Making your church’s online giving page shine is easier than you might imagine. All you need to do is follow the church website donation page examples and tips we outline here.
Before we get into how to grow your online giving, it is important to examine if and how well it works. In an internal survey we conducted, we found that those switching to online giving grew donations by 26 percent.
But the degree of the gains depends on a lot of variables. The most important one boils down to how effective your online church donation page is.
If you’re wondering how to set up donations for a church website, the answer is an online giving page. An online giving page is a software solution that churches can link to from their websites or embed directly within their websites where donors can process contributions.
In this example, Interfaith Coalition created an online giving page with links to specific charitable programs. Each tile briefly describes a specific program and provides a convenient donate button that links directly to program and payment details.
Now that you understand online giving pages and their value, here are 13 tips to help you consider what potential donors might want from a church donation page, explore church technology solutions, and take advantage of church website design for donations to make the most of this vital part of your church financial management plan.
Before you create or improve your church’s website donation page, it helps to understand your churchgoers’ preferences. This will help you organize the layout and text on the page to suit their preferences.
Effective ways to learn about your members’ and guests’ preferences could include organizing a meeting of volunteers in your community or sending a survey. These are key parts of good donor management for your church.
There are several free resources you can use to create a survey, such as SurveyMonkey. If you’ve never used SurveyMonkey before, you’ll be surprised by how quickly you can set up a professional survey. This five-minute video clip shows just how easy it is.
If you don’t know what questions you should ask in your church survey, don’t worry. Thousands of churches have successfully conducted surveys and many have posted samples online. At Vanco, we even created a guide and a sample to assist the 25,000 churches we work with. Click here to access the free guide and sample.
You can also rely on aggregate data from thousands of churches across the country. We’ve compiled a list of 45 must-know church giving trends and statistics. You can also receive critical data by visiting these sources:
You may already have an online giving platform, but is it the right one to help your church meet its stewardship goals? It’s not uncommon for churches to have online giving providers that are not helping them maximize generosity.
Here are a few features your software must have to make your online giving pages a success.
If somebody is willing to give once, they’re more likely to give again. So, it isn’t surprising that monthly givers donate 440 percent more than one-time givers (Philanthropy News Digest). But the generosity of repeat givers doesn’t stop with their monthly donations. They are 75 percent more likely to make additional one-time gifts than non-repeat givers (Classy).
Because these types of givers are most committed to your mission, your church donation page should make it easy for them to repeat their gifts. Your online giving page provider should make it as simple as including a check box asking the donor to make their gift continuous, providing a major boost for your donor retention.
Having givers donate routinely has a significant impact on giving. In fact, out of the strategies to increase giving used by the 25,000 churches we work with, recurring giving is one of the most effective. If you’re looking for ways to boost recurring giving in your church, we outline 10 strategies to help you get started in this article.
A great example of the power of recurring giving is Interfaith Coalition’s Coffee and Sandwiches Together (CAST) program. This program raised enough support to provide the local community with 9,000 meals in one year, taking a big bite out of food insecurity within the Bellingham Washington community.
The Recurring button helps the church and this important program seize on donors’ generous impulses to make sure their gifts continue to nourish the church’s key community outreach program.
Your church’s website is the perfect place to post notifications and communications to members, but it’s also a great home for your church giving page. When users visit your website, they should have a clear path to this donation page. By including a button or a link on every page of the website, you guide web visitors toward a desirable action: giving.
By following a few guidelines, you can encourage your members to explore your missions and donate to them.
For example, the First Lutheran Church and School in Fort Smith Arkansas has a GIVE link in the top-right corner of their website, so it appears on any page visitors access.
No matter where a visitor is on your website, they should notice the donate button. By using a color that contrasts with your website, you’ll attract attention to your giving button. There’s a complex science that goes into choosing the best CTA colors; however, the general rule is that brighter colors perform better, while colors such as brown, white and black perform poorly. Whatever color you choose, make sure you include the right text within the button. The text you use should be simple (only two to three words) and clear.
When businesses ask for a sale, they show exactly what the purchaser will get for their money. This clear return on their dollar is what helps a consumer decide between Product A and Product B. It might seem entirely different for churches and giving, but the concept is the same. Thousands of organizations request donations and donors’ resources are limited. They can only give to a handful of causes. By clearly showing givers the impact their donations will have, it makes it easier for them to choose your church. Be clear about what you have done with donations and what you will achieve with them going forward.
Successful churches include additional pages detailing the good works the churches have achieved through the generosity of their members and guests. On your site, you can link to this kind of page from your donation page to help donors see the value their gifts provide to those in the community and beyond.
Social proof is a powerful psychological phenomenon that influences people's decisions by showing them that others have already taken a particular action or expressed positive sentiments. When applied to church online giving pages, social proof can significantly boost the trust and confidence of potential donors.
Example 1:
"I've been a member of this church for over a decade, and I can personally attest to the incredible impact our community has had on my life. Through the support of generous donors like you, we've been able to provide food, shelter and hope to countless individuals in need. Join us in continuing this meaningful mission!"
Example 2:
"When I faced a personal crisis, this church was there for me. Your donations not only helped me through a difficult time but also strengthened my faith. I'm forever grateful to this church and its caring members. Your support truly changes lives."
Example 1:
"As a single parent struggling to make ends meet, I didn't know where to turn. Then, I received support from [Church Name]. Your generosity provided my family with food, clothing and a renewed sense of hope. Your donations transform lives like mine every day."
Example 2:
"I was lost and addicted before finding solace in [Church Name]'s rehabilitation program. Your contributions save lives. Today, I am a proud, sober and grateful member of this church community. Your kindness and faith in me made it all possible."
The power of a well-crafted headline cannot be overstated when it comes to your online church donation page. Your headline is often the first thing potential donors see, and it's the key to capturing their attention and inspiring them to take action.
This point goes hand in hand with demonstrating your purpose. Words can’t explain the joy your church’s mission brings to the recipients of charitable donations. For this reason, including pictures of people who have been supported by the church can help givers connect with your mission. Placing these images on your website and linking to them wherever they are relevant shouldn’t take long and can make a big difference.
It’s amazing what a suggestion can do. By including a preselected donation amount or offering a suggested gift amount, donors don’t have to worry about how much is enough. In fact, you’re likely to influence giver behavior by encouraging them to give more.
Your online giving platform should have a built-in function to send thank-you emails that confirm gifts have been received and thank the donors. In your thank-you email, you should also include helpful resources to help members stay involved in your church. This could include links to your church groups that tell them how they can join. You could also share a link showing the good works you are already doing with donations like theirs. Demonstrating what your church has done with donations inspires givers to support your mission in the future.
If you’re looking for help wording your church’s thank you, we have created a complete guide to help convey your heartfelt gratitude. In addition to dozens of sample thank-you letters, it includes church giving appeals for just about every situation.
Your website and church donation page need visitors to attract members and donations. That’s why you need to promote it. But don’t worry — you don’t need a big church advertising budget to be a success. In fact, all the suggestions in this section don’t cost a thing.
According to Pew Research Center, nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults are on Facebook. That’s why churches should take advantage of social media. Your church’s Facebook page will also help improve your local search visibility on Google and Bing. These search engines use Facebook pages as a key source to determine if your church is local to your area. This means that when somebody new to your area is looking for a church, or simply looking to learn more about your church, it will be easier for them to find yours online.
Aside from being helpful for your church’s visibility online, Facebook can work with your website and donation pages to increase giving.
For example, First Presbyterian Church added a Share button to the online giving page for their Backpack Buddies program. Visitors simply click Share and choose the platform where they want to post their messages.
If you’ve verified your church’s address with Google, which is free, search results for your church’s name will have an additional box on the page. The box includes a picture of your church, the address, a link to a page on your website, a phone number and an option to get directions to your location. If you want to know how to set up donations for a church website, Google My Business will help drive more people to your website to accept donations and promote your church to individuals in your area. If you’re looking to launch your own Google My Business page, you can get started in just a few minutes by following these instructions.
Adding extra callouts to your church’s flyers, pew cards or bulletins isn’t much work, especially because most of the legwork has already been done for you. Vanco’s launch materials include dozens of ways to help you encourage members to give online. Anyone can use these materials for free.
Why not use a tool that can help you improve communication with members while driving more users to your church’s donation page? With Vanco Mobile, a free app, you can easily manage church groups, track seating capacity for services and events, and facilitate conversations between members and church leaders. The tool also acts as a mobile donation app that lets you link to your church giving page and includes several calls to donate throughout the app. To learn more about this free app, click here to see everything it can do for you and how you can download it.
A direct appeal for donations for church mission funding can do wonders, especially when most of your members have their smartphones with them. Remind and encourage members to use your app and church donation page to donate right away from their smartphones.
One of the primary reasons for a secure church giving page is building donor trust. According to a study by Nonprofit Source, 75 percent of donors are concerned about the security of their personal information when donating online. By having a secure online donation process, you can alleviate these fears and encourage more donations from your congregation.
Another reason for secure giving pages is reducing the financial liability for all transactions made within the church. This means that in case of any fraudulent activity, you will not be held responsible for the losses incurred. A secure giving page ensures that all financial transactions are encrypted, which makes it difficult for hackers to intercept sensitive information such as credit card details.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain secure environments.
Here are some actionable tips to implement PCI standards at your church and keep your donor information safe and secure.
Does online giving increase donations for churches? Yes! But creating an effective church donation page is not a one-and-done endeavor. If you want to continue to enhance stewardship and grow generosity to fund key church initiatives, you’ll need an ongoing optimization process that continuously refines and improves your church giving pages in addition to typical steps like sending donation receipts. Here are a few ways you can kick off a process to improve the efficacy of your online giving pages.
25,000 Churches Trust This Game-Changing Software to Grow Generosity
Got 76 seconds? That’s all the time you need to see the software designed specifically for churches like yours to grow giving. Built with the best practices we outlined in mind, the software makes it easy for any church to build an effective online church donation page.