Giving is unpredictable in the summer. Mass or service attendance naturally dips with everyone on-the-go and donations can drop anywhere between 5% to 50%. Fortunately, there’s good news! Churches equipped with the right online giving tools see less than a 1% decline in contributions. Pair that with a platform designed to save you money, and your church can come out of summer with no losses to your budget.
At ParishSOFT, we don’t just provide tools that increase giving—we build money-saving features right into our platform. Now, with the new ParishSOFT Giving portal, there are even more ways to save. Check out our top 3 money-saving features and how to make the most of them.
1. Convenience fee options
People are passionate about the mission of their parish, and that’s one reason they give. But, they don’t often consider those small expenses the church absorbs. That’s where convenience fees come in. Convenience fees can be used to help cover processing fees, shipping costs, and more.
While previous versions of our giving portal included an option for donors to cover processing fees, it’s much more robust. Now, you can add convenience fees to any form, whether it’s for selling t-shirts or donating to a specific fund. You choose to make this fee an option or a requirement. You also select whether you want this fee to be a flat dollar amount or a percentage of the gift.
2. Single transaction giving for multiple funds
The new giving portal lets people donate to multiple funds in a single transaction. This feature saves money because donors are only charged one transaction fee when giving to numerous funds rather than a separate fee per gift.
For instance, when someone gives to your parish’s building fund, general fund, and a mission trip in one transaction, the fee is only $0.39. If they had to do this in 3 separate transactions, the charges would add up to $1.17. While saving $0.78 may not seem significant, as people give throughout the summer, these savings can really accumulate.
3. Recurring giving programs
While recurring giving doesn’t save money per se, it does increase consistent donations. This helps your parish stay within budget and avoid overspending. With the new giving portal, there are more opportunities to make gifts recurring such as via text. Plus, the recurring giving option is more visible to donors. Simply enable recurring giving when building a form and the “Make Recurring” box will appear when the form first loads. The user no longer needs to select a fund or enter an amount to see this option.
Other money-saving features from ParishSOFT
Beyond what’s listed above, ParishSOFT equips you with other money-saving features, like selecting your church’s accepted payment methods. If you prefer not to receive gifts via American Express card because of their higher processing costs, you can configure your account not to accept that card.
There’s also the Virtual Terminal, which allows you to give on behalf of the donor. Some parishioners prefer the convenience of filling out their gift information on a paper form and having the administrator complete the transaction. With the new giving portal, the Virtual Terminal is now accessible for credit cards and ACH donations.
This summer—equip your parish with multiple ways to give and take advantage of features built to save money. Soon, you’ll see the needle move in the right direction!
Want to take advantage of ParishSOFT Giving’s money-saving features? Contact us today at 866-930-4774 x6 or online at parishsoft.com/contact-us to learn more or sign up to view a free product demonstration.
