Please tell me your church has an online giving portal! If you need convincing about the effectiveness of online giving consider a couple of testimonials from two of my churches. In doing research for this post I asked one of my clients the amount of what they took in through electronic giving and it came to be over 30% of their operating budget! Another client church reports that they take in $5K a week. Soon virtually all commerce will be done electronically. If your church has not adapted or is not in the process of adapting to this change you could find yourself running out of money to fund your ministries. So go electronic or get left behind!
It is not enough to have a giving portal, it must be effective! For the past couple of weeks I have been reviewing the top 100 churches in America’s websites. I have been shocked at how many of them have poor websites in terms of layout and design. A couple of them did not have an online giving option at all! Many of the others were difficult to find or not easy to use. For a tool to be effective it must be used correctly. The following are some points of consideration as you think about the giving portal of your website.
It must be easy to find. I am not suggesting a flashing blue light in the middle of your page. However when you go to most church websites you have to hunt for the giving button. If I can’t find it I can’t use it. If I don’t see it I might not even think about giving. Make your giving site easy to find.
It must be easy to use. The easier something is to use the more people will use it. The language and the look should be designed so that people can quickly understand how to give and thus, give!
It must have multiple options. The best giving portals provide a variety of ways people can give. Use your giving portal to list the various ways in which people can give from one time gifts to recurring gifts. Americans love options. Make sure your giving portal gives donors all the major options of giving.
It should have multiple opportunities. The best giving portals use the sites to focus on a variety of areas that need funding. People have a multitude of pockets they give out of. They have a missions pocket, a tithe pocket, a crisis need pocket, etc. By listing various opportunities you increase your chances of gaining a contribution. One word of caution however is to not overly crowd the site with too many options. Consider changing the options from month to month.
It should have multiple entry points. You must drive people to your portal regularly. I work hard to drive people to my site. The best sites do just that. Your giving portal will require some work on your part. You will need to continually educate your members and attendees about how to find the portal. One key way is to provide multiple ways in which they can access the site. For instance I would recommend you always embed a link to the giving portal in every email you send out. I would also mention it in every direct mail approach. Additionally all Social Media that you use should have direct links to your giving portal. Finally, since the majority of people are moving to smart phones you need an App for your church that allows people from their phones to link to your giving portal.
It should remind them why giving is important. The best sites have testimonials of what giving accomplishes. Most use video to tell the story. Some use video to have members tell their story of giving. Make giving compelling and people will give.
How does your churches giving portal match up with the above? Take some time today and visit your own site. Use the above as a check list for how effective your site is. One final word. Keep your giving site up to date. I visited one of the top 100 fastest growing churches in America yesterday to find that they had a link to their Christmas Eve offering still running. With a little effort you can make your online giving effective. Making it effective means you will raise more money. Raising more money will aide you in funding more ministry!
Mark Brooks
Founder and President
The Charis Group
PS. Here are a some examples of a job well done!
Lakewood Church a great message from Joel and Victoria Osteen. http://www.lakewood.cc/pages/give/index.aspx
Saddleback Community a good example of multiple options. http://saddleback.com/giving/
Crossroads Church in Cincinnati lists good options for giving http://www.crossroads.net/my/give/index.php
Community Bible San Antonio, TX A good visible giving button on front page http://www.communitybible.com/
Elevation Church Charlotte, NC has an incredible video to motivate giving http://www.elevationchurch.org/giving
Fairfax Community Church Fairfax VA is a good use of online pledging to a capital campaign http://www.greaterthingsfairfax.com/
Find out how you can Turbo Charge Your Church's Giving!
[...] Source: The Charis Group Printer FriendlyEmail Tweet You Might Also Like How Lack of Diversification Could Be Killing Your Budget Five Ways To Make Giving Easier to Your Church What Does Your Giving Data Tell You? The Top Stewardship Mistakes Churches Make Filed Under: Stewardship, Tips & How To's Tagged With: giving, mobile, online communication, online giving, stewardship, website, website content About Mark BrooksA prolific writer Mark Brooks has written several print books with “Turbo Charge Your Giving: How To Raise Money in Any Economy,” as his most recent. He has also written several e-books such as “Elevator Pitch Your Offerings,” a one year plan for short stewardship messages. Mark can be found on Twitter as @StewardshipMan. His blog post “The Stewardship Coach,” contains helpful advice on a wide variety of stewardship issues. Mark is the founder and president of The Charis Group. [...]