Traditionally churches receive donation via offering plates and or offering boxes, but in the last 15 years the option to give digitally has slowly increased in popularity. In fact, online giving is no longer a trend, it’s the new normal for churches. It’s not uncommon for 50% or more of church revenues to come in through electronic giving. It’s also common for churches to see a financial increase of 10 to 20% when they intentionally ask their parishioners to shift from traditional giving to digital giving. So why then are some churches still reluctant to embrace online giving? Because they’ve been fooled by the following three common myths about giving digitally.
MYTH 1: Online giving is not safe.
Churchteams is a church management system (CMS or ChMS) that encrypts all digital transactions. In fact all credit card transactions are encrypted because all of them are transmitted via the Internet. Whenever a consumer uses a card in person at the store, that transaction is digitally transmitted to the credit card company online. Therefore, credit card companies have a deeply vested interest in high security. Credit card fraud and identity theft are definitely a threat, but to assume that the risks are dramatically increased merely because a church begins accepting digital donations is simply silly. Furthermore, when contributors give digitally using Churchteams, they are required to login using redundant identity confirmation with their own unique passwords. Industry wide, the software are processes for online transactions are very secure.
MYTH 2: Online giving increases donors’ debt loads.
Churchteams ChMS contracts with a company called Ardent giving solutions for credit card and bank processing. Ardent has many years of experience in the payment processing industry, AND they were the first company of their kind to offer a debit-only-option. In this way churches have the ability to practically reinforce principles of debt management. One great advantage of debit card gifts over credit card gifts is related to the fact that debit cards have no associated reward points. How is that advantageous? With no reward points a larger percentage of each donation goes directly to the church.
MYTH 3: Online giving costs more than traditional giving.
The primary reason Churchteams works with Ardent is that their approach to pricing brings the best possible value to churches. Ardent gives churches wholesale pricing just like large retailers, and they make sure every donation gets the best available rate. The result is more money going directly to the church rather than to processing fees. Churches routinely find that Ardent’s online giving system saves 20% on fees when compared to other service providers. Churchteams and Ardent never charge setup fees, require no long term contracts, and charge nothing to end the service. 100% of Churchteams’ pricing is disclosed on our website so no one is surprised by hidden fees or expenses.
It’s no wonder online giving is the new normal for churches to receive donations. It’s also no wonder so many churches are choosing Churchteams and Ardent: they make online giving easy, affordable and enjoyable.
