04 Apr Church Fundraising: How to Increase Your Recurring Donations

One of the top struggles for churches is receiving a steady, ample supply of donations. And recurring donations are the backbone of a solid church’s revenue stream.

When you can achieve a consistent rate of tithings, it allows you to budget accordingly. That way, you’ll know relatively how much money you have to spend on church-related expenses, charity work, etc. If you’re seeing inconsistencies in how much money your congregation is donating, that can make it hard to plan ahead and carry out your mission.

So, to increase your recurring donations, here are three steps.

First, do an analysis of your recurring donations as they stand right now.

What is the current total? What is the average level of giving per year, per month, and per week? What about last year and the year before that? Comparing year over year will help you see longer-term trends.

Second, educate your members about the importance of giving—and giving regularly.

It’s crucial that your congregation understands why giving to the church is important.

Spiritually, teach the members of your church what Scripture says about giving and generosity. For example, during services, talk about the Apostle Paul’s belief that Christians are givers, and that our willingness to give indicates our level of trust in God. You can also discuss the Old Testament and tithings, the New Testament and stewardship, as well as what the Proverbs say about money in general. Remember that the subject of giving and money shouldn’t be taboo within your church. By talking about what the Bible says about giving, you can help your congregation recognize the importance of tithings.

It’s also critical to share examples of how member tithings have positively affected the church and others. This way, members of your church can see and hear firsthand how their giving matters.

Highlight that the church uses donations for:

• Keeping those in the ministry financially secure enough so they can focus on their work
• Maintaining church premises, such as the building and grounds
• Charity and helping support those in need
• Supporting missionaries in other locations
• Supporting churches that are less financially viable
• Supporting local charities

And third, make it as easy as possible for members to give.

When visitors arrive at your website, it should be extremely easy for them to donate. If it’s too hard to find or the donation page itself isn’t user-friendly, you may be missing out on a large number of recurring donations. Cleaning up your donation page is a great way to not only help increase recurring donations but also your donations overall.

But even more important, be sure you’re taking advantage of the power of text giving. By incorporating text to give solutions into your church fundraiser operations, you can not only increase the number of givers throughout your church but dramatically raise the number of recurring donations as well.

At mobileAxept, our GiveNow text platform has everything you need to take your donations to the next level. As the pioneers of text giving, we offer the most complete donor experience. From a simple text, church members can register for GiveNow, edit any settings, and set up recurring payments—which means they’ll never have to worry about remembering to donate.

With GiveNow, you’ll have the peace of mind that your recurring donations are consistent and that you can plan ahead, knowing you’ll have the funds to achieve your church and congregation’s goals. GiveNow also allows management to see real-time, accurate information on your donations. This includes the amount of the donation, the names of the donors, addresses, authenticated cell phone numbers, email addresses, and the purpose of the gift.

Our tools also allow you to communicate with your members via text. Send devotionals and reminders, celebrate good news, notify members of upcoming events, and more.

For more information or to get started, contact sales.