Download the Top 5 online giving features every church needs in a recession
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Economic downturns often take serious tolls on churches and their communities. Reports of recession, high inflation, and job uncertainty steal people’s hope, joy, and sense of security. Times of economic crisis cause an increase in stress, mental health issues, and substance abuse.
Churches also feel the effects of a recession. First, there’s an uptick of people turning to churches for counseling, spiritual guidance, and financial support. Next, in order to keep their ministry programs up and running, most churches resort to digging into their savings, freezing salaries, and postponing capital projects. In the 2008 Recession, for example, over half a million church staff either lost their jobs or had their incomes frozen!
Most churches adopted online giving during the recent COVID-19 shutdowns, but there are many often overlooked and unused giving features that can help encourage more generosity without any extra effort or costs.
Before making any drastic financial measures, take a few minutes to review the following five online giving features your church should use to increase giving in uncertain times.
Sometimes small changes make the biggest 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.
While most churches today offer basic online giving, they often fail to take full advantage of key features that increase giving. The best giving platforms, like Subsplash Giving, offer each of the following features with no setup fees, monthly fees, or add-on costs.
Recurring gifts allows your donors to schedule their donations on a regular basis. When it comes to the benefits of offering your donors a recurring giving option, the data says it all:
Enabling recurring giving not only provides your donors with a better experience, it increases donations and allows your church to more accurately forecast future donations.
In 2016, Subsplash introduced GrowCurve, a giving feature that automatically lowers processing rates as your giving increases. This means that your church keeps more of each donation, saving churches hundreds to thousands of dollars each year.
“We’ve always been passionate about seeing more donations go to churches so that they can reinvest more of their resources into what's truly important—sharing the gospel and making more disciples.” —Tim Turner, Founder & CEO
Most online giving platforms charge your church more when your donations go up. However, Subsplash believes in partnership with churches over profit and has given back millions of dollars in processing fees to thousands of churches.
Just as its name implies, the donor-covered fees feature allows people to cover any processing fees associated with their gifts. This is a popular option that ensures your organization receives 100% of each gift. For example, churches using Subsplash Giving found that 36% of their donors opt to cover processing fees when given that option.
During a recession, this feature is a simple way to help your church keep more of your donations to use them where they’re most needed.
Simply put, people are 6 times less likely to give to your church if they can’t immediately identify your church on your website or app. That’s why it’s critical for your giving pages to reflect your church’s brand by using your ministry’s logo, colors, font, graphics, and anything else that lets them know they’ve arrived at the right place to give.
If you haven’t already customized your online giving pages with your church’s branding, it’s time to take action!
Imagine that one of your church visitors decides to make a donation. Like most people these days, they don’t carry cash or checks, so they take out their smartphone to give online. If they have to create a giving account, that extra step may be enough to discourage them from giving at all.
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 gives your donors a better giving experience.
Your church needs an online giving partner that offers the best tools that make it as simple as possible for your people to show their generosity from anywhere at any time. Subsplash Giving offers the latest features for your donors, as well as a dedicated support team and powerful analytics dashboard, so your team has the best strategies and in-depth insights they need to successfully steward your church finances.
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