Giving in the Church is changing

It’s easier than ever to give. When I came to the Diocese of Toronto in 2003, the most common way to give was by cheque. Credit cards came in a distant second. From time to time, we received a gift of stock. The electronic age has turned the way we give on its head, and churches – perhaps remarkably – are at the fore of leading that change.

Can you remember a time when sidespeople passed the collection plate and it was filled mostly with loose change and the odd $2 bill? For many of us, that was the normative way folks would give to ministry and operations. That was also before the Church got serious about teaching stewardship, generosity and giving, and grounding our message in scripture. In the last three decades, a flurry of workbooks, workshops, manuals, programs, campaign outlines and conferences have informed people’s understanding of why and how we give.

Most recently there has been significant interest in “tap to give.” This is a credit card giving option where the donor “taps” a pre-set gift amount, usually in the $5-$20 range. You might have seen unsupervised tap stations for the Salvation Army at the entrance of your local grocery store. It’s exactly the same thing. The diocese launched a pilot project for this giving option in five parishes just before Christmas, and there appears to be interest – particularly in parishes that promote its use (in the order of service, for example) and in those churches that have a youngish demographic.

We have explored other methods of giving as well, with varying success. During the pandemic, when we transitioned to an online cabaret in lieu of a Bishop’s Company Dinner, we introduced a quick response or QR code to viewers. A QR code is a two-dimensional matrix barcode that you scan with the camera function of a smartphone that subsequently opens an application whereby you donate. The QR code proved popular during the event and over the next two years, but it has waned in popularity since. Even though all our stewardship stationery has the code on it, donors who give by credit card have gone back to making gifts online.

The pandemic also led to an increased use of pre-authorized remittance (PAR) and e-transfers as a way of making donations automatically. As offertory envelope use has declined, donors have embraced PAR for its convenience and the assurance that their gift is received. Using PAR ensures that a monthly donation goes to the ministry of the church even if you are not always present in church. More than 40 per cent of givers in the diocese use PAR, representing over 60 per cent of all offertory revenue. Twelve parishes boast that at least 75 per cent of their givers use PAR.

The great benefit of all these methods is they offer the donor a choice in how to give. They also provide the church and charities with ways of securing gifts more efficiently and confidentially. One of the great benefits I appreciate with online giving is that tax receipts are generated automatically. This positively impacts donor relations and helps streamline record keeping.

We still rely on tried-and-true methods of giving like cash and cheque. But if you have neither of those handy (and for many of us that is often the case), new ways to give are available. Part of the motivation can be explained by changing demographics and the nature of commerce. I’d like to believe that our diligence in promoting generosity has also had something to do with the shift.