Thanking Givers? Do This, Not That
We’ve written before about the importance of thanking givers well, but we’ve never had a show-and-tell of problematic thank-you’s until now.
A 2018 Network for Good article, 7 Reasons People Give (and 1 Reason They Don’t), shared results of a survey of 3,000 donors.
The #1 reason why donors stop giving? They don’t know how their gift is being used.
[This is part 7 of our 11 Commandments of Online Giving series. Download the guide or start the blog series here.]
Nonprofits have long understood the power of visually and emotionally describing not what they do, but the impact of what they do. For example, it’s more motivating for donors to see happy village children drinking clean water than it is to hear about a water well drilling rig (or even see a picture of it…i.e. the WorldVision catalog)
But that’s for nonprofits. Does it apply to the church?
Yes. While some church givers will continue to give out of a sense of worship or responsibility even without knowing the impact, most of today’s new and younger givers take a completely different approach to charitable giving. They want to see the impact.
And while we hate to put it in these terms, nonprofit masters of fundraising are in competition for your givers’ dollars.
How can churches even begin to stand out to their givers?
Most online giving platforms provide only the basic drop-down menu for you to display your ministry funds, leaving churches with little options for demonstrating how gifts will be used. Your choice is either generic items like General Fund or Mission Trips OR specific fund names like The Well or Loaves-n-Fishes, with no room for descriptions, let alone imagery.
The problem is, both extremes leave at least new givers completely in the dark. They have no idea what these funds really are or how their gifts will benefit the church, community or world.
On top of that, the whole experience looks and feels fairly similar to a bill-pay transaction.
Giving is more than a transaction; it’s an act of worship, of connection. But how can we make sure it feels that way?
Vision2’s dynamic giving experience encourages givers to go beyond the tithe that supports basic church operations. Dynamic imagery and short descriptions for specific ministries allow givers to browse, search, click and give to the projects that speak to their hearts.
You don’t have to give up your General Fund. You just need to describe its impact. (Or you can showcase it via several subcategories that let givers choose, say, the impact your staff has through various activities or the impact of your facilities on members and the community throughout the week.) In other words, each ministry doesn’t have to be its own fund. Vision2 allows as many giving funds as you want, while simplifying fund management in the back office.
Vision2 is the only online giving solution that captures givers’ attention with visual ministry designations that inform and inspire generosity.
Ready to demonstrate impact on your giving pages? Reach out with your questions.
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