“Take the time to expand on giving. Believe it or not, the coronavirus pandemic can be a wonderful time to reenergize
your people with generosity encouragement. People want the church to thrive. Share with them, in detail, how they can
help you do that.” — Marty Baker, D. Min.
times of economic prosperity, there’s a tendency to focus on other church
needs instead concentrating on giving. It takes money to do ministry,
and if the money is available, then the message is often redirected.
What we’ve learned during this season is that in most cases, it’s
not how much money you’ve had coming in, but how the church has
managed that money.
Our church had money reserves, so the fear of the shutdown didn’t
affect us; however, we haven’t always been in that place. In the first
decade of ministry, we lived week-to-week. Some congregations won’t
survive this pandemic, while others will weather the storm and
ultimately rebuild.
The coronavirus outbreak has changed how we’ll do church in the
foreseeable future. Some will use this as a reason to not worship in
community with other believers. This isn’t what God intended when the
church was born on Day of Pentecost. The church was designed to be a
spiritual family. It’s a place where we can love and be loved, where we
can celebrate and be celebrated, and where we can serve and be served.
The mandatory church closures forced congregants to move to an online
worship experience. This move provides pseudo community. It provides
content and connection through technology. However, it doesn’t provide
the spiritual opportunity of being in a room with other people as they
experience the power of the Holy Spirit.
Online experiences meet a need, but they’ll never be an adequate
replacement for in-person gatherings. It’s difficult to baptize people, lay
hands on people and disciple children through our online campus.
On the positive side, our online experience is better than ever, and
we’ll continue to grow an online congregation. Online services are great
for people who are sheltered in place and people who are traveling out of
town. They’re also a very effective tool of evangelism that can be used to
introduce the message of Christ and your church to people in the area.
In your experience, has the coronavirus pandemic incited reluctant
churches — those that have been slower to adopt digital giving — to take
a fresh look at their giving options?
Dolton: We’ve definitely seen churches that were more comfortable
with traditional giving methods adopt digital giving. And honestly,
the reluctancy is understandable. Faith leaders want the best for their
members and have concerns about costs, security, and ease of use. In fact,
54% said an older, non-tech-savvy congregation was the main reason
they didn’t adopt online and mobile giving sooner. These organizations
found that not only do their older members enjoy using our free and
secured platform, they find it was much easier to use and they often give
more than in person.
Baker: What has surprised us most is how many churches still don’t
have a reliable digital giving solution. What I know for certain is that
digital giving is no longer considered a convenience; it’s now, with great
certainty, a requirement for churches. If your church doesn’t take the
time to implement a system like SecureGive, it won’t be able to survive
something like what we’re experiencing.
Interestingly, we see God’s hand on these digital giving tools.
We’ve heard report after report of church giving actually growing
during this time.
Among churches that adopted new giving tools during the pandemic,
how have they gotten the word out and encouraged their use?
Lee: Especially now, it’s important to be very unapologetic and clear
about mission and ministry accomplishments. It’s about conveying,
We're not physically coming together, but here’s the ministry that's still
occurring. Getting those stories out communicates that the church has
never been about a building; it’s about the people of Christ coming
together and living like Christ. And it’s important to clearly tie those
accomplishments back to pathways and options for giving.
We’ve seen churches do this most effectively through social media —
lots of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube posts. Pastors have really upped
their communication about online giving and are being very intentional
about it with every worship service.
They’re also sending targeted communications to certain segments of
the congregation, of course.
Baker: Churches using a system like ours for the first time, or
reintroducing their current system, are doing so in a digital format.
We’re seeing churches use creative videos, pre-recorded worship
moments, live streaming graphics, email campaigns and more, in ways
they’ve never done before. There has been a massive shift in a very short
amount of time.
Dolton: We’ve made it easy for our church partners to create giving
links unique to their place of worship. We have seen them including
these in a variety of channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
YouTube, as well as traditional channels like email. Many are including
links to their online giving tools in their direct mailers, as well, and even
making follow-up phone calls.
A church leader might assume that it takes a lot of time, energy
and expertise to mobilize or set up new giving options. What’s the
reality? And once these tools are in place, what does their use and
upkeep look like?
Baker: Our team has churches set up in two business days. The
beautiful thing about it is that the system is always working for you. The
heart of SecureGive is to keep you equipped with clear and useful data to
minster and grow your people. As long as your team is willing to follow
our advice early on, we set you up for success.
The upkeep should always be minimal. Again, we’re a solution; we’re
not a problem.
“It’s not about what’s easiest and best for your church; it’s about what’s easiest and best for the giver. If, for example,
someone watching online logs on to make a gift and sees a dropdown menu with 100 available funds, it can be confusing
and overwhelming. That might be the best pathway for your church — but not for that giver.” — Amanda Lee
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