Digital Giving
2017 was the first year when contactless payments outranked cash payments. Since then the difference between contactless and online payments versus cash payments has been growing larger, with a significant growth in online and contactless payments caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In our own diocese online giving tripled from 2019 to 2020. It is clear that giving via contactless methods and online giving are here to stay.
Setting up for contactless or online giving (or both) does not have to be as difficult as you might imagine: most of the perceived barriers are not that difficult to overcome.
Common responses to online giving or contactless giving are:
- we don’t have WIFI at our church (you don’t need it!)
- we don’t have a mobile phone signal (97% of the UK has mobile phone coverage – to set up to receive contactless payments it doesn’t matter which supplier has coverage where your church is – and the chances are very high indeed that one of them will!)
- We don’t have a large enough congregation to warrant it. (Often it is the extra services that results in one-off giving from occasional visitors to the church building that make a big difference – the kind of services that people don’t always bring cash to. One or two significant weddings, christenings or funerals can cover the initial one-off cost of a contactless machine. A lot of the contactless solutions are portable and can be used at village fetes, quiz nights, coffee mornings, etc. Furthermore, you may not even need a contactless solution. If you have online giving and a QR code, then you have a cost-free solution).
- We can’t afford the upfront costs. (although contactless solutions can cost circa £400 [there are some that are cheaper too] as a one-off payment, it is possible to set up online giving with no upfront fees at all. The cost is usually about 2% of each donation received…donations that might not happen if you didn’t have online giving. If there are no donations, there is no cost!)
Click here to access our guide to setting up online donations.
Also visit Parish Buying to view their range of contactless solutions at a special price for parish churches.
If you have further questions contact Harry.
