Churches everywhere enjoy the benefits of online giving. But Catholic parishes and dioceses find that a lot of options available don’t cater specifically to the need of the Catholic Church. Read on to learn why Catholic-centered online giving works!
Do Catholic Churches Need Online Giving?
Catholicism is cherished for its traditional values, faithful community, and global charity work throughout millennia. Does such a steadfast religion need to rely on digital giving tools?
Online giving doesn’t make Catholic traditions or offerings obsolete. In fact, it only improves these practices of faith and stewardship. When parishes set up online giving, they see an average increase of 32% right away.
With so many incredible technologies available today, online giving continues to empower parishioners to get more involved and give back as God commands. What does a tried-and-true Catholic giving platform offer? Let’s take a look.
ParishSOFT Catholic Giving Features
From seasonal fundraising to 24/7 online access, Catholic resources are available with the tap of a button. Here are some of the ways ParishSOFT supports the mission of Catholic churches across the U.S.
Custom Branded Donation Pages
Branded web pages allow your parish or diocese to stay aligned with its mission, personality, and culture. The ParishSOFT giving program allows your parishioners to donate directly through your church’s custom web page. Donors can also set up a profile to control their preferred giving options:
- Fund type
- Donation amount
- Frequency of giving
- Recurring giving options
- And more
Any parishioner can safely access your giving page with the custom link you set up with ParishSOFT.
Church Mobile App
Similarly, to a customized web page, the ParishSOFT Giving mobile app allows your parishioners to give directly from their smartphones and tablets. With an attractive user interface, the app is easy to use so anyone of any age can contribute donations to your ministry.
Catholic Church Management Software
ParishSOFT integrates with plenty of church management software (ChMS) that may already be in place at your church. If you don’t have an existing ChMS, we offer full-featured options to help manage and improve every parish operation.
Here’s what church management software does:
- Maintain and protect parishioner information
- Increase engagement with your community
- Track finances and campaigns
- Monitor staff training processes
- Generate parish reports about attendance, giving, and involvement
- And more
A ChMS is one feature that drastically improves the giving efforts at your parish. It helps organize everything in one place, so your team doesn’t have to track everything manually.
Text Giving
Text-to-Give allows parishioners to donate from their cell phones. It’s as easy as sending a text message to a friend:
- A donor sends a predetermined short code to your church’s text-giving number
- They receive an automatic response with a link to fill out a giving form
- The giver enters their information and hits “send”
Text giving is an easy way to collect funds from anyone who has a desire to give but may have forgotten their wallet that day. It also allows newcomers or guests to make a quick, one-time donation.
Coming soon: Second Collections Giving
Second collections[1] are the funds your parish or diocese receives to go toward national and global Catholic charities. The great thing about ParishSOFT online giving is that it allows Catholic churches to monitor and manage these special funds.
Since second collections are an integral part of the Catholic faith, it’s important to use a giving platform that supports this practice. ParishSOFT Giving lets clergy allocate funds as needed. It lets you track where every collection goes which helps with planning, Bishop duties, and overall stewardship.
Coming Soon: Catholic Pledges
Pledging is another cherished practice in Catholic giving. Every year, parishes rely on the pledges of the laity to calculate projected budgets. This is a crucial aspect in making sure the church not only functions but thrives.
The ParishSOFT online giving system lets you track pledges and make updates accordingly. If a generous giver plans to move, for example, it’s easy to adjust the date their pledge will end. For every pledge incident, ParishSOFT’s analytics reveal all the details you need to fulfill financial expectations.
Catholic Giving Success Program
One of the best features you get with ParishSOFT online giving is our Giving Success Program. Parish leaders go through a personalized coaching process with our Catholic faith-based success team.
You’ll receive direct coaching from a coach who knows everything about our online giving platform. Your coach will guide you and the parish leadership team through specific steps to improve overall giving. This includes parish communication, system configuration, form creation, consulting, and more.
We know many parishes feel lost in the online giving space. That’s why we created this platform specifically for Catholic churches like yours. We’re here to help parishes and dioceses reach big ministry goals.
Reporting Features
Whether it be donation, or specific giving campaigns, digital reporting features give parishes valuable insights into every funding effort. Detailed analytics equip parishes and dioceses to plan ahead, donate to charity, launch important renovation projects, and so much more.
To increase parish giving year after year, clergy and staff must first look at the current giving condition. Even if your church is in the beginning stages of online giving, thorough reporting features are essential.
The Best Online Giving for Catholic Churches
Improving parish giving methods doesn’t have to be hard. Finally, there’s an online giving platform designed by Catholics, for Catholics.
ParishSOFT Giving results in more parish funds per donation than any other system, program, software, or company available today. Get the best Catholic online giving option out there. Reach out to get started or make the switch to ParishSOFT today.
