15 Places To Add Online Giving For Your Church

Statistics show that online giving is the perfect way to help increase tithing in your church. The key is knowing where to add online giving for your church to reach more people.

People love the convenience and privacy that comes with online options. However, everyone might not know you offer it.

If you currently only have a link in one spot, it’s time for a more varied strategy. The more places you offer a way to give online, the more people who will give.

1. Church Website

Obviously, the most popular place to add online giving for your church is on your church website. Someone looking to give will likely check your website first. Plus, a giving page is one of the top six pages your church website needs to have.

Having a dedicated page allows you to fully explain what your church uses tithes for, all your payment options, security features and more. You can also set up multiple ways to give, such as one-time, recurring and special events.

Ensure you add a “giving” option in your church website’s menu. This makes it easy to access. You can also add a link to it in your website’s footer. Remember, make it easy to find and ensure your giving form is incredibly simple to use to encourage more people to use it.

2. Church Mobile App

While you don’t need to create a church mobile app just for online giving, if you already have an app, add giving to it. Many people prefer to use apps over websites when available. This means they’d be more likely to not only check out your church’s app before your website, but they’d prefer giving via a mobile platform.

There are a variety of mobile giving apps that are easy to setup for your church. Instead of having to build a completely new custom app, you simply customize the branding in a template to match your church. Of course, you can create a much more complex app with more features, depending on your church’s needs.

For smaller churches on a budget, the best option is to opt for a mobile-friendly website. Every church doesn’t need a mobile app. Instead, a mobile-friendly or responsive site is designed to load and perform well on mobile devices. So, your online giving form that’s already on your website works just as well for mobile giving too.

3. Social Media Ads

Social media ads are a great place to link to online giving for your church. These can lead to your church’s social media page or website. While people can’t give directly through the ad, it gets people to notice that your church is in need. From general tithing to fundraising for specific events, such as helping a local community after a disaster, social media ads draw attention.

The best part is you’re able to choose your target audience to get your ad in front of the people most likely to donate, such as those in a specific area or areas. The good thing is you don’t need to spend much on ads to get results. This approach is especially helpful for meeting short-term giving goals or if your church is still new on social media.

If you’re not sure how to get started, check out our guide on creating great church Facebook ads. This also helps you build your social media audience faster.

Of course, there’s a free alternative to social media ads your church should consider. Or, use this approach with social media ads. Google gives out free grants to non-profits which include $10,000 of free Adwords ad credits each month.

4. YouTube Videos

Did you know people can give to your church through your YouTube video? While you can send people to your church’s website, you can also set up online giving as part of your YouTube videos. To meet YouTube’s giving requirements, you have to:

• Be located in the US, UK or Canada
• Not be a part of the YouTube Partners Program
• Not mark your video as made for kids (giving isn’t allowed on these videos to prevent kids from giving money without permission from their parents)
• Have at least 10,000 followers

While these requirements might eliminate some churches, the program is still worth using if you do meet the requirements. Viewers are able to give directly through a donate button on your video or via a live chat option.

Don’t meet the requirements? No problem. You can still add a link to your church’s giving page in your video’s description and/or add a card to the end of your videos encouraging people to give if your video helped, inspired or moved them in any way.

5. Social Media Posts

While ads are helpful, especially in building your audience on social media, they’re not the only place to add online giving for your church. Use your social media posts to nicely ask for donations. Consider use images or video posts to better explain what the money is being used for.

There are a variety of fundraising options on Facebook to help nonprofits. These are great for short-term goals, such as raising money for a sick church member, aiding in community projects or adding a community building to your church. You can set up special fundraising pages, add a donate button to live videos, include a donate button on posts and add donation options to Facebook Stories.

Naturally, you can also link directly to your church’s giving page on your website. This is a good thing to add to a sticky post of important links and details about your church.

6. Individual Ministry Pages

If you have multiple ministry groups, each has their own financial needs. A kids’ group might need craft supplies or a teens’ group might need help with travel expenses as they volunteer in various areas. Set up giving on individual ministry pages. This allows people to give directly to the ministries that are most important to them.

For example, a parent might give more to the ministry their kids are involved in. Or, someone might give to a ministry that’s more involved with a cause that’s dear to them, even if they don’t attend your church.

To increase online giving, make a detailed video or list that explains that the money goes directly to that ministry’s group and what the money’s used for. This clarity makes people feel better about giving.

7. Social Media Groups

There’s still one more place to add online giving for your church on social media. Just like with individual ministry pages, your church members and online followers might interact more often in separate groups on social media. You might have a group for parents, another for singles, one for kids and so on.

Consider adding links to your church website’s giving page on each group. Facebook groups, for instance, have an area to add important files and links. Add your giving link to this area so it’s always easily accessible to all group members.

8. Online Giving Platforms

Online giving platforms typically give you a variety of giving options to choose from. Even if you don’t have a church website, you can still set up a giving form with your church’s name on it to direct people to. This is a good way to get setup with online giving quickly.

The best part though is these platforms integrate with your church’s website, if you do have one. Forms can be embedded directly on your church’s site. The platform still manages all the technical details of securing transactions, collecting donations and allowing you to run financial reports to manage all online tithing through the platform. You can even use these platforms for event registrations, special fundraisers and much more.

9. Prompt At The End Of Online Sermons

Whether you have live streaming, video on demand or both, always mention online giving for your church at the end of each session. Take just a minute to encourage people to give on your church website (tell them which page to go to) or social media (especially if you’re live streaming on social media). It’s an incredibly simple way for online viewers to tithe no matter where they’re watching you from.

For video on demand sermons, you could even add a graphic at the end that shows exactly how to use your church website’s giving features. In fact, you can add a video to your giving page that steps people through the process. This is ideal for people who aren’t as used to doing things online.

10. Link Within Your Church Newsletter

If you send out a church newsletter, always mention online giving. You don’t have to go into much detail. Just casually mention that your church accepts donations online. Then, link to your giving page. You can also add a button to emails that says “please give” or “give today.”

It’s a simple addition to your newsletter than works well for reminding members about your online tithing options and introduces new newsletter subscribers to those options. Try to add it to the end of your newsletter, unless you’re collecting donations for a specific reason. It’s less obtrusive and feels more like a gentle reminder.

11. Provide Website On Printed Materials

So far, we’ve talked about adding online giving for your church to a variety of online sources. But, print isn’t dead. In fact, it’s still a very effective marketing option for all types of businesses and nonprofits. While people can’t click a link, they can remember a website address. If you create church flyers, pamphlets, printed ads or anything else, include your church’s website on them. As long as you have a noticeable giving page in your menu and even a CTA, you’re increasing how many people find your giving page.

12. Special Event And Registration Landing Pages

Many churches create temporary event and registration landing pages in order to put all of an event’s information on a single page. This is also a great place to add online giving for your church. In addition to options to pay for events and registration materials, include an option to tithe as well. Make sure people know this is completely optional and not required to attend or register for an event.

However, people who are already paying for something on your church’s site may give a little extra to help out with other areas of your church.

13. Add QR Codes On Printed Materials

In addition to just adding your church website to printed materials, add QR codes. You can add something similar to “consider giving today” along with a QR code that goes directly to your online giving forms.

Since so many people carry a smart phone, all they have to do is scan and complete the form to give. This is ideal for adding to a church business or welcome card. For new visitors, have a card with two QR codes – one that goes to your new visitors welcome page and one to online giving.

14. Partner With Community Businesses

Local businesses often love to give to nonprofits. But, they usually have limited budgets. Instead, they help collect donations, both monetary and non-monetary. For instance, businesses are well-known for holding competitions to see which employees or departments can collect the most non-perishable food items for charities.

For both short-term and long-term financial goals, consider partnering with businesses in your community. In most cases, they may want something in return. For example, you could have volunteers help clean up around the business or place an ad/recommendation in your church newsletter. It doesn’t usually cost your church much, if anything at all. The idea is for your church and business to help support each other.

The business then lets you add your church’s printed materials, links to your giving page on their website and/or hosts special nonprofit days where a percentage of profits go to your church.

15. Install A Giving Kiosk

For those who want to give online, but may not have a device at home, add online giving for your church by installing a giving kiosk. These aren’t for every church, but can offer an alternative to traditional in-church tithing. A budget-friendly option is to simply set up a laptop that only displays your online giving form. People can walk by, fill out the form, donate and continue as normal.

This is also something you can set up if your church is participating at community events. Since you only need to use the laptop (or even a tablet) on a dedicated page, older devices work great for this.

With so many great ways to add online giving for your church, there’s no reason not to offer online giving options. Let us help you get started with an engaging church website today.

More Reading On Online Giving For Your Church

• How to Create the Perfect Church Giving Page
• 7 Top Online Giving Companies For Churches
• 5 Point Checklist To Get Results Online This Year
• How To Choose The Right Online Giving Provider For Your Church
• 8 Ways To Incorporate Mobile Into Your Church

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