Can you believe it’s been a year and a half since we started this blog, and we have yet to write about how it all began? The question why was Parish Giving created is much more than a one word answer – it’s a story that should be shared with our followers and users. This is how it all started.

Technology is something that drives us; it’s everywhere. Just over a decade ago, it was evident that online bill paying, automatic deposit and automatic deductions were not going anywhere. Many do not know, or remember, how to use a deposit slip when going to the bank, let alone how to write a check out. John Patrick Publishing knew they had to keep up with the times and decided to start Parish Giving. And so the story begins.

It All Started With A Thought

Like many things, Parish Giving began as a thought. Why not have an online giving site for churches to allow parishioners to give their weekly offering? This way you do not have to worry about envelopes or checks. It seemed to have caught on for many parishes.

Parish Giving was able to provide increased revenue for many parishes along the way. We could set up weekly payment options for parishioners so that when they went on vacation during the year, they did not forget their weekly offering. A selling point to me is not having to waste a stamp mailing in my collection envelope if I forgot it prior to mass!

Where do we go from here?

For the first few years we focused on our online giving. We then decided to branch out and create online forms for church events. We’d receive calls from multiple churches asking if we could create a custom form for an event coming up – Breakfast with Santa, Holiday Bazaar, Bus Trips etc. The requests kept coming in, and we knew we had something here.

The question of where to go after this was never needed – we knew we were capable of more. We knew how to create forms, and we knew we could accept online contribution. Put the two together…

And you’ll have to find out next week where we went from there!