Church advertising? Isn’t that a bit . . . commercial?
I felt that way when I first started using Facebook ads for my church. But then I saw who was liking my church’s ad. Far from the usual suspects, dozens of people I’d never seen at our church were liking our ads—some even commented to ask for our address (don’t be like me: include your address and service times in your church ad). And it’s all because we made an effort to go where unchurched people in our community were.
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Fall is here and that means the busyness of the holiday season is about to start. And while the holidays are full of celebration and fun, it can be stressful for church members to find time to plan their generosity for the upcoming new year. [Read more…]
“To cover fees or not cover fees, that is the question.”
While Shakespeare never debated the benefit of giver-covered fees, it is a debate in churches.
Before we look at the “why” behind giver-covered fees, let’s break down the “what.”
A processing fee is an amount it costs to process or facilitate a gift. Processing fees apply to credit/debit transactions and ACH transactions.
For credit and debit cards, a processing fee is an amount charged by the credit card company that issued the card. Most card processing fees are around 3% plus a small fixed amount for each gift. (For example, Faithlife Giving’s premium rate is 2.49% plus 30 cents.)
For ACH transactions, a processing fee is usually a smaller percentage with a fixed amount. (Faithlife Giving’s premium ACH transaction fee is 1.0% plus 30 cents per gift.)
Every time you swipe a card or make an ACH payment—even when you’re buying groceries—someone is paying a processing fee to your bank or card issuer (Visa, Mastercard, etc.).
The question is, should a church pay the processing fee for online gifts or make it optional for a giver to cover the fee as part of their gift?
Theologically, churches hold different positions on giving and so also differ on whether to cover fees or not. They fall into two main camps:
No matter where you fall in the discussion, Faithlife Giving could be a great fit for your church. That’s because our goal is not to tell you how your church should give but provide you with an online giving platform that supports your goals and mission.
That’s where one of our customers’ favorite features comes in.
If your church is using Faithlife Giving, you can enable givers to cover processing fees. This means that your regular givers can increase their gifts to include processing fees, so the church gets 100% of what your giver intended you to receive. (Note: The entire gift, even the portion covering the fees, is tax-deductible.)
It’s fun to see how giver-covered fees are working out for churches using Faithlife Giving:
For our customers who make it optional for givers to cover fees, givers choose to pay them 60% of the time.
Options.
With Faithlife Giving, givers can choose to pay the processing fees in addition to their gift amount, ensuring your church receives the full gift amount.
Or you can choose for your church to cover processing fees.
Either way, Faithlife Giving gives you peace of mind so you can focus on serving people.
Learn how Faithlife Giving can make online giving an enjoyable, seamless experience for your church.