To keep your church's giving healthy, it’s a good idea to ensure that there are several ways for your church congregation and visitors to give, including online and contactless giving.
On this page
Digital giving refers to donations made using a bank card or smart device, such as a mobile phone, either via a contactless donation unit or through an online giving page accessed via a web browser or QR code.
Contactless giving
In 2017 debit cards overtook cash payments in the UK, and since then the use of cash has been significantly declining. So, it’s worth investing in a digital mechanism to receive donations, making it easier for people who aren’t carrying cash.
The average contactless donation is £9.15
The type of device you choose will depend on a number of factors such as your budget, the availability of wifi or mobile signal, the size of your church and the number of visitors to the building.
Parish Buying have a range of contactless solutions at lower prices that have been specially negotiated for churches. You can view the contactless giving options available on the Parish Buying website.
Try Before You Buy scheme
We have secured some contactless giving devices to loan out to parishes for a maximum of 6 weeks, free of charge. If you are not sure how a device would work in your context, or whether your WiFi/mobile signal is strong enough, this is a good opportunity to trial it in your parish before purchasing a device. And if you find contactless giving a successful way to collect donations, you could use the funds raised to purchase your own device.
If you’re interested in registering for the 'try before you buy' scheme, please contact our Parish Giving Advisors.
Contactless giving case study
Church of Our Saviour have been using a CollecTin More for over a year. They quickly found that providing an alterative mechanism to give increased donations from both their congregation and visitors.
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Find out how Church of Our Saviour are implementing contactless giving
Church of Our Saviour in Chelmsford have already begun their digital giving journey and saw the benefits of their investment very quickly. They spent £295 on a contactless CollecTin in November 2022 and within 6 weeks the device had paid for itself.
For Church of Our Saviour, the main advantage is having the ability to accept contactless and card donations on a Sunday morning as they are finding that less people carry cash for the collection plate.
“Our contactless device means that we can give our congregation and visitors a convenient alternative to cash. We are now collecting donations that would have otherwise been missed.” – James Cottis, Church Warden
They securely fix their CollecTin by the entrance so that it’s available for all the groups that meet in the building throughout the week. The device they chose has the flexibility of being portable, which was perfect for collecting donations at their Coronation community BBQ and outdoor carol service on the village green.
They have been able to setup separate giving campaigns for different events. This has enabled them to collect some significant one-off donations when the life events have been held at the church and they raised over £300 in one day for the Turkey/Syria earthquake appeal through contactless giving alone.
Online giving
Online giving enables people to give to your church through the internet. It is simple to set up an online giving account, and you will be able to link to it from your church website, social media pages, A Church Near You page, email newsletters, and through QR codes making it easy for people to give.
The average online donation is £41.63
If your church is registered for the Parish Giving Scheme you can accept online one-off donations through your parish page on their website. If eligible, Gift Aid is automatically claimed on behalf of the church and sent directly to the church bank account.
Alternatively, Parish Buying have negotiated a free Premium Give a Little account for churches and reduced rates with payment processors (SumUp and Stripe) who process online payments. To access the reduced rates, you will need a Parish Buying account, which is free to register. Visit the online giving page on the Parish Buying website for further details.
QR codes
QR codes (quick response codes) provide a fast way for mobile phone users to access online pages. They work well for casual visitors and wedding attendees or other life events. They are also good for those who want to make a one-off donation either in church or if they take away the service sheet.
If you have an online giving page through PGS or Give a Little you can download a QR code to include on your church literature that will direct people to donate via their mobile phone.
Please note, if QR codes are accessible in an unattended public place (for example on a parish notice board) they can be vulnerable to scammers replacing your QR code with their own. For this reason, we strongly advise that QR codes are only made available on posters and literature within church buildings and regular checks are made to ensure that your QR codes have not been tampered with.
Contact our Parish Giving Advisors
If you have any questions or would like to explore the different digital giving options available, please contact our Parish Giving Advisors by emailing giving@chelmsford.anglican.org.
