We’ve been discussing how churches and organizations can implement and improve their electronic giving strategy. Here are 3 more suggestions for you to consider:
Teach On It
- Occasionally take time out of your service to teach on the different ways people can give.
- Give more in-depth training and explaining on electronic giving methods in assimilation classes like your new members class. Walk people through how to set up an online giving profile.
- Teach on stewardship and generosity to the whole church at least once a year. Focus on stewardship as an approach to all of life.
- Include an electronic giving section or addition to any of your financial based curriculum. Show an example budget that includes automated giving.
Market It
- Be sure to promote the electronic giving option effectively on your communication materials.
- Don’t just have an online giving button - add online giving to your website’s main navigation. A button or special promotion on specific pages is great, but it can get lost. Use creative communication tools to promote the electronic giving option – videos, social networks, blogs, emails, etc.
- Share testimonies that tie electronic giving to the impact that the vision of the church or organization is having.
- When you have a series on stewardship and generosity, include a digital giving challenge. If you normally use a commitment card, then gather email addresses from the card and on Monday send people a note of encouragement and a clickable link where they can sign up.
Support It
- When you make a big push for electronic giving, offer to have support staff available to walk people through setting up their account.
- Do some user testing by watching people interact with all the points of your electronic process. Is it hard for them to find it on your website? Do people have trouble increasing the amount they give when they get a raise? Is it hard for people to know who to contact if they run into a problem? Do people know your site is secure? Is your electronic giving card glossy and causing ink to smear? By observing people actually use your process you can learn a lot.
Give biblical based reasons why people should give. Make sure you include a variety of reasons, not just the same couple of reasons over and over again. Include those reasons, the organization’s vision, and testimonies in the online giving section of the website.
