Valerie Russell

Last year was record-breaking for #GivingTuesday with $380 million raised online, a 38% increase from 2017. This year, experts predict that we’ll see a 26% increase in online gifts and raise over $502 million.

We’re fast approaching the biggest and busiest digital giving days of the year. That’s why we wanted to take a moment to review a very important (though often avoided) topic—taxes.

It's no surprise that churches are affected by lulls in giving, spurring a need for churches to find ways to encourage recurring giving. Roughly 86% don’t meet their annual budget goals. When you boil it down, that means 43 out of 50 churches aren’t raising enough funds during the year to support their ministries.

Are you stuck in the same old routine when it comes to managing your online giving? It happens. Once you've found what works for getting daily tasks completed efficiently, you may never step outside your comfort zone. By not exploring the features available to you, you could be missing out.

There’s no shortage of data in the world today—more data was created in the last two years than in the previous 5,000. In fact, 90% of the data we currently use was created in the last two years! For churches, the enormous amount of giving data is enough to make your head spin, but it’s still necessary to collect, organize, and apply it. Healthy churches know that with the right giving information at their fingertips, they’re better equipped to cultivate generosity and grow their vision.

There’s a pretty good chance your ministry accepts digital gifts in some way, shape, or form. A donation page on your website, a mobile app, text giving, and giving kiosks all benefit the overall mission of the church. But, what worked for your church a few years ago may not be the best solution for you today. Online giving providers vary greatly and it just might be time to switch.

There are obvious benefits to having a church app. Ministries can benefit from improved engagement if their church app is done well. When church members are able to stay better connected, communities can thrive. The statistics tell us that people spend three times longer on apps than mobile websites. Your church can and will benefit from a church app that provides tools to increase community, give, watch sermons, and share prayer requests. 

Leaders of faith-based organizations are noticing the growing demand for church apps—and it’s no wonder! The number of apps used per day is two times higher than it was in 2015, and people now spend 85% of their digital time on smartphones using apps. With the mobile-first population on the rise, these trends are likely to continue.