Acts20.com

Do any of you use on-site credit card giving at your church? I am looking into Square Pay as an option. If you do what do you use? And for those that don't is there a specific reason why www.takeheartchurch.com

Yea I have looked at them. Seems a little pricey with the $45 per month plus a 2.5% rate and $.30 per transaction. Square Pay is just a straight 2.5% per swipe. So I wonder what makes the ok sites worth it to pay a monthly fee www.takeheartchurch.com

Gotcha...good point on people not feeling comfortable. Thanks for the inpu www.takeheartchurch.com

Re: Accepting Credit Cards at Church

Josh,Thanks for getting this conversation started. In 2003, Stevens Creek Church of God was going through a capital campaign. During this season, I started to look at my own life and realized that I did not carry cash or a check book, but I lived with a debit card in my hand. I started to wonder (remember this is 2003) if there were any others in my church like me. Then, it hit me. If God prompted them to give while they were at church, how would they give.This thought stayed with me. I searched and search for a bank card donation system. I called company after company and all of them said something similar ... that's a great idea, but we don't have a solution.I was preaching at Central Church of God in Hilton Head, SC when the Lord woke me up at 5:45 AM on June 6, 2004 and said, I have called you to do this. I did not know anything about bank cards at the time, but the Lord said, Walk through the doors that I will open.It was as clear of a call from the Lord as the call that I received when I entered the ministry. I organized a team of developers and went to work. We launched the nation's first giving kiosk at Stevens Creek in March 2005 and SecureGive was born.About 18 months later, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times came to a Wednesday evening service and wrote a story called ATM for Jesus and was on the front page. The media coverage grew ... CNN, CBS, Today Show, FOX, AP and etc. The Lord did exactly what he said ... the doors I will open.Today SecureGive serves over 1,800 churches in America, Canada and Puerto Rico. We are a Church of God company that has clients like Elevation, New Spring, Fellowship Church, Seacoast, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Brooklyn Tab, etc. etc. In fact, we serve 34 of the top 100 churches. General Headquarters and Church of God World Missions are clients too.What do we offer. We have online giving that allows multiple categories with one transaction, multi-site campuses, scheduled giving and complete customization.We offer giving kiosks that collect donations from spontaneous givers while they are at church.We offer a mobile app that can be downloaded from iTunes and Android Marketplace.We offer a text-to-give solution that speaks to a younger generation.I am not in the day-to-day business of SecureGive, but there is a team there to answer any of your questions. Over 75% of the employees at SecureGive are Pentecostal....most of them Stevens Creekers. If you have specific questions, call 706-228-3210 or email: Drew (at) SecureGive.comWhere should you start? The first step is online giving. Then, you may want to grow into a giving kiosk or text-to-give.Oh, one more thing ... the Technical Support team is led by a Clemson grad. Yes, it pains me as a Gamecock fan, but it is what it is. ~Mart

Josh,Thanks for getting this conversation started. In 2003, Stevens Creek Church of God was going through a capital campaign. During this season, I started to look at my own life and realized that I did not carry cash or a check book, but I lived with a debit card in my hand. I started to wonder (remember this is 2003) if there were any others in my church like me. Then, it hit me. If God prompted them to give while they were at church, how would they give.This thought stayed with me. I searched and search for a bank card donation system. I called company after company and all of them said something similar ... that's a great idea, but we don't have a solution.I was preaching at Central Church of God in Hilton Head, SC when the Lord woke me up at 5:45 AM on June 6, 2004 and said, I have called you to do this. I did not know anything about bank cards at the time, but the Lord said, Walk through the doors that I will open.It was as clear of a call from the Lord as the call that I received when I entered the ministry. I organized a team of developers and went to work. We launched the nation's first giving kiosk at Stevens Creek in March 2005 and SecureGive was born.About 18 months later, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times came to a Wednesday evening service and wrote a story called ATM for Jesus and was on the front page. The media coverage grew ... CNN, CBS, Today Show, FOX, AP and etc. The Lord did exactly what he said ... the doors I will open.Today SecureGive serves over 1,800 churches in America, Canada and Puerto Rico. We are a Church of God company that has clients like Elevation, New Spring, Fellowship Church, Seacoast, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Brooklyn Tab, etc. etc. In fact, we serve 34 of the top 100 churches. General Headquarters and Church of God World Missions are clients too.What do we offer. We have online giving that allows multiple categories with one transaction, multi-site campuses, scheduled giving and complete customization.We offer giving kiosks that collect donations from spontaneous givers while they are at church.We offer a mobile app that can be downloaded from iTunes and Android Marketplace.We offer a text-to-give solution that speaks to a younger generation.I am not in the day-to-day business of SecureGive, but there is a team there to answer any of your questions. Over 75% of the employees at SecureGive are Pentecostal....most of them Stevens Creekers. If you have specific questions, call 706-228-3210 or email: Drew (at) SecureGive.comWhere should you start? The first step is online giving. Then, you may want to grow into a giving kiosk or text-to-give.Oh, one more thing ... the Technical Support team is led by a Clemson grad. Yes, it pains me as a Gamecock fan, but it is what it is. ~Marty Thanks Pastor Marty! I will Def be in touch soon. Do you guys think that a new church plant should have as many giving options available as possible? I'm thinking at least having online and text to give at the beginning. If not I am curious as to why it is not wise to have all options available in the beginning www.takeheartchurch.com

Wayne do you see that a lot of people are paying their tithes this way www.takeheartchurch.com

One method of giving that is popular at you church is automatic draft. We have a significant number who either set up automatic giving themselves through their own bank or have completed a form we provide to allow us to automatically pull from their accounts electronically. 10 of our top 20 givers use their method plus all of our staff (including me).More and more people are automating the important (a phrase we use to promote it at our church). We do it with mortgages, student loans bills, car payments, insurance, etc. why not with tithes?If the donor sets it up at their bank it is free. If they have us pull it there is a monthly flat fee for the service, but the service also allows us to pay staff by direct deposit. 40-50% of our total giving comes in electronically. We use all of the following:OnlineText to giveDebit/credit machines at self serve stations in the churchAutomated giving

Wayne do you see that a lot of people are paying their tithes this way?

This is a way to pay more than the tithe of the tithe, since interest rates on tithe payments can be a lot more than 10% on a credit card