How to Support Your Church or Synagogue Electronically

Gone are the days when people brought goats and chickens to their homes of worship as their offering. These days, people either put money in the collection plate or they offer their support in a variety of other ways. While many houses of worship continue depending on pledges, and the cash & checks they find in the plates on Sunday, more are jumping into the modern world of electronics. Let's take a look at how to offer your support to your faith.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• An open mind, and the realization that your house of worship has lifted itself out of the Dark Ages.

1. When you make your pledge, or you want to facilitate your weekly offering, give your house of worship your credit card number. You can trust they will keep it confidential and safe. This has become very popular, to the extent that VISA saw a rise in church-related transactions rise almost 25% in 2007.
2. Make your weekly offering at a Giving Kiosk in the vestibule of your house of worship. Stevens Creek Church in Augusta, GA was one of the first to use the Giving Kiosk, and it took in over $200,000 from it in 2007, and it expects to see it grow substantially in the future. You can make yours as successful, even though, at first, you may be reluctant to use it rather than the traditional envelope.
3. Make your contribution through the website established by your house of worship. Besides being designed designing to tell people why theirs is so special to join, they are also where members are encouraged to give money, online. Website giving is growing fast as a source of revenue for houses of worship all around the country, particularly as people become more comfortable with electronic giving verses putting an envelope on the plate.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep a record of your contribution or pledge. Beginning in 2007, the Internal Revenue Service requires that you document all charitable contributions, including those under $250. In the past, all you needed was a diary notation to prove your contribution. Electronic giving to your house of worship provides proof of a donation if there is ever an audit.