Online Giving Options for Congregations and Synods
This Guide
This guide outlines factors to consider when deciding how to offer online giving for your congregation. Online payment services and technologies change and evolve rapidly. Please consult the resource links at the end of this guide for the latest information.
Why offer online giving?
As more and more members use computers, tablets and smartphones to help organize their daily lives, many congregations offer online giving — credit card payments or withdrawals from checking/savings accounts — as a convenient stewardship option. Accepting credit card payments for event registrations or special fundraising is also becoming more common place. Advantages of online giving include:
- Automatic recurring donations minimize seasonal slumps in giving
- Reduces time spent tallying donations and preparing deposits
- Reduces handling of checks and cash in the church office
- Reduces use of natural resources consumed in donation envelopes and checks
- Making a donation online may be more convenient for a congregation visitor.
Online Giving Basics New to online giving? Here's a review of the basic components of an online giving service.
Considerations for Selecting an Online Giving Service
The importance you place on the factors listed below should help narrow your search for an online giving vendor. You can download a spreadsheet version of this feature list and use it to compare vendors you are considering. For these and other features, find out if additional fees are charged.
- Cost. While online giving has become a standard cost of doing business for many non-profits, it is important to understand the cost structures as you evaluate different services. Cost components can include: set-up fees, monthly fees, charges for each transaction, hosting fees and fees based on a percent of each transaction that go to the online giving service provider; fees that go to the credit card processor or for ACH withdrawals from checking or savings. Special features like “text-to-give” services or card-swipe hardware can add costs. Does the service have the option of prompting the donor to help cover the cost of the transaction by displaying that actual cost?
- Support for recurring gifts? This will immediately eliminate a number of vendors who don’t allow registered users to schedule recurring payments.
- Merchant account separate or included? Some online payment vendors require that you bring your own merchant account (e.g. PayPal) to connect to their system. This may be fine, you just need to figure in any merchant account fees.
- Pledges. If having members indicate their pledge online for a particular time period is important, you may find that a limited number of vendors serving the faith-based sector have this feature.
- Fund designations for “regular” giving. It is pretty common for donors to want to indicate their support for various church funds/purposes (e.g. Operations budget, Building fund, World Hunger, etc.). Does the service you are considering allow the member to split their gift across funds? Can they make a one-time gift for a purpose they specify?
- Designated giving. Can special campaigns or designated giving opportunities be established in addition to the “regular” giving?
- Tribute gifts. Can a gift be made in honor of or in memory of someone, with the option to ask the congregation to send a gift acknowledgement to the person being honored?
Mobile giving options. At a minimum, does the service provide a giving page that is optimized for smartphone users? Is there a “QR code” a donor can scan with a smartphone to jump to the giving page? Optionally, do they provide a giving “App” (generally only available for non-Apple devices)? Finally, is there a “text-to-give” option, using a phone text message? That last feature is less important with the advent of smartphones, and text donation systems are generally expensive and limited. At least one vendor (Vanco) has developed a hybrid text-to-give service that overcomes some of these limitations, if your members are asking for that capability.
Other Features/Factors to Consider
- What is the payment cycle (time between when a member donates and the funds are deposited in the congregation bank account)?
- Virtual terminal access for entering a donation on behalf of a member.
- Can a member log in and see a giving summary for the year?
- Integrations between the payment service and the congregation church management system, email delivery service and online event registration system. Can the giving form be integrated with your congregation website and Facebook page?
- Does the congregation name appear on the donor’s credit card statement?
- Can the system be used for event registrations, memberships, selling tickets, selling merchandise?
- How about individual or team fund-raising pages?
Vendor Service and Reputation
Some online payments vendors are geared toward faith-based organizations, offering features and support materials tailored to congregational use. Ask how long the company has been in business, number of employees and number of congregations served. What customer support services are provided for free or fee: 800 telephone support (during what hours?); average response time for email support questions; online knowledgebase for support questions. What training materials are available (tutorials, webinars, user guides)?
Sources for more information
Create a list of vendors offering online giving services with recurring gifts as a starting point for your vendor search. Start by looking at what options are available or compatible with your existing church management package. Contact other churches in your area to find out what they use and whether they are happy with the results. Here are some additional resources to consider: