Electronic Giving

You have likely read the statistics: only 10-25% of church members actually tithe and the average Christian only gives 2.5%. I recently read that if all Christians increased their minimum giving to 10%, the church would collect an additional $165 billion/year. One thing that churches can do to increase giving is to adopt newer technology (on-line giving, kiosks, phone apps, etc). There is a correlation between the use of this newer technology and church giving, since the number of members who carry cash or a checkbook is declining. Churches that embrace the change make it easier for this generation to give. The ability to create recurring giving also helps to reduce the “summer giving slump”, as funds are transferred automatically each week, regardless if a member is on vacation, out of town, etc. Any electronic giving should include mobile technology.

However, 85% of mobile givers will give up if the process takes more than 30 seconds – so make sure whatever system you adopt, it is easy to use.

Finally, don’t forget the back-end – make sure however people give, the church staff doesn’t have to re-enter the same data into a contribution software, it should update automatically. Giving is still more of a heart issue than a money issue. Churches who are intentional on teaching on the subject one or two times each year also see better giving trends.