Frictionless Giving – Easy Engagement

Fire up those Smart Phones

“Good morning.  Our service is about to begin, take out your smart phones and get ready.”  Let’s face it, smart phones are going to be an increasing presence in congregation life for connection and e-Giving, including during the Sunday morning worship service.  There’s no escaping this – nor is there any reason to try – so we might as well as figure out how to position our congregations for success.

In my travels among congregations, I’ve seen a shift in messaging around smart phones over the past few months.  The only message I used to hear was “be sure to silence your cell phones” so they’re not a distraction.  Now I’m hearing – not often yet but once in a while – don’t turn your phones off, keep them on and tweet about what you’re experiencing.  I love it!  Let’s expand our very occasional invite-a-friend-to-church Sundays, with frequent tweets and other social media posts about how much our faith means to us and specific happenings of broad interest to our many circles of friends.

UU Examples of Sunday Morning e-Giving

From a stewardship perspective, there is strong interest in mobile giving and how it can be integrated into the Sunday service.  I recently learned that the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston passes around iPad minis  for e-giving along with the Sunday collection plate, and Rev. Dr. Daniel O’Connell reports that giving went up immediately.  And the web site of the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis encourages people to use the Square Cash app on their phones to donate from the pews or from home.   Are there other examples?

We’re also learning that people give more when the giving is easy.  Think frictionless giving – enabling people to give in multiple ways, most of them quick and easy.  Consider text to give, credit and debit cards, QR codes – people are looking to give, so let’s help them do so.  The following piece speaks to how much more generous people are when they are able to give by credit card.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/your-money/credit-cards-encourages-extra-spending-as-the-cash-habit-fades-away.html

And the data indicate that we need not be too worried about fees, as the increased giving is likely to more than cover them.

Technology is our Friend

One more thing to consider is that the start-up costs for these various technologies can be very modest.  This gives us a chance to experiment, move quickly, and adapt the technology to work for us.  There’s no need to try to identify the perfect solution before acting.   A google search will point you in the right direction about mobile giving options.

So as we move into the brave new world of ubiquitous smart phones and frictionless giving and connecting, let’s embrace the technology to serve our members, our broader constituent base, and the world.

Please share your experiences with technology for connecting and giving.  We do best when we learn from one another.