Provide Expanded Giving Options
As regular giving through the offering plate happens less frequently, congregations need to provide additional options for people to support ministry financially.
Online giving allows people to donate independently of weekly attendance; it also offers people ways to make gifts using credit and debit cards and electronic fund transfers as they do with other financial transactions. Statistics show people are limiting the use of cash to smaller and smaller amounts and writing fewer and fewer checks. Online giving is an essential way for congregations to continue to receive substantial gifts and benefit from more uniform cash flow.
Congregations can also encourage gifts from donor-advised funds, IRAs to meet minimum distribution requirements, and legacy gifts included in an estate plan. Establishing an endowment fund and a gift policy to guide other kinds of giving are other possibilities. Gift planners and resources from the ELCA Foundation are available to assist with many of these scenarios.
