9 Tips for Church Online Giving
If you’re looking to increase online giving in your church, you’ve come to the right place. This post contains a list of nine tips that will help you make your church more giving and grow your online donations. We hope it will be a help to you and your outreach management teams.
1. Create an Online Donation Page
The mistake many non-profits make starts with their website. What does your homepage say about how people can support your church? And, does it give them solid options to do so?
You can make a simple, straightforward online donation page that takes them to the donation portal in a single click. Increase the number of donations you receive by making this step as easy as possible. Check out these great suggestions for creating the perfect donation page.
2. Automate Recurring Donations
A key to churches that last for the long haul is having long-term support. If you can get donors to support you on a regular basis, you will have an easier time budgeting.
Meet your financial goals by giving the donors the opportunity to support you with recurring donations—not just one-time gifts. Schedule these recurring donations seasonally—for example, around Christmas or Easter time.
3. Simplify Giving with Text-to-Donate
The text-to-donate option makes it simple for people to give from the comfort of their cell phones. It is ideal for donors who may not be so accustomed to digital giving yet but still use their phones for SMS messages and communication on Apps such as WhatsApp.
For more on this easy option for non-profits online giving, check out our comprehensive blog on text-to-donate solutions.
4. Be Original with a Church App
Yes, you can make your own original church app! Plan a giving strategy that includes making donor-specific content for your congregation, and then make these available through a members-only app. This could be a free offer, or members could pay a minimal charge for access to your valuable content.
Whatever strategy you use, the key here is in creating content that will be invaluable to your donors, and make them keep coming back for more spiritual and mental support.
5. Update Donors Regularly
Whether you choose to email, send postal mail, or go with other forms of communication, staying in touch with donors is essential.
An easy way to send updates is to run a church blog, write your updates on these blog pages, and then try to get subscribers to your blog. Once your members subscribe, the updates will be sent automatically.
6. Have a Good Donor Management Platform
The ideal donor management platform carves out more time for leaders and pastors. It streamlines the process of administration, is both transparent, and secure from online security breaches.
A trusted platform such as DonorWerx will give you the digital solutions for your specific needs.
7. Make Email Follow-Up A Priority
Once you make a solid connection with potential donors, how do you take them forward? Many churches miss out on the all-important follow-up stage. Having a way to send out template emails will make it easier for your online giving strategy.
Follow our DonorWerx resources to find out how to do this best.
8. Learn How to Increase Traffic Website
There are many ways to increase traffic to your website. The thing is this takes time. If your leaders are busy with other ministry tasks, you can simplify this step by hiring others to handle your social media traffic.
Just make sure that your digital teams understand the church missions and know what kind of content drives the best traffic to your site.
9. Always End With a Call-To-Action
The call to action is what gets people to make a decision. You may have seen this on other successful websites:
“Give now.” (Then, link your donation page to this line, so they can follow it till the end result giving.)
“Click this link to support X project.”
“For more information, contact our church at this hotline____.”
Including these types of endings in your online content ensures that you don’t leave your readers hanging. If your content appeals to them and inspires them to move towards the direction of supporting your church, they need to know what to do next.
How DonorWerx Can Help
At DonorWerx, we have created resource material for hundreds of churches around the world and helped them reach their outreach goals.
We understand how daunting it can be to start an online giving strategy. That’s why we partner with you to guide your teams step by step, and equip you with the resource material and updated tools.
Contact us today to schedule your free consultation. We look forward to helping you Get started meeting your giving goals and online success.
