Tithe.ly: Online Giving for Churches

CBOQ has partnered with Tithe.ly, an online giving platform designed to help churches increase giving and engagement with tools built for ministries. As giving trends change, and fewer people give by cash or cheque, having online giving options can make a substantial difference for churches. CBOQ has negotiated a discount rate for our family of churches: 2.5% + $0.15/transaction, with an optional text to give feature at $9/month. Below you will find more information and tips adapted from Tithe.ly’s resources on how to use the service in your own congregation.

Please note: To get the discounted rate, make sure you use the button below to set up your account. Create you own login, then click “Create Admin Account Now”

Get Tithe.ly

Living Generously

Encouraging Generosity in your Congregation

What does it mean to live a generous life? How can we encourage our fellow Canadian Baptists and ourselves to live more generously? Beyond tithing our 10%, true generosity leads us to give our time, talent and treasure in the service of Jesus. We encourage you to use this new resource to help your congregation understand and practice generosity in your church.

Generosity Resources

Why Offer Mobile Giving?

Mobile giving saves time

Mobile giving is fast and easy

Donations will go up

People can donate on their own schedule

Mobile giving is versatile

No one needs to count and record digital donations. Receipting is easy.

Once a donor is set up, they can make a donation faster than writing a cheque. Many people no longer carry cash or a cheque book.

When mobile giving is offered, donations typically go up 10% – 20%

Giving is not limited to Sunday morning.

People have the option to give once, set up recurring donations, designate to specific ministries or purposes.

Giving in the Digital Age

In the rapidly changing landscape of church fundraising solutions it’s important to understand the “why” behind giving. Things like need, vision and the heart behind generosity are important.

But you can’t stop there.

Equally important are the communication and execution aspects of rolling out new mobile and online giving solution for your church. Without good communication and a well executed plan, you’ll end up with new technology that no one is using. And that equates to time and money lost that could have been spent on your church’s mission.

The fact is that churches traditionally lag behind the technology adoption curve.

Whether you’re rolling out digital giving for the first time or going through a technology upgrade, the five steps outlined below will have you well on your way to a smooth and successful outcome.

Helpful Downloads

Tithe.ly—A Complete Primer
FAQs for Churches
Giving Checklist
FAQs for Donors

1. Establish a launch team

This can be one point person or a team of people who become the experts. There is lots of support online for donors and churches, but it will help your congregants to have a go-to person in your church that they know and trust.

2. Train your leadership and volunteers

It’s critically important that you teach, train and motivate leaders and volunteers to use the new giving technology themselves so that they can gain confidence and start to share with the groups of people they interact with in your church.

Enlisting and engaging these “early adopters” helps to put them in a position to champion the opportunity to other church members down the road so that you’re not standing alone trying to “make it work” months after the initial roll out.

1. Take 30 minutes to demonstrate the new technology to this group. Be sure to go through the entire giving process end-to-end so that they can have the full experience.

2. Have them download the Tithe.ly mobile giving app, sign-up for an account and complete making a $5 gift.

3. Allow them to ask questions, questions and more questions. Note any questions you can’t answer for follow up. Your notes will help you create an FAQ document for the larger church audience.

4. Ask this group to be your early adopters over the course of a month or so. Compile their feedback so that you can use it when you roll out the tools to the entire church.

5. Work with this group to formulate a solid roll-out plan.

6. Ask them to get one of their friends from within the church to sign-up and use the giving solution. Then have them share their experience with you.

Note: This is the most important tip of all. Having laser focus here means the rest will fall into place.

3. Communicate early and often

It common for a church to have a simple way for members to give online. What’s uncommon is the adoption rate of online or digital giving compared to cash and cheque giving.

The number one reason for the lack of digital giving adoption is poor communication. Take the time to demonstrate the digital giving tools your church is providing and show your congregation how to use it.

Connecting a laptop to your projector screen and actually going through the motions of making a contribution will increase your digital giving instantly. Invite people to pull out their phones and download that app right there on the spot, then walk them through how to set up their account.

But don’t stop there.

Record a demo of you going through the setup and giving process
Create a how-to page on your website.
Put information in your weekly bulletin – give it a permanent place
Tweet it, post on Facebook, share it on Instagram
Email your congregation
Setup in-person group meetings for those looking to learn more
Have small group leaders continue to help their groups

You get the idea, right? Communicate, communicate, communicate! Educating your congregation over a period of time until it becomes second nature—almost cultural—is the key. Enlisting buy-in from the top down and the bottom up will ensure that you get the most out of your digital giving solution.

4. Ensure it’s easy for everyone

Technology for some people is downright scary. Remember the people in your church that are apprehensive about giving their money using apps or websites.

They key is to ensure the digital giving solution that you introduce is simple to get started with, easy to use, and intuitive. Consider setting up a sign-up kiosk with a coach to help people get started. Also, remind people that they can still give by cash or cheque.

5. Provide multiple giving options.

Here are a few of the digital giving options that you could roll out to your church.

1. Application (iOS, Android, Windows, etc.) giving
2. Website giving
3. SMS/Text giving
4. Kiosk giving
5. Recurring giving

That’s at least five ways for one to give digitally.

The key here is that one size does not fit all. Some of your congregation will prefer to give through your website. Others will love text giving. Still others will want to setup recurring giving once.

The idea is to give your members options.

When you employ a multi-channel giving strategy you have a greater chance of member engagement and adoption which ultimately leads to a better chance of increasing your donation base. And increased funding allows you to do more in your community, serve more people, and fulfill your church’s vision and mission.