How does your online giving compare and other survey insights?

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 11/28/23 11:30 AM

I recently emailed a stewardship survey to our clients to get a pulse on online giving and stewardship in their churches.  The first part of the survey was to collect some basic numbers.   

In addition, we ran some numbers based on data across all our online giving organizations.   You might find it interesting to see how your church compares to these findings.  You'll see how to do that below.

The second part of the survey asked about the use of features and for stewardship stories.  One feature lags behind the others.  One idea and one story provide insights into helping people better use the online tools you provide.

Read More

Tags: Giving

Survey Results: The most used online giving features and their benefits

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 11/29/22 2:30 PM

This is the third in a series on year-end and online giving.  In this post we are going to rank the most used online giving features and consider their benefits to donors.    

All of these insights come from the survey we did a few weeks ago.  So, they originate from church leaders using online giving every week.  If you would like to learn more, join us tomorrow afternoon at 2 Eastern / 1 Central for our year-end onling giving zoom briefing.

Read More

Tags: Giving

Online giving survey results:  3 levels of commitment, and 3 organizational benefits

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 11/22/22 2:00 PM

This is the 2nd of 3 blog posts related to end of the year campaigns and online giving.  Last week we looked at ideas for end of year online giving campaigns.  In this post, we're going to look at online giving from the perspective of organizational promotion and benefits.  

I really appreciate those of you who took the time to give us your thoughts.  I think your  responses are representative of a broad spectrum of churches and that they are very insightful. 

Consider this summary chart of how our survey respondents promote online giving.

Read More

Tags: Giving

Survey Results:  4 ideas for year-end giving campaigns

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 11/15/22 3:15 PM

Thanks to everyone who took last week's survey.  In these next three posts we're going to look at a few statistics from these churches and their insights related to:  1) end of year campaigns, 2) organizational practices, and 3) individual benefits.  I picked up several good ideas and think you will to.

Let's start with these statistics from the survey that show the changes we all know happened in online giving since Covid.  73% of our respondents now receive more than 60% of their giving online compared to 27% in 2019.  That's a 270% increase!  

Read More

Tags: Giving

$10 Starbucks gift card for your best ideas on year-end online giving

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 11/8/22 2:30 PM

For decades nonprofits and churches have used the holiday season as a special time to raise funds for ministry.  In fact a large percentage of income for many ministries will come in the next couple of months.  The significance of this season has only increased in the last decade with the poplularity and promotion of Giving Tuesday.

Our team could put together a list of ideas to help your church get the most out of online giving this season.  However, a lot has changed in recent years and we would like to hear your stats, stories, best practices, and/or creative ideas.   

Read More

Tags: Giving

New!  Four pledge campaign upgrades you'll love including self-registration.

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 11/30/21 10:00 AM

You've cast the vision for a new year, a new building, or a new missions opportunity.  You've asked people to pray to determine the part God would have them play in investing in this vision over the next months or years.  Now, it's time to let them respond.

The cardstock pledge cards have been handed out.  With them you gave out some really cool, branded pens as swag. The cards are collected and expectantly prayed over.  

Read More

Tags: Giving, New Release

The 3 best reports your team gets from our online giving platform.

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 10/19/21 1:30 PM

As a church leader, you know the impact that online giving has had on the financial stability of your church through the Covid Pandemic.  It has been a life-saver.

You've also seen the improvements we and most online giving providers have made in the past few years in terms of user experience and things like giving donors the option to cover fees.  These have made it easier for them to give and help with costs.

Read More

Tags: Giving

Why and how to make lapsed donors reports for pastoral care.

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 10/12/21 2:30 PM

A lapsed donor is someone who used to give consistently to your church but has stopped.  Since giving data is generally the most accurate data in your database, it's relatively easy to measure.

But before I dig into the details of "how", we probably need to answer the question, "why track lapsed donors?".  At it's heart, this is a pastoral care issue.

Read More

Tags: Giving, Reports

Reasons people stop giving and how to effectively care for them.

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 4/6/21 2:45 PM

Matthew 6:21 says, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  So, one sign of how much an individual or family treasures your church is their giving.  

Read More

Tags: Giving, Automation, Reports

New! Option for online givers to cover fees.

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 3/9/21 9:00 AM

Yes!  Another great reason to consider Churchteams online giving.  Yesterday we released a new option to allow your givers the choice to cover the transaction fees for their online contribution. To be honest when I first heard of the idea of "No fees online giving," I was skeptical.

First of all, there is no such thing as "no fees" online transactions.  Banks and credit card issuing companies all charge for their services.  So, while "no fees" is technically true from the church administrative perspective, it feels misleading in that the fees are just passed on to the giver.  It seemed to me that "no fees" was marketing hype to get people's attention.

Read More

Tags: Giving

How to create and automate giving reports.

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 2/22/21 5:22 PM

Because it was the week before Christmas and because of the craziness of Covid, you might have missed the biggest release of 2020.  I introduced it as our Digital Assistant - Scheduled Reports.  That was just over two months ago.  There wasn't a lot of fanfare, we just offered it quietly as a gift. 

Read More

Tags: Giving, Reports

Online giving sticker shock!

Posted by Boyd Pelley on 1/27/21 2:00 PM

As you closed out your books for the year, did you notice your online giving line item?  Did it give you sticker shock?  

Maybe your administrative oversight team even commented on it as they reviewed last year's financials.

We recently ran a report across a broad cross section of our churches with contributions in 2020. In it we discovered that Churchteams clients brought in 102%of the income in 2020 that they had in 2019.  

Read More

Tags: Giving

Subscribe to Email Updates