As successful eGiving evolves for churches, having an eGiving program involves much more than just offering members a way to give their donations electronically. Your eGiving provider or church must be prepared to handle a number of bookkeeping and customer service responsibilities that become the pillars of your program’s success.
Administrative Pillars
Accounting: There are many “behind the scenes” details that must be handled to keep your program running smoothly. First, every transaction has to be reconciled so that all donations are accounted for and properly recorded in your census software. This is perhaps the most important part of managing an eGiving program, and there is no room for error.
Donation Maintenance: There are also administrative tasks that require member interaction. These include pending payment reminders, expiring credit card notifications, and managing declined donations. It’s important to alert individuals immediately when a donation is declined, and work with them to get the payment information updated. After that, the donation must be reprocessed, so that the person will be back into their normal giving routine.
Customer Service Pillars
Program Knowledge: Financial matters can be intimidating, and when questions arise members appreciate a quick, helpful response – whether it’s helping someone update their gift amounts or change their payment information.
Account Management: Most members expect to be able to manage their church donations much as they do their other donations and payments. This includes a robust online system and paper forms or over the phone for those members that are less comfortable with the internet.
Customer Care: It is important for your eGiving provider or church to be able to respond to member questions in a timely fashion. Individual member preferences dictate that your program or church be capable of responding to members via email, online chat or over the phone.
Managing a successful eGiving program takes a great deal of knowledge, a keen attention to detail and a willingness to help others. Before starting an in house eGiving program or selecting a provider, it is important to assess necessary staff time, availability or what customer service support is provided by your eGiving provider to ensure your program’s success