Digital giving is particularly well-suited for donations from one-off or occasional visitors, such as those attending weddings or baptisms. If you aren't already using your device or are struggling with digital giving, we have outlined some useful tips for making the most of your device:
Device Giving
- Put your digital giving device somewhere prominent and easily accessible. The best location may vary depending on the service. Try different areas where people congregate and see what works for your church building.
- Let the congregation know they can get up during the service to use a giving device, perhaps during the peace or offertory hymn for example.
- During one-off and life event services, please mention different ways of giving in the sermon, during the notices, or at the end of the service. Positively speak about this and remind them that your church supports its local community – aim to make people smile!
- Disable the Gift Aid option on your devices for one-off services and events to make the donation process quicker - if people see a queue they might not wait to donate.
- Encourage regular donors to set up an ongoing Gift Aid declaration on the device. If they continue to use the same card details, it will add Gift Aid to their donations.
Online Giving
- Ensure your church has set up online giving to work alongside your giving device (if you have one).
- Add a ‘Donate Now’ button to your website and A Church Near You page.
- Create a QR code using a website like QR Monkey, linking to your online giving. This can then be used on pew sheets, posters, newsletters, and social media posts, and can be attached to the backs of seats and pews using Velcro (not Blu Tack or Staples).
- Before one-off life events services, speak to the family and suggest a 50/50 collection to raise funds for your church and a charity of their choice. This may not be possible if multiple families are being baptised at the same time, in which case please share a QR code linking to your ‘Donate Now’ button and hand out one-off Gift Aid envelopes too.
- Finally, please thank the individuals who are sharing God’s generosity by giving to your church. For many, this will be the only church service they will have attended this year, so please explain why giving matters by focusing on how your church supports its local community. For example: “Your donations allow us to continue the work and ministry of our church in this place, especially services like this one (and baptisms are God’s free gift to all of his children).” If your church offers well-known outreach activities, this is a great time to signpost to them, too.
Support and training
We provide regular training to help you with digital giving at your church. Click here to see upcoming training dates.
The Church of England National Team also provides useful training on getting started with and improving digital giving. You can find upcoming webinars here.
We also share information and promote peer support via our social media pages on Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter). Join us at these links Facebook Twitter.
Online donations links
- easyfundraising portal
- How easyfundraising works (QR code included)
- Getting started with easyfundraising
- Setting up a new easyfundraising account
- Fundraising for your church
- Donations from online shopping with easyfundraising (video)
- Data Developments