What is Donor Engagement?
In a church, at its most organic, donor engagement describes a relationship: Keeping your givers connected to the Body.
Remember back when millennials were becoming adults and the main reason for implementing digital giving was that young people couldn’t just write a check, because they didn’t keep their checkbooks with them like older generations?
Now, most churches have online giving, and yet this true story just happened.
A consistently giving baby boomer who had been using online giving at her church for quite a while shared two illuminating stories with us:
1. The church had begun a new ministry that she wanted to give a supplemental gift to. For some reason, though, it wasn’t included on their giving platform’s drop-down menu.
“When I asked how to give to that ministry specifically,” she explained, “I was told it had to be by check with the ministry name on the memo line, and either dropped in the offering box or mailed to the church. What a pain! But I did it.”
2. Then, the church changed giving vendors. She didn’t love having to go in and set up a new account, but she wanted the convenience of online giving, so she started the process.
“After multiple attempts to connect the platform to my bank, I quit trying. It was such a huge hassle and I never could seem to complete the process. I thought, ‘Fine, I’ll just give by check.’ But I kept forgetting my checkbook. So I tried online again, on my computer this time, not on my phone, and finally succeeded. But after a gift or two, it wanted me to reconnect my bank account.”
“So I went back to writing checks. It’s not hard to write a check – just takes a minute. But I ended up going a couple of months before I re-trained myself to bring my checkbook. (I never use it anymore.) So the church went without my contribution for awhile…and even now, I can still forget to bring it sometimes. I wondered how much money they were losing if other people felt the way I did. But I don’t think my church cares whether their online giving experience is convenient or not.”
“I give to several nonprofits,” she continued, “so I know it’s possible for giving online to be easier than this. I wish our church was using Vision2. I absolutely love the way it illustrates the different ministries and makes it easy to give to multiple ministries in one gift. I would definitely be a more consistent giver if our giving platform wasn’t so annoying.”
And this is a baby boomer, folks!
At Vision2, we talk a lot about the 83% rate of gift abandonment on charitable websites due to hassles, and how your gift experience can either connect your givers more deeply with the church or turn them away (sometimes for good).
We talk about connecting with your baby boomers, who are nearly as tech-savvy as younger generations. And while they’re not quite as impatient, they have their limits.
This woman is proof that frustrated givers really do exist out in the wild.
Want to make sure your online giving platform isn’t turning GIVING into GIVING UP?
In a church, at its most organic, donor engagement describes a relationship: Keeping your givers connected to the Body.
Online giving is a broad category of digital giving that encompasses a variety of giving modes and channels, including:
Churches grow because of their impact on lives, not because of their giving software. So what role does a giving solution really play in helping you...