Podcast Episode #457
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If churches want the next generation of members to give to their full potential, digital giving options are a must. Today, we explain why.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- Regardless of the size of your church, you should have digital giving options available to members.
- Online givers are more consistent with their giving because it is almost always automated.
- I don’t know of a single church who has made digital giving available and has seen a drop in giving as a result.
- We are living in a digital world. Churches need to recognize and capitalize on the opportunities the digital age provides.
The six reasons we discuss are:
- A review of the most common digital options: online giving; text giving, etc., and their affordability
- Digital giving provides a discipline of giving
- Digital giving takes place even when the member does not attend.
- Millennials and Gen Z don’t have checks or cash.
- Digital giving as a means of giving is growing rapidly.
- Many members and guests feel like churches are not relevant without digital giving options.
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Feedback
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Digital giving? Yes. Accepting the shallowness of people who “feel like churches are not relevant without digital giving options.” No. “Relevant” is a biased word to promote group think and we need to reject it. The only thing I am interested in being relevant to is the word of God.
Mark –
I see your comments a lot. Not sure what you do, but I wonder if you are a troll or just a basically negative person. I have refrained from commenting to you, but I am growing weary of your disposition at an otherwise place of consistent encouragement.
I agree, seems lately that the threads have been taken over by the Mark’s or someone pushing their book.
Said another way, people in Africa walk for hours, and sometimes days, to attend meetings. Our younger people will supposedly, according to Thom, only give if they can do it online? Really? Are we that enslaved to the world that we cannot pre-plan our giving? Do we dismiss churches without digital giving as “not relevant”? If true that is NOT encouraging in any way. But illustrates the lostness of the people who attend church.
Mark –
You took Thom’s article and changed the topic to be negative. He is just making common sense, not trying to start a theological debate. By your logic, we should not offer giving by check because it’s convenient. Or we should not keep track of individual giving since those people should give regardless of tax benefits. Thom made a commonsensical observation: Millennials as a group do not carry cash nor do they write checks. It is ludicrous to get so argumentative about this article. Maybe you need to write an article about how the church should not be relevant to the point that it allows Boomers and Builders to write checks out of convenience. I am weary of your negativity and divisiveness.
James- thank you for your thoughts. In the future, feel free to ignore anything I post. Be blessed.
James, I am not trying to be negative. I am pushing back against the notion that , if we don’t have online giving, we are somehow shallow and missing something. Rather the shallowness is on the part of people who cannot plan their giving! Do we not love Jesus enough to bring our offering no matter the format? If not we are a sad lot…
James –
Mark does the same thing at Church Answers. He’s run off some of my peers, and I have almost exited as well. I don’t think he has self-awareness how he affects people, and he seems to have a lot of time on his hand.
Let me get this straight, all I said was, is it really a good idea to suggest that millennials are legitimate in their opinion that if a church does not have online giving they are “not relevant.” Rather we need to be biblically relevant.
I also asked “was it ok to not give if you only want to give online.” And that is so horrible that I am running people off and being horribly negative?
Am I not allowed to question the statements of the blogger? That is trolling? Maybe there is a better way to say it and we need to be more careful.
Mark –
You assume that the church should never be concerned about cultural relevancy. I get that biblical relevancy always is our measuring rod. There is nothing wrong, however, with a church being culturally relevant for the right reasons, and if it does not contradict scriptural truths. I agree with earlier poster. Would you think it’s okay for a church to declare it will not accept paper checks for gifts? Those churches are simply being culturally relevant.
I agree with the other posters. You seem to desire to challenge Thom regardless of what he says. It feels personal.
Brewton, I never said cultural relevancy was unimportant. I said that AFTER biblical relevancy, you can engage culture. First, I said repeatedly that I give online. I am all for it, so the question about not accepting checks is off the mark. I am for digital giving.
What I am opposed to, but for some reason people are not reading and understanding, is ACCEPTING the idea that giving must be “by my way or the highway.” Thom observed that many millennials only give digitally. Fine observation. But MAYBE millennials need to be taught about the importance of giving. The worship of giving. The surrender of giving, RATHER than just capitulating to their preferences. Maybe you think Thom knows that. I agree, but he did not say any of that, and he never does! This observation applies to several things he proposes and observes.
Note that my capitalizations are not yelling, but a way to get people to see the key points I am making, since I am apparently not communicating very effectively.
Mark –
It’s hard to ignore your comments in a thread. They are typically frequent and mostly negative. I get the feeling you are not a pastor. I also sense you have deemed yourself a self-appointed critic of of Thom. Many of us come to this blog because we get good practical ministry information to help us in our churches. Believe me, we need it. We are looking for help and encouragement, not yet another theological debate that can be found all over the blogosphere. We trust Thom both theologically and practically. Your comments are a distraction to the help we are seeking.
James- Thank you for your comments.
Took the advice of “experts” and set up online giving. We receive
$200 every month. The cost is $99.00 per month. Not really seeing the value.
Deane, do some comparative investigating. Looks like you have an oversized package. There are options out there with significantly lower fees. Some organizations even have partnerships with services where they cover some or all of the cost for smaller churches… Then tell the story of online giving as a way to help people grow in discipleship!
We can work with your church to do two things: (1) create an affordable pricing structure and (2) make a plan to help increase engagement. Let me know if our company, FaithStreet, can help.
I’m in my 60’s, still use a flip phone, hope they will always be available. But I pay for a lot of bills by internet banking. Several years ago I put my church in as someone I pay weekly. I preset the amount as 40 x my hourly rate x 10%. The check goes to the church weekly whether I’m there or not, if more money comes in I can edit the amount I send in. Works great, especially since I’ve been gone a lot of weekends this summer. I know at least I can give on a regular basis.
Charles it sounds like you’ve got a great system to ensure consistent and faithful giving. I for one appreciate your example of faithfulness, especially when you can’t be there personally.
Thank you, Charles, for showing us how digital giving can be used for God’s glory in your life. It’s people like you who keep me reading these blogs and listening to the podcasts.
I like all the options for giving online . The only negative I see is not all of us can preach and not all of us can sing but giving is an act of worship and we can all participate in that part of the service.
Automatic drafts are encouraged at my church. Where i have issues is on debit/credit card payments. They are appreciated, but the church only receives 97-98% of the gift due to bank fees on card transactions. Should the giver receive full credit or get credit for what the church receives?
Len, if it were me I would give the giver credit for the full amount because that’s what they gave from the heart. I would not be comfortable for example,in asking the giver to give an additional 2 or 3% to cover any bank fees.
My 2 cents…
With FaithStreet, the church can choose to cover the donations or give the giver the *option* of paying the transaction cost.
Monetary giving is one part of discipleship — a vital part for both the individual and the church. Our church strives to make disciples and this includes regular, intentional giving. We encourage our members, if they prefer, to use their bank’s or credit union’s electronic bill pay which gives them the opportunity to be regular and intentional without charge to either them or the church. We receive 100% of their gift. Other online giving does not pass on 100% of the gift to the church and tends to encourage momentary, emotional giving responses.
Enjoyed this, Thom. Thanks for posting. FaithStreet Giving is taking a pretty interesting approach – we’re working to combine the ease and convenience of online giving with tools that actually help givers give more thoughtfully (like goal setting tools and accountability tools.) We know giving isn’t easy, and we think our approach both embraces new technology and respects the spiritual practice.