2015: The Year Of Online Giving
The Internet has been many things over the past two decades. At first it was a novelty. Then it was a super highway, a boom, a bubble, a bust, and a new frontier. Along the way, it became wireless, social, lightning fast, and mobile. And now, as we start another year, it has become a few other things as well. Indispensable. Ubiquitous. Inescapable. As essential to our daily lives as automobiles and electricity.
And yet despite all of this, many churches continue to treat the Internet as if it is a fad or inessential luxury. This is especially true when it comes to engaging with online and mobile giving tools.
Despite the fact that less than 7% of transactions in the United States are conducted via cash and check, over 75% of American churches still do not offer any form of online giving. That’s right. Three out of every four churches in America are staking their financial health on the hope that their members will give consistently using payment methods they only use 7% of the time. In 2015!
If this describes your church – if you and your team have relegated digital giving to a “we’ll get to it one of these days” type of conversation – then I have a challenge for you. I challenge you to make 2015 “one of those days.” Make 2015 the year you take online and mobile stewardship seriously. (more…)