old parents monthly write a $50 check to their former dentist, who now makes dental mission trips worldwide. My parents started writing those checks in 1985. To date, they have given over $21,000 for dental missions worldwide. Every cent and dollar of that amount came via a paper check.
World Dental Relief Ministry, the ministry my parents support, sends them a thank you letter and a receipt of their gift with another self-addressed envelope, making it easier for my folks to send in next month’s gift. This is the equivalent of setting up recurring giving. When I work with churches, I always help them establish digital and direct mail strategies. I advise that with every snail mail appeal, we enclose an envelope making it easy for people to send checks back. Having a direct mail strategy allows you to connect with older members allowing them to continue to make an impact through their generosity. Most of that generosity will be expressed in a paper check.
Find practical ways you can utilize check writing in this post, https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/the-value-of-a-fifty-dollar-check.
Another key reason you shouldn’t discount checks is that our review of giving data reveals people who write checks typically give more than people who use other giving methods. Again, much of this depends on your congregation's generational makeup. While the percentage each church receives from checks will depend on factors such as age and demographics, we find that most churches still receive a significant percentage of their giving via paper checks. And while the percentage of total receipts might be small from checks, for most churches, that amount can run from 10% of their annual giving or more. Can you afford to ignore even 10%?
How long will checks still be around? With the speed of change today, who knows? For now, you will continue to receive paper checks. This is why we at OnlineGiving.org developed an innovative, time-saving, check scanning solution. Our solution offers clients a scan-once-and-be-done approach that allows church administrators to bulk scan a batch of checks and for that scan to be submitted once for full ChMS recording and remote bank deposit. In the past, churches scanning checks had to perform the scanning process multiple times to get check documents into multiple systems and deposited into bank accounts. Many churches must upload batch files to banks for a deposit or even drive checks to a physical location for a deposit. Our process simplifies all of that. Check out what one of our clients said,
“OnlineGiving.org’s remote deposit system has allowed us to overcome both of these challenges quickly. We now save time on making a physical trip to the bank and get access to our funds faster.”
– Chris Giddens, Bethel Austin
Find out more about how our check-scanning feature at https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/announcing-our-new-check-scanning-capability.
In these challenging financial times, we must give our members the means of giving they prefer the most. For many of your members, that preferred way is a paper check. Don’t discount the power of the paper check. With our processing feature, we can help you make direct appeals and check writing a useful source of mission-supporting revenue for your church. For a demonstration or more information, contact us at (615) 206-4000 or email us at support@onlinegiving.org.
The Stewardship Coach
Do you know how much of your church giving is received via checks? While percentages will largely depend on demographics, we find most churches still receive significant giving via checks. This is why we developed an time-saving, check scanning solution. https://t.co/JZLgRXHdXb pic.twitter.com/w0d3TJJYT1
— Online Giving (@onlinegivingorg) November 8, 2022
1. https://research.lifeway.com/2018/05/10/churchgoers-say-they-tithe-but-not-always-to-the-church/
