Church Websites Increase Giving

Your church's website can produce many things for your church. We've already seen that it can help to bring in new people and attract young people. Another thing it does is potentially increases giving.

The primary giving option for most churches requires someone to attend a church service in person and drop an envelope or a check in the offering plate. While this way of giving is still effective, churches should at least look to prioritize other forms of giving.

Here's why:

It's okay for churches to mainly have people give via checks and cash. But what if someone doesn't have any on hand? Research shows some interesting facts:

• 74% of Americans write no more than one check per month. 
• About 80% carry $50 in cash or less. 
• Less than 15% of churchgoers say they want giving envelopes available for cash and checks. 

The truth is, a lot of people don't normally carry cash or checks. I remember hearing a friend of mine say, "The only time I use checks is when I come to church." And for some people, it can even be difficult for them to give to your church. This inconvenience inevitably makes giving less frequent and less sizable than what it could be.

Also, what happens when people can't (or don't) attend a church service? Then they probably won't be giving either.

This is one point that's really been magnified during COVID-19. With stay-at-home orders and public health recommendations, many churches haven't been able to meet for several weeks. The primary method of giving, therefore, is a complete non-factor. No one physically meeting has meant no one physically giving.

Of course, things aren't always going to be this way. But even when life is "normal," people don't always attend the Sunday morning service - they may be traveling, sick or inactive members.  

The solution to this?

Online giving.

Your church can create an online giving option to make giving more frequent and potentially more sizable. Now, I know there may be good reasons why you don't think online giving should replace in-person giving - but I'm not going to get into all that. At least online giving is an important secondary giving option which becomes the primary option for those who don't attend services or don't carry checks.

Along these lines, here are some stats you should know:

• 73% of church giving occurs on days other than Sunday. 
• Over 30% of midweek giving comes between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. 

What does this mean? Well, it means that a lot of giving doesn't involve an offering plate on Sunday morning. People like to give wherever and whenever they feel led or are able to give.

To wrap things up, an online giving option can increase church income by making giving always available and more convenient. Once such an option is created, a church website is the best place to house it. Then, anyone at any time and in any location can give.

Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment below and subscribe!

This post is part of the series "10 Reasons Why Your Church Should Invest in a Website." To read the first post in this series, go here. To read other posts, go here.

Sources:

• Bradley, J. (2018, July 18). Church giving statistics, 2019 edition. Retrieved from https://pushpay.com/blog/church-giving-statistics/