Online giving is a relatively new term in today’s society. We often use online banking, or bill pay online, but we do not often hear the term online giving. Well that is all about to change. Many parishes are turning to online giving as an alternative to writing a check each week for mass. Here are some reasons as to why your parish should use online giving:
- Ease and convenience for parishioner. Each Sunday morning my mother, and many other Catholics, log into their Parish Giving account and give their weekly offering online. She no longer has to take the time to write and check, find her envelope and remember to bring it to mass with her. It is all done prior to attending mass. If preferred, online giving can be scheduled ongoing for not only weekly contributions, but holiday and second collections too!
- Ease and convenience for church. Now instead of having to sit around the rectory every Monday morning counting coins, a weekly remittance report and deposit is sent to the parish. It tells them how much in offerings (and other donations) they received and is deposited weekly in their bank account.
- Check writing is slowly disappearing. The last time you went to the store did you see anyone pay with check? Chances are probably not. We all conduct our banking online, our bill paying online and our Excel spreadsheet for our checking account is also on the computer. It just makes sense that we are giving our weekly offering online too.
- More stability when it comes to the weekly collection. Many online giving sites allow you to set up an automatic debit which allows parishioners to give every Sunday. Since we are all human, we sometimes are not able to make it to our home parish every Sunday (vacation, visiting family and friends out of town/state, etc.) and with automatic debit your offering is made whether you are in the pew or not. This means more revenue for the parish.
- Security. In this day and age we are all worried about identity theft. All online giving sites are safe and secure since we have the option of using checking accounts and/or credit and debit cards. This is a site that our friends and family use – we want it to be as safe as any other online giving site.
- Attracting a younger generation. Millenials and iGens are all about using electronics. It is no surprise that online giving would attract them more than writing a check each week. They know and trust automatic debits (because of gym memberships, car payments, rent…) so this is ease and convenience for them.
As you can see there are numerous reasons as to why your parish should partake in an online giving program. Many of our parishes report an increase of weekly offerings and they use it for much more than just a weekly offering. The sky is the limit when it comes to a church donation site. Check out ours for more information on what Parish Giving can do for your parish!