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August 23, 2007
Electronic Giving Part 1: The Forbidden Conversation
The Christian Science Monitor highlights a growing interest among churches to experiment with forms of electronic giving. E-giving has been a topic of much controversy in recent years. For some it's a forbidden conversation. Churches are, however, attempting to respond to a cultural shift in how people are exchanging funds. One that consistently supports that the use of paper money and checks is diminishing.
We live in a plastic world where it's easier and more convenient to carry a debit or credit card than to carry a checkbook or cash. This, of course, impacts how people are giving to the church. And churches are becoming more aware that when people are able to give electronically they sometimes tend to give more consistently.
The most popular types of e-giving are credit/debit cards, re-occuring electronic funds transfer from an established checking or savings account, and private booths set up in the church foyer for members to give before or after the worship service.
But this isn't a solution that comes without its own baggage. Some of the difficulties churches are facing are practical and theological.
Perhaps the theological ones are the most obvious. Do you believe that paper offeirng envelopes support the role of giving as part of the worship experience? Do you believe that people should give to the church using credit cards? Some churches know exactly where they stand on the issues surrounding e-giving. And it's not something their open to. But that doesn't keep many churches from entertaining or even experimenting with the concept.
Some of the practical obstacles are integration of financial giving records with the churches existing membership management software. Often times these files are not easily interfaced with existing databases. So giving records may post incorrectly. And that can spell disaster.
Another practical obstacle for those wishing to allow giving via credit cards are the transaction fees that credit card companies charge. These fees typically fall between 1%-3%. That means your giving has to increase by the same amount of the percentage charged by the credit card company just to break-even. If you can't feel good you'll see the immediate increase, then you could risk a negative return or losing contribution dollars trying to "look cool" or relevant.
So, is e-giving the future or just a fad? We'll discuss that in the next post.
Posted by bstroup at August 23, 2007 1:16 AM
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