Churches have been allowed to reopen in some countries namely Nigeria and Ghana in the latter, not all parts of the nation have allowed churches to reopen.
This is due to the Covid-19 pandemic still wrecking havoc on human lives and disrupting all aspect of the economy. During the compulsory lockdown that began somewhat globally in March; church faithful had been used to the traditional way of conducting Sunday and midweek services.
Though online services had been ongoing it became more popular during the lockdown period and has become a new normal for church goers, including the faithful ones.
This sort of took the churches by surprise especially in Sub-Saharan African nations that had many churches not having an online presence before the Covid-19 pandemic. For the past few months, their connection, not only with your church, but with their friends, communities, and the companies they do business with has relied on an almost completely digital connection; People who previously wouldn’t touch things, like Zoom or FaceTime, suddenly rely on them for personal connection.
Similarly, people who would have never previously given digitally are now willing to trust it. With our current state, we face a unique opportunity to grow digital and automated giving in our churches.
Perhaps your church is in the process of re-opening its doors or you’re still facing months of online-only services, now is the time to make sure you have the right giving tools in place for this new, changing church landscape. The forced reliance on digital communication during the pandemic has laid the groundwork for stronger and more consistent giving in The Church. But, only if we make use of the opportunities of this season, we will see our churches more fully funded to better impact lives.
It starts with making giving easier for everybody. Yes, everyone is using digital tools in their day-to-day lives. But everyone is using different tools. Some want to give from their phone, some from their ipad, some from their computer, and others just want to show up on Sundays to give in person. With so many preferences, how do churches accommodate everybody?
For most effective church giving providers out there build their software around this concept. SecureGive, for example, provides 5 ways to give, making giving easy and comfortable for everyone. Literally, everyone. By enabling giving online from any device, from a mobile app, through a text message, by swiping a card on a kiosk, or with a written check, you ensure everyone can give in the way that is easy, comfortable, and convenient to them. There’s no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to giving methods. We all have natural tendencies for how we like to do things. When it comes to church giving, why go against the grain and create unnecessary tension? Why make it harder or less comfortable for someone to be faithful in their giving? By implementing a variety of ways to give, you’re able to meet each and every person where they are and make giving easy for the individuals.
While we’ve seen this to be true for years, at SecureGive we wanted to see how this principle has been reflected over the past couple months. Particularly, we were interested to see how the pandemic affected the churches that leverage our digital giving platform. So we did a little research.
We found that during the six weeks at the height of the pandemic, total digital giving (online giving, mobile app giving, text to give, and kiosks) increased by 27%. When we looked only at online giving we found a 19% total increase. So what exactly do these numbers mean? Three things:
- Donors are willing to embrace digital giving and they’re doing so eagerly. We can see this clearly in the 27% increase.
- It demonstrates the effectiveness of having a comprehensive digital platform. While, when only looking at online giving, there was a strong 19% increase, there was an even stronger increase of 27% when looking at all digital giving. Yes, a 19% growth in digital giving is great for your church, but I think we can all agree that 27% is even better.
- This increase deepens the roots for strong financial stability in the coming ministry year.
Plain and simple, churches that are only using online giving or relying heavily on their church app for giving are likely leaving money on the table. While it’s not about getting more money out of church members pockets, it is about providing the best and most effective opportunities for the people in our churches to be obedient to God’s calling on all of us to be generous. And from the church finance standpoint, it’s not bringing in more money for the sake of money, it’s more money for the sake of ministry.
Even during the unrest and drastic change brought on by Covid-19, digital giving grew. Especially when a robust, comprehensive system was in place. As many churches have learned, digital giving is more consistent giving. It’s not affected by vacation schedules or building closures. The added stability means your church can budget more accurately, reach your community more effectively, and continue the work of reaching the world and making disciples.
