For some, the start of a new year is the perfect time to begin something new and get people on board with change. That is just what Central Church of the Nazarene in Tulsa, Oklahoma did when they made the decision to sign up for TransactU to accept online donations in February 2008.
Christina Knight, treasurer for Central Church, says, “We began receiving online donations almost 11 months ago through TransactU. It was an easy decision to begin accepting donations online. These days, people are accustomed to [taking care] of financial business online. Many pay all of their bills online; some no longer carry a checkbook. We needed to make it easy for those people to give to the church.”
Despite Central Church being new to ServiceU, their acclimation to the system was quick and easy: “Setting up the online giving forms and getting it started was simple. The online manual was helpful in that process. When I’ve needed to call for assistance with anything, the customer support people have been friendly and helpful.”
The way in which an organization markets or spreads the word about a new way to give is very important to its overall success. Many times when churches offer online donations on their website, church attendees may still not know about it. “We have promoted online giving on our website, in e-newsletters, and in our Sunday morning bulletins. Response was a little slow at first but has gradually gathered momentum. I think once people try it, they find out how easy it is. They like the ability to set up recurring contributions every week or month, rather than having to enter them individually. It was particularly nice for people trying to make last minute contributions for tax purposes at the end of the calendar year. They could make their donation regardless of what time the office closed on December 31st.”
How has TransactU impacted Central Church’s giving? Knight says, “In the past eleven months since implementing online giving, we have received 15% of our total donations online, and that is a percentage I expect to continue to grow.”
To read more about how TransactU can help your church with online donations, click here.
