Churches that introduce digital giving to their congregation have reported as much as a 32% increase in overall giving and engagement (Source).

It's easy to see why a church giving app is a must-have for any church.

Here are the 5 must-haves you should look for:

1. It Must Be Easy To Use with High Ratings and Reviews

Real talk: Your members will NOT give online to your church if the mobile app isn't user-friendly.

The process to donate online has to be as frictionless as possible, without sacrificing security.

Read reviews before choosing a mobile giving app to see what other users say. If church members complain about how complicated it is to set up and use (or if you simply don't see reviews praising its user-friendliness), don't rely on it for donations. It won't serve your church's needs and might even cost more than it's worth.

2. It Must Be Secure for Donors

A giving solution needs world-class security, or else you're putting your ministry and your people in danger.

A church donation app needs:

• Encryption
• PCI compliance
• Two-factor authentification
• Regular security audits

Don't punish your people's generosity by making their financial information vulnerable to hackers.

3. It Must Have Flexible Giving Options

The problem: Many church leaders I work with want to make online giving easy for their members. So they create an account for their church on nearly every giving app and P2P platform they can.

This is the right idea, but the wrong approach. If you do this, you're church exposed to attacks and fraud.

The best approach is to use and promote only one online giving platform. The only catch is that the platform needs to offer your members multiple ways of giving.

Make sure your church giving app lets donors tithe by credit and debit card, direct deposit (sometimes called ACH), text-to-give, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. This flexibility is how your church will meet your members where they are.

Let's talk about recurring giving...

This one feature alone drives most of the increase in donations churches see when introducing online giving. That's because this allows members to "set it and forget it", meaning they won't ever have to remember to bring cash with them to church. It also means that they can financially support your chruch even when they're not able to come on Sunday.

If you're using an online giving platform that doesn't let donors set up recurring donations, you need to ditch that platform ASAP. Your church or ministry is leaving money on the table.

4. It Must Be Built For Churches with Integrations

A small, but important feature of online giving is that it should make reporting as easy as possible.

Your church giving app needs to report donations to the church management software you use to manage the rest of your ministry. That way, donations are applied to contribution statements and accounting ledgers without you having to lift a finger.

This is another reason not to rely on several different church giving apps. Not all of them will integrate or export to your ChMS, meaning they won't save you time as they should.

5. It Must Have Good Reporting

Having the donations recorded is only half the battle. What good is recording all this data if you can't compile it in an easy-to-understand report?

The church giving platform you use needs reports built-in that help you better understand your church.

This data will give you insight into your church's giving trends. You can use that insight to help promote giving at your church in new and effective ways.

Giving Platforms: 3 Things to Avoid

To help you avoid making a mistake that can cost your church thousands of dollars, here are some things you'll want to avoid when searching for a giving app...

• Contracts - One of my pastor friends signed a contract with a platform and got STUCK paying over $80/month for service charges on top of the transaction fees for each transaction. That's almost $1,000 a year!
• CC Fees Over 2.9% - When you're accepting online donations in your church, you want a platform that has low transaction and processing fees. You shouldn't be paying over 2.9% for Credit Card transactions.
• High ACH Fees - Avoid platforms that charge a high percentage or high transaction fee. Ideally, you want to look for a platform that only charges a flat rate for ACH donations. (FYI ChurchTrac is just $0.25/transaction).

Increase Giving in 2024 with a Giving Platform

Every church needs a church app that increases giving and makes recording donations simple.

When searching for a church giving app, choose one that is secure, user-friendly, and integrates with your ChMS. You might just see your church's overall giving climb to new heights!

Matt Church Engagement