7 Helpful Facts About Church Giving Kiosks
Giving kiosks have played a crucial role in pioneering digital giving for churches. In fact, one of the first was installed back in 2003 for the costly sum of $50,000. Fortunately, church giving kiosks nowadays can be installed with far less investment. But are they a worthwhile addition to your church? Here are seven helpful facts to inform your decision.
1. Church Giving Kiosks Can Increase Donations
If you continue to depend on an offering plate for donation collection, you’re missing out on a significant segment of your congregants. After all, fewer people are carrying cash. Instead, most people rely on credit and debit cards to make purchases, with checks becoming obsolete, too. In fact, only 16% of people say they carry cash.
Kiosks help bridge the gap for in-person attendees who want to give, but forget to withdraw cash for the offering plate. With a kiosk, giving is natural for modern donors. It allows them to give immediately by doing exactly what they’re used to: reaching into their wallet and pulling out a card.
2. Visitors Can Use Kiosks at Their Leisure
Traditionally, congregants pass the offering plate around at a certain point during the sermon. Kiosks are much more accessible as they allow a visitor to donate at any point before or after the sermon. Congregants can also donate if they’re in the church for a special event or gathering where an offering plate won’t be passed around.
Thanks to their accessibility, kiosks give donors more flexibility and control on how, when, and how often they tithe. Giving donors options means opening the door to new donations.
3. Church Giving Kiosks Can Increase Consistent Giving
When a person approaches a kiosk and begins the donation process, organizations can enable the kiosk to deliver a simple prompt: “Would you like to make this a recurring donation?” With the option to instantly turn their donation into a weekly, monthly, or annual gift at just the tap of a finger, kiosks can help increase the number of recurring donations your church receives.
As a result, your church will have more consistent and predictable gifts coming in. This makes planning for the future much simpler for your church and helps you maximize your impact by allowing you to build up emergency savings funds and other reserves more quickly.
4. They Bridge the Gap to Digital
Kiosks are an excellent hybrid solution that bridges the gap between in-person interactions and digital connection, allowing organizations to keep in touch and inform congregants about upcoming events. One of the best ways they do this is by requesting donor information. With a simple prompt, donors can input their email address or phone number to opt in to your email newsletter or texting list.
Kiosk data collections also enable churches to send a personalized “thank you” email, allowing you to nurture that donor and encourage them to make recurring gifts. Mindfully collecting phone numbers or emails in this way gives organizations the chance to reach out to donors and grow a stronger, loyal relationship.
5. Church Giving Kiosks Increase Security
The benefits of digital contributions go far beyond the ability to collect a recurring donation. When you implement a giving kiosk, you increase security for every donation that comes through it. Digital gifting is far more secure than cash donations, giving visitors increased confidence to make a contribution.
When you consider that about 95% of church fraud cases go unreported, digital giving will give you greater peace of mind since you’ll be able to track donations every step of the way. That’s in sharp contrast to cash and checks, which can, unfortunately, disappear before church leaders ever knew they existed.
Additionally, your kiosk will provide you with insightful metrics about who’s donating, when they’re donating, and how often they’re using the kiosk to donate. In turn, you’ll be able to better meet the needs of your congregation.
6. Kiosks Offer a Portable Physical Experience
Any church that researches how to increase donations will quickly learn about the importance of the donor experience and all the ways your organization can transform it. For some members of your congregation, a giving kiosk will provide the perfect experience by combining the convenience of their debit card with the physical reminder to interact that greets them at exactly the right time.
Of course, while portable, most giving kiosks aren’t easily maneuverable. You’ll want to think about ideal locations for engagement. It may be helpful to study the response and try different locations to see where engagement improves. It’s all about finding just the right spot. When you do, church giving kiosks act as the ideal physical reminder for making a donation.
7. Kiosks Can Do More Than Collection
Most ministries consider a church giving kiosk because of the need to increase donations. It’s important to remember, though, that a kiosk can do a lot more than collect money for the organization.
A modern church giving kiosk will serve as a bridge to your ministry’s digital presence. It will simplify tasks like joining your email list, registering as a volunteer, and even signing up for events. Interested in learning more about how a giving kiosk can work for your church? Reach out to Donorwerx today.
