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October 7, 2009
What should churches know about online giving?
Online giving continues to grow reminds churches that the conversation about online giving needs to begin NOW. I'm encouraged by the number of churches of all shapes and sizes that are coming to grips that technology and the acceptance of technology is changing the way we exchange funds in banking, commerce, and charitable giving.
Here are a few notable items from the article:
1. Online giving increased by 39 percent from 2007 to 2008. While it's still a small amount of donors and overall amount given when compared to total charitable giving in 2008, this channel is growing so fast that it can't be ignored or discarded by church leaders when considering mediums through which people can financially contribute to their organization.
2. Online gifts are typically higher than offline gifts. There are many reasons for this, especially when you consider the frequency of gift is typically less online when compared to traditional "offline" gifts. Many online gifts come as a result of or in response to a national tragedy. Often times, people are more generous when faced with devastating circumstances, even when they, themselves, are not affected.
3. Online givers are younger. (No surprise there.) What is interesting is that online givers typically represent a new giver. What that tells us that our ability to expand our giving capacity is linked to the variety of platforms that make it easy for everyone to give via their platform preference. Remember, it's not about YOU; it's about THEM.
4. Here is the bad news: online givers are typically harder to retain. Some research indicates that online givers utilize traditional "offline" methods and mediums to give the subsequent gifts. I think this has to do more with direct mail follow up than anything else. As the number of online gift transactions increase, we'll see a more stable giving base transition to electronic based transactions. (Personally, I'd like to see online gifts via credit cards compared to online gifts via bank transactions. My guess is that donors who make donations via bank draft are more consistent than credit card donors. I could be wrong, but the research would be interesting, no doubt.)
Online giving is not a "magic bullet." BUT it is an important medium by which a growing population of people who sit in the pews of our churches are choosing. It's a conversation worth having. (Of course, you can voluntarily have the conversation now or wait and be forced to later. Your choice.)
Read more about online giving.
Posted by bstroup at October 7, 2009 3:58 PM
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