Do you have a smartphone?
Right, dumb question. Of course you have one. You’re probably reading this post on your smartphone right now. Or it’s sitting on your desk two feet from your keyboard.
Smartphones are incredible devices. I mean, only 10 years ago we were using dial-up on desktop computers, ones that had less processing power than modern day mobile devices. It’s crazy.
Technology advances so quickly. But for some reason, the church still lags behind. For example, worshippers still drop checks or cash into a plate when giving their tithe. So the offering process in churches has remained basically unchanged for over 200 years!
Should the church modernize by supporting new methods of giving via mobile devices? I think so. Here are a few staggering stats to illustrate why I think we should come into the modern age of online and mobile giving in the church:
- Ericsson estimates that by 2020, 90% of the world’s population over six years old will have a mobile phone with broadband Internet access.
- According to Pew Research Center, like me, 44% of American adults slept with their phone next to them last night.
- The Federal Reserve shows the number of checks paid continues to decline, falling to 18.3 billion in 2012—less than half the number of checks than were written in 2003.
- Roughly 80% of Americans carry $50 cash or less in their wallet, and 9% don’t carry cash at all.
- 74% of Americans say they write no more than one check per month. Yet 86% of church giving still happens via check.
- Only 7% of churches in the US offer a way to give via mobile device.
- Traditional tithing envelopes don’t seem to work for a generation as mobile as Millennials.
The Starbucks, Amazon & Apple Effect
If these stats haven’t convinced you to start seriously considering mobile for your church, then think about what the likes of Apple, Starbucks, Amazon and many others have done to train churchgoers. After all, if Apple can make it simple to purchase something from iTunes, then it better be just as easy to give to someone’s local church.
You see, your members are being shown how simple mobile purchasing can be, and soon they’ll expect the same type of giving experience from the churches they attend.
Church Marketing + Mobile = Love
Beyond members looking for a mobile solution that connects them to their church, church marketing and communications staff love what mobile empowers them to do.
For example, it’s impossible to respond directly to a printed church bulletin. I can’t “do” anything immediately. I have to remember to do something (e.g., register for an event, support missions, etc.) after I’ve gone home. And we all know that remembering to do something after we’ve left church is incredibly difficult because life overtakes us. But a quality mobile app can allow church communications teams to send notifications and load up new material members can access at any time.
Imagine if you could send your members a nice, respectful push notification reminding them to give on Sunday morning, listen to the sermon live or download sermon notes when they’re out of town.
The Reality
In just a few short years, nearly every member (and their kids) in your church will be walking in with a smartphone in hand. They’ll be using these devices to check their social networks, read the Bible, fact check and comment on sermons, share notes, check on their kids in child-care and so much more.
Will you make it simple for members to support the great work you’re doing by empowering them with a simple-to-use mobile church giving solution? Or will they have to reach into their pocketbooks only to remember they’ve left their checkbook at home for the third week in a row?
Sarah
July 6, 2015
We offer online giving, and we’d love to offer mobile giving but have not found a way to do it without a vendor taking a significant cut. Any suggestions?
Kevin D. Hendricks
July 6, 2015
There are lots of companies out there offering mobile giving options. Dean, the author of this post, works for one of them, Tithe.ly. There’s also Mogiv and eChurch Giving. I believe Bluebridge Digital also has a mobile giving option as a part of their app. And there are probably loads more.
I don’t know the pricing for each of those options, but most are going to take some sort of cut. If you accept credit cards, there’s going to be credit card processing fees. However, one argument is that by making giving easier, you’re going to encourage more people to give and that increase will more than cover the additional fees. Though that all depends on where your church is at.
Barn
July 6, 2015
Hi, Sarah. This is Barn from Tithe.ly. We’d love to chat some time if you’re looking to gather more information about church mobile giving.
Thanks!
Barn – http://www.tithe.ly
Tamara
July 7, 2015
Sarah – that is one of the struggles…but I think that you have to realize too that if you didn’t offer the mobile giving, you would receive far less than the costs. There are options out there that are less than 2.5% – so for $100 given you would receive $97.50, which isn’t that bad considering. The best thing to do is ABSOLUTELY avoid setting something up with your bank. This is where banks take you to the bank with all kinds of fees. Make sure you find one that charges $0.00 to very minimal monthly service fees too. Depending on your church size you might have to invest a little more, but the bottom line is…those that prefer online or mobile giving are probably not supporting the church as well as they could because they don’t typically carry around cash or checks…I know I don’t.
Barn
July 8, 2015
Love your insight about avoiding direct bank setup, Tamara. Very good point that churches need to understand as they evaluate all the options out there. for digital giving. Thanks for chiming in!!
Barn – http://www.tithe.ly
Dean
July 6, 2015
Hi Sarah, this is Dean from Tithe.ly, the author of the post. Happy to chat any time. DM me on Twitter @deansweetman
Blessings.
Eric Dye
July 7, 2015
The thought of church goers being able to give tithes and offerings by simply pulling out their smartphone is super awesome to me!
But more seriously, churches need to make this available as this is the new way we are spending/giving money.
Barn
July 8, 2015
Amen to that, Eric!
We’re definitely finding that churches are interested overall, but getting real member adoption via rolling out a new solution is tough work. Especially within established churches. Fingers crossed this becomes less and less of an issue as the church advances technologically and culturally.
Barn – http://www.tithe.ly