The Importance of Mobile Giving

Most churches now realize the importance of offering online giving, but many have not recognized the transition to mobile giving that is now taking place. There is a difference, and you need to understand how it impacts the giving to your church or ministry.

Here’s a quick survey that you can do during church. Ask how many people have a checkbook with them.  In one of our services, only 2 people raised their hand. Then ask how many have a smartphone. You’ll be amazed at the difference. Those 40 and under very rarely carry cash or checks. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I wrote a check.  If your church depends on cash and checks for the offering, you will struggle to get the younger generation engaged in giving on Sunday mornings.

For a long time, churches have offered online giving through their websites, and that’s a great first step, but it’s not enough. Many online giving solutions are not mobile friendly. You have to go to the website, fill out forms that are designed for computer screens, and hope you followed all the steps correctly.  We are now seeing a shift from just online giving, to mobile focused giving solutions.  Services like Tithe.ly, Mogiv, PushPay (eChurchGiving), and Kindrid are leading the way to make giving through your mobile device easy to use.

What Our Church is Now Using – Tithe.ly

After evaluating and trying out different solutions, Cornerstone is now using Tithe.ly.  We are loving the simplicity of the app, and it offers a few features that set it apart from the other solutions. Here’s what we like about it:

church online giving

Tithe.ly Provides a Mobile App to Simplify Giving

Download the app from the app store, locate your church, add your debit, credit, or bank account information, and give. It’s simple and it’s fast. You don’t have to remember a website, and you can give from anywhere. Tithe.ly does offer a website link that we use, and it works great. It is mobile friendly, and the design is simple and easy to use. We even integrate the link into our mobile app for our church. Here is a link to our website for online giving to our church. We’ve quickly increased our online giving to around 25% of our total giving at church.

Tithe.ly Offers One Time and Recurring Giving

It’s simple to setup your gift to repeat. Just choose how often you want it to recur, and it handles the rest. You can go to the app or website at any time to see your giving history. Churches can also setup different funds that can be selected for giving.

Tithe.ly Has a Simple Pricing Model

Tithe.ly has no monthly fee and the processing fees are simple.

  • Credit & Debit 2.9% + 30¢
  • ACH / Bank 1% + 30¢

Tithe.ly Provides an Option for Givers to Cover Processing Fees

This is something we really like. There is a checkbox to increase the amount of the gift to cover the processing fees. We have found most people will do this.

Tithe.ly Offers Text Giving

Finally, they also offer giving by texting for another $19 per month. We aren’t currently using this option, but it may be a good fit for younger churches. I personally feel that giving by text can be a little complicated compared to giving through an app.

 

So, if you are not offering online giving, why not? For no monthly fee, you can quickly add giving for your church. Here is a great tutorial on setting this up on your church website.

Note: there are no affiliate links in this review. I’m simply recommending tithe.ly because we use it and like it. I hope you find it helpful to your ministry

Mike

I am a former design engineer who now pastors Cornerstone Community Church in Galax, Virginia. I'm passionate about following Jesus and I love technology. I've been married to Jennifer for 28 years, and we have three adult children.

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