Online giving can be a huge boon to churches looking to fund missions and other services within the community. And while the senior pastor obviously needs to be supportive of such a move, success requires buy-in from the entire leadership team. Get some tips below for helping your pastor succeed with online giving efforts.

Money matters in a church should be a cooperative effort. Learn how to build an effective financial team for your church.

1. Be United as a Leadership Team on Online Giving

Words are one of the most important tools for leadership teams. And in any environment, leadership teams that are united with their messaging are typically more powerful than those who are divided.

This is especially true in churches, where congregations are looking to leadership as mentors and guides in spiritual matters. If your team isn’t united about the positive impact, practicality and spiritual acceptability of online giving, your membership may begin to wonder if it’s a good idea.

Before you launch online donations or specific campaigns, ensure you’re aligned on messaging.

2. Incorporate Online Giving Across Various Church Functions

Don’t leave all the work up to the pastor in the pulpit. Integrate online giving across all the functions in your church.

For example, you might include a QR code in the church bulletin that makes it easy for people to download giving apps or access your donation pages online. Include information about giving on the big screen during announcements, include kiosks or signs at fellowship events and create financial processes that integrate those channels into church budgets.

3. Engage in Comprehensive Campaign Marketing

Reaching out via multiple channels is a proven marketing strategy. Omnichannel marketing strategies lead to 23 times more customer satisfaction. Work with church marketing or communication teams to add online giving messaging to social media, the church website and other channels.

You can talk about online giving in general or create comprehensive marketing about specific campaigns. For example, if the youth are raising money for a mission trip, create images and content they can copy and paste to their own social media or in emails to family and friends all over the country who might be willing to donate.

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4. Pray About Online Giving and Stewardship

Individually and as a leadership team, pray about online giving and stewardship associated with these programs. Here are some ideas for the type of things you might want to pray:

• For spiritual wisdom for your pastor and the entire leadership team as they lead the congregation in giving or work to develop donors
• For the donors with willing hearts and the resources to help fund your efforts
• For a unified approach to online giving from your leadership team and congregation
• For wisdom in stewarding the resources that come from your online giving campaigns
• For God’s hand on all these efforts and supernatural multiplication of the mundane funds that you raise
• For obedience to God’s plans in using the funds that you raise

5. Be Active in Showing Appreciation

Saying thank you can be a small but powerful action in your donor development strategy. But pastors shouldn’t be the only people showing appreciation. First, because their time and resources are limited by the bounds of humanity. Second, because they aren’t the only ones asking for and using these funds.

Find ways as a leadership team for ensuring your donors are appreciated and thanked. Even if donations are anonymous, you can post messages of thanks or ensure gratitude is a common attitude from your team.

6. Look to Scripture for Support

Finally, work together as a church leadership team to align all your efforts with Biblical teachings. When questions arise about online giving or you’re working on a new donation campaign or mission, go to Scripture to validate these efforts before you launch them. If you can’t find some Bible verses to support your efforts or share with your donors, ask yourself if these efforts are in line with what God wants for your church.

Why DonorWerx

DonorWerx offers solutions to help churches grow. Develop strong leadership teams with our online coaching solutions, and grow your donor base and online giving totals with intelligent donation software.

Get started today. by learning more and reaching out for information on how we can help your church specifically.