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As a church leader, you’re fully aware of the economic difficulties facing your community right now. This recent season of economic instability has brought record-high inflation and analysts anticipate an upcoming recession.
While people watch the purchasing power of their dollars decrease, they start looking for ways to reduce spending. This, in turn, can have a negative effect on your church budget. For example, during the Great Recession, the average church budget shrunk by 7% from 2008 to 2009 regardless of size, denomination, or location.
So what can your church start doing today to encourage generosity even in the face of economic uncertainties?
During a recession, it’s crucial to allow your donors to give at any time from anywhere. This means making the giving process as simple as possible. Even small changes can make a big difference! For example, churches see an average 32% increase in their donations simply by adding an online giving option to their website and mobile app.
Even if your church is already offering online giving, there could be features that you’re not utilizing—or possibly not even offered through your current giving provider. The key to success is choosing the best online giving provider. Subsplash Giving offers each of the following features with no setup fees, monthly fees, or add-on costs.
Another consideration during a recession are any regular, but inevitable costs. GrowCurve automatically lowers rates as donations increase. This helps ensure that churches are able to get the best rates without having to haggle or negotiate their rate ever again. Since GrowCurve was introduced in 2016, Subsplash has given back more than $2.5 million to churches.
Just as its name suggests, the text-to-give feature allows people to send a text message, enter the desired amount, and submit their donation. Simple, fast, and convenient.
Donor-covered fees is a feature that allows people to pay any processing fees associated with their donations, ensuring your organization receives 100% of each gift for where it's needed most. On average, churches using Subsplash Giving found that 36% of their donors opt to cover processing fees when given that option!
Recurring giving allows your donors to schedule their donations on a regular basis. Donors who choose the recurring option give 42% more and are also 80% more likely to continue giving. Not only does this feature increase donations, it allows your church to more accurately forecast future donations.
Jonathan Pittard, CEO and co-founder of Finch, explains that churches see positive results after they encourage their congregations to update their recurring giving amounts. "Post-pandemic, churches that call their congregation to reiterate their giving priorities are seeing positive results. There’s a lot of money in the economy and many previous recurring gift amounts were never recalibrated. This is a conversation we recommend having now before things continue to slow down and that conversation gets harder to have.”
Many giving platforms require additional steps for guests, which may be enough to altogether discourage them from giving. The best giving platforms offer a “guest giving” option that allows people to give without having to create an account. This simplifies the process and helps ensure that your guests will complete the giving process.
On top of all of these features, Subsplash Giving also offers live stream prompts to make it simple and seamless for your people to donate during a live stream. And if you want to accept non-charitable funds for events, merchandise, or other purchases, there’s also a built-in payment feature.
During a season when finances are tight, it might be time to switch to the best giving provider that increases donations to your church with in-app, website, and text giving—and allows you to keep more of your church’s gifts with the industry’s lowest processing rates and no monthly or hidden fees.
If your church is ready to encourage more generosity through the best giving solution, simply fill out the form below!
*This blog is an expert from The Church Guide to Surviving a Recession—a free ebook co-produced by Subsplash and the financial experts at Finch, PC. It contains practical steps, financial analysis worksheets, and other steps you can take to help your church stay financially healthy and make an even bigger impact in this season. Download your free copy today!
