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Last updated 11th November 2021

Online and Contactless Giving

As fewer people carry cash, churches are providing giving options to suit today's donors.  You can find out more about Regular Giving options from our website here and below is information for to enable those who give on an occasional basis to do so including contactless and online giving.

Contactless Card Readers

Many churches now provide contactless card readers to enable visitors who do not carry cash to give in a way that suits them.  If you set up online giving as explained below, you can order a card reader for your church as part of the process and you can find out more from the Church of England's Parish Buying website here.  Many churches start with a Sum-Up machine using either Wi-Fi or a moble phone with a data sim although there are options for churches without Wi-Fi or phone signals.  For more information, email stephanie.rankin@blackburn.anglican.org.

  • You can find out more about card readers for contactless donations from the Parish Buying Website here.  If you dont have a login for Parish Buying you can create one.
  • Click here for a checklist to help make best use of your contactless device over the Christmas period.
  • There are specially created Christmas film clips in the 'A Church Near You' Resource Hub Create custom Christmas giving video - A Church Near You to help you encourage giving in your church over the Christmas period

 

Online Giving - Introduction

Now it is also easy to enable people to give by card through a link on your website, social media page, email footer or A Church Near You page.  You can also create a QR code that can be added to a streamed service so that people can hover their phone over the code on their screen and be taken directly to your giving page as well as displayed on a poster in your building. 

There are many ways of doing this, but for parishes without an existing method of enabling online giving by debit or credit card, the quickest and simplest way will be through the partnership between the Church of England, Sum-Up and Give a Little.  Many parishes have Sum-Up machines so already have a Sum-Up account and a Give a Little account, but even if you don't, you can open an account with Sum-Up and create the necessary accounts to enable people to give online (and if you tick the box to say you have a Sum-Up machine you shouldn't even need to buy one, though you might find it useful).

Online Giving - Example 

To see how easy it is to give once the account has been created, click here or use your phone camera or QR code reader to hover over the QR code on the right to see an account we created.

 

 

Setting up an online giving account for your church

There are three simple steps to create an account like this for your parish:  Full details can be found here.  If you do not have a log in for Parish Buying you will need to set one up as part of the process which will also ensure that you receive the specially negotiated transaction rates of 1.95% which is competitive for online giving.

  • We recommend following Steps 1, 2 and 3 here as the guidance provides full details and should answer all your questions.  There are 4 films.  The first is the next 3 combined, so watching the first one will help you to understand the process before you start.  Then work through steps 1, 2 and 3, watching each film and reading the additional information and guidance for each step as you go.
  • A short animation has been produced which you can add to your website or use in an online service.  This can be customised if you wish.  More information about how to download and use this can be found here. THIS HAS NOW BEEN UPDATED AND IS SUITABLE FOR BOTH ONLINE SERVICES AND WHERE CHURCHES ARE MEETING FACE TO FACE.
  • If you are streaming services you can include information about why we give and ways to give as well as adding a slide to help people find your giving page

Promoting your Online Giving

  • A short video 'Promoting your online giving page' has ideas for promoting through A Church Near You/Church website, FaceBook page, during virtual services and when churches are holding services, as well as in emails and newsletters, and there are further sugegstiosn on the same page.
  • If you are streaming services you can include information about why we give and ways to give as well as adding a slide to help people find your giving page.
  • As our churches reopen, here is an example of a poster that you could adapt and display to enable people to give without needing to use cash or touch a contactless reader.  There is a template in word here.
  • If you have notice sheets or single use service sheets you could include the QR code on these together with an explanation of why we give and how to give this way, as well as reminding people of the standing order option for regular donations.
  • On 24th June 2020 Archdeacon Mark recorded a 5-minute talk about Costly Worship.  This could be included within a service or you might use some ideas from this in your own services or bulletins.  You can find the YouTube clip here.

For more information about this or other giving and stewardship resources please email stephanie.rankin@blackburn.anglican.org

 

Other information about tewardship and generosity can be found within our website using the links below

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