How Catholics feel about online giving is an important consideration because studies show digital giving increases overall donation amounts by 26%. So parishes (and dioceses) could benefit from implementing and promoting online giving.
Visit Part 1 here: Catholic Giving Statistics: Getting to Know Catholic Givers.
Continuing our deep dive into Catholic giving, here’s what we’ve learned about their online giving preferences:
Older Catholics are keeping up with younger generations
Like other churches, the Catholic church has seen a great exodus in younger generations, who originally preferred online giving the most. But today, older Catholic givers comprise a growing percentage of online givers (Source).
A USCCB survey of Catholic online giving reported:
- 49% of 16-34-year olds gave online
- 53% of Catholics aged 35-64 donated online in the past 12 months
- 51% of study participants donate online 2-11 times a year
- 4% of study participants donated online weekly
- 13% of study participants donated online monthly
- 32% of study participants donated online once a year
Mass attendance frequency impacts Catholic online giving
Lifeway Research reports that for all churches, attendance frequency does seem to correlate to tithing frequency and amounts. This holds true for Catholics giving online (Source):
- 80% of those who attend mass weekly donated money online
- 64% of those who attend mass monthly donate to church online
- 24% of those who attend mass a few times a year or less donate money to religious organizations online
Catholic givers’ income correlates to their use of online giving
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reports that families that earn more money are more likely to donate online (Source):
- 36% of Catholic households earning $100,000 or more annually give online
- 20% of Catholic households earning between $60,000-99,000 annually give online
- 12% of Catholic households earning between $35,000-59,000 financially support their parishes online
Why Catholics give online
The 25% of Catholics who prefer online giving cite several reasons for their preference (Source):
- 71% – convenience
- 14% – monitoring finances
- 7% – option to use a credit card
- 6% – want receipts
- 5% – security
Why Catholics don’t give online
The main reasons cited for not preferring online giving are (Source):
- 47% distrust the Internet
- 33% prefer to give in person
How Vision2 Helps Parishes and Dioceses
Vision2 online giving software addresses the concerns that givers have about digital giving, while serving parishes and dioceses with aggregated donor and contribution data across parishes and dioceses as desired.
See Part 1: Getting to Know Catholic Givers
Gina Calvert: December 7, 2023
Gina Calvert