Newly-released figures from Faith Direct show the importance of having an easy-to-use eGiving program that your church family can use for all of their gifts to the church. Donation numbers from December 2014 – based on the churches we serve throughout the United States – include:
These numbers illustrate what a strong eGiving program offers to your members when they decide to give:
- Flexibility: Church offices aren’t always open when people feel inspired to give – especially during holidays, when offices could have limited hours. eGiving allows members to give what they want, when they want, whenever they are inspired by a specific ministry or need.
- Choices: Not every member wants to drop a check off at the church. Your eGiving program must give users multiple ways to make their gift: whether it’s online, over the phone, or from their smartphones or tablets – and whether they want to use a checking account or credit card.
- Confidence: Donors making last-minute offerings (especially large gifts) want to be sure their gift is handled properly and attributed to the appropriate tax year. With eGiving, gifts are processed right away – so no checks are sitting in a church office until it is too late to be attributed to correct tax year.
Churches without a robust eGiving program that’s easily available to users for all of their gifts likely lost out on last-minute generosity at the end of the year or during other seasons such as Easter. Don’t continue to miss out in 2015 – make sure your eGiving program simplifies stewardship for your members, so they give their full support to your important ministries.