Sometimes a picture (or in this case a chart) is all you need.
They’re worth a thousand words, right?
At Tithe.ly we’re consistently talking to folks who are looking to bring mobile giving into their church. For more established churches there’s always an element of adopting new technology that requiring educating and convincing senior leadership. Sometimes even the board need to be involved.
With that in mind, we offer you three charts to help you build your case and get a decision made.
1. Church Giving Continues to Decline
Up through 1994 giving to religious organizations made up over half of charitable giving in the U.S. Today, it’s just over 30%. [source]
2. Cash and Check Payments are on their way Out.
Not too long ago, 1990 to be exact, cash and check payments made of 84% of the mix. By 2018, cash and check will only make up 18% of the payments mix — folks will be using credit and debit 82% of the time they make a payment. [source]
3. Mobile Payments are Skyrocketing
10 years ago people would laugh at your if you told them they’d be making a payment via their cell phone. But since 2011 we’ve seen mobile payments grew from $30B to $545B (106% CAGR). [source]
That’s incredible growth that will only continue as younger generations grow up with a mobile device in hand.
There you have it.
As a percentage of total giving, religious giving is on the decline. The use of cash and check as a form of payment is on the decline.
While mobile payments are growing through the roof!
Bounce that off the shocking fact that that over 80% of church giving still happens via check and you have a very compelling case for mobile giving in the church.
We need to give church-goers the ability to tithe and give just like they’re doing when they buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks or take an Uber. It’s the right thing to do!
Eric Dye says
Mind. Blown.
Peter says
May I please ask you why you guys charge 2.9% plus 30c per transaction? If I may say, that is quite steep and is no different than what the non-Christian businesses charge for similar services.
Thank you
Barn says
Hi, Peter. My apologies for taking so long to respond.
Our fees are for the product/services. Essentially, we roll all the cost of our solution into the transaction fee as we’ve found that churches like the simple structure and ability to get started with no financial barriers. We do not charge a setup or monthly fee and there are no hidden fees for things like PCI compliance, receiving statements, etc. Many others out there have other fees associated with their tools in the form of a monthly fee or other add-on fees that are not obvious up front.
Generally speaking, or fees are competitive with other solutions out there when you’re comparing apples to apples (eg. all fees included and calculated against total amount of giving being processed by a church).
I hope that helps. Feel free to shoot me any other questions. [email protected]
Barn – http://tithe.ly