The Advantages of Making January Recurring Giving Month

One key strategy for a good start to your New Year is to make January a push for recurring giving. While dated, the sample above gives you an idea of how to put recurring giving in the minds of your donors. This sample was in a yearly statement from North Point in Atlanta. Here are my top 5 advantages of recurring giving:

Advantage #1 – Your giving will increase. Churches that offer and highlight recurring giving always raise more money than the churches that do not offer this giving platform. One reason why giving increases is revealed in advantage two.

Advantage #2 – It assures there is always an offering. Recurring giving is never impacted by weather or attendance. As a result, your giving goes up. The last thing you need to start your New Year off is to get behind in giving due to inclement weather. Recurring giving will help you offset this.

Advantage #3 – It helps offset the summer slump in giving. Summers are notoriously one of the worst seasons for giving. By setting up recurring giving, you can avoid the summer slump in giving. Also, remember that January is the second most challenging giving period.

Advantage #4 – It makes your giving more consistent, helping you plan better. One church illustrated this a few years back by saying, “Recurring giving has taken the angst out of our staff meetings. We used to fret over how to pay our bills, especially in summer. Now our giving is consistent, which allows for better planning.” Stressing recurring giving can do the same for your church.

Advantage #5 – Recurring giving charges the least amount on processing fees. Since Covid, the percentage of donors giving online has risen sharply. Moving your members away from credit and debit cards can save your church thousands of dollars. Here is a post I recently wrote on this topic: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/cut-expenses-and-raise-more-money

How do you encourage recurring giving? Here is the simple message we work to use across all our platforms.

“Are you resolving to put God first this year in your finances? The best way to accomplish this is by setting up your giving to be automatic. We offer an easy, safe, and secure way to do this. Go to https://www.seacoast.org/giving/ and follow the simple steps.”

This message, or one like it, can be supported by pictures in an announcement, screenshots, social media, and all print pieces at the church. Take advantage of the advantages of recurring giving!