Three Reasons to Increase Recurring Giving

I always advise churches hold a January campaign to encourage signing up for recurring giving. Here are three reasons why you should consider this for your church.

A recently released study by the Christian think tank, Grey Matter Research, found that^1.

• 74% of evangelicals gave money to an individual local church in the 12 months preceding their participation in their study.
• Furthermore, they discovered that 56% of all evangelical donors (or one-third of all evangelical adults) had had experience as a monthly partner with at least one organization. This is essentially the same as the recurring giving option for your members.

Below are the three reasons why you should increase the percentage of donors using recurring giving.

Three Reasons to Increase Recurring Giving

• Your giving will go up. When asked in the Grey Matter study what motivated donors to set up giving to be monthly, 41% of people stated that it ensures they do not forget to give to the organization each month, and 39% said it is because it is easier or more convenient. This will increase overall giving.
• It assures that the offering stays steady in down times and in times of crisis. Back in the day, before we had online giving, a church could miss a week’s offering if a blizzard hit on Saturday night. Then in July, members could visit Disneyland and leave their offering with Mickey. Rarely did members make up for that missed offering. With recurring giving, members don’t miss their offering.
• It gives you a better predictive ability to manage expenses and cash flow. By making the offering amount more consistent, churches can better stay current on bills and other financial obligations. According to Grey Matter Research, the most common reason people give for becoming a monthly partner is so the organization they are supporting knows it can depend on that money each month.

How impactful could recurring monthly giving be for your church? Consider the Grey Matter Research report’s conclusion that, “Thirty percent of all evangelical Protestant donors are not currently monthly partners with any organization, but they are solid prospects. If each of these 6.7 million evangelicals signed up to give just $30 per month, that would result in a dependable income of $200 million per month, or $2.4 billion annually. Imagine what could be done with that money.”

What percentage of your members could you get to become recurring givers? Imagine what could be done with that money to help your church’s mission and ministry.

The full text of the above was originally posted at https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/three-reasons-to-increase-recurring-giving

1. The Sustainers: Exploring Monthly Donor Partnership, Infinity Concepts|Grey Matter Research