Covid changed everything.

Did you know two technology changes in your church can increase giving?

A recent study on post pandemic giving in churches revealed two surprising insights on the impact of technology to increase giving: online giving and streaming.

Online Giving. Ten years ago only 31% of churches had online giving. Today it’s exactly the opposite; 69% of churches offer some form of online giving. Churches without online giving average $1818 per capita giving annually. Churches who use online giving most average $2428 per capita giving.

A separate, related insight shows that just 20% of the average congregation uses online giving to contribute 30% of the church’s total income. Churches can improve their overall giving by increasing their percentage of online givers.

Live Streaming Worship. Churches live streaming their worship service is another major shift since the pandemic. Research shows that churches offering hybrid worship options—online or in-person—welcome higher giving per person. Those attending by both means gave $2353 annually versus $2000 for in person only.

The increase in giving among hybrid worship attenders is most likely linked to their online giving habits. These givers most often have an automatic bank draft giving whether they are physically present or not.

Three conclusions can be drawn from the research reported above.

The more your congregation uses online giving, the greater total giving you’ll have.
Educate and encourage since too few of your church are giving online.
When paired with online giving options, live streaming worship increases overall giving.

Most of us already use both technologies in our church. We simply need a little more internality in how we use them. Not just encouragement to give online, but education how to. Not just encouragement to give, but education on your why. Those extra little explanations or phrases of intentionality will make the difference.

Two questions to consider.

What conjectures or conclusions do you have based on this information?
How can your church maximize these technology changes?

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This is the fourth Generous Giving post. The series starts here.

For four posts on The Great Dechurching, start here.

For three posts on Welcoming Guests, start here.