Times have changed in every single field and industry due to the pervasiveness of the Internet. It really has informed and affected the way that we do our business on a day-to-day basis, no matter what that business may be. There was a time, not too long ago, that a church or community could pass a basket around every Sunday and rest-assured that the lights would stay on for another week. However, with the rising expenses of running a church, the “old-fashioned” way of doing things may not be the best choice.

Just like engaging younger church members with a website, using an online donation system is a perfect way to increase the amount of contributions that your church takes in, and even makes it easy on your community members by letting them pay in a way that doesn’t disrupt their routine. Many people don’t even carry cash anymore! Often, it’s not the concept of the small donation or tithe that prevents people from contributing, but the convenience of not having the cash when they attend church. For some, it may even be that they would contribute more if they had more money on hand.

Anyone with a passing familiarity with the internet recognizes what an important aspect commerce is to the success of the world wide web. Because of its importance, sending money between people online has been made even easier in today’s world of technology. With online tithing, churches can accept donations online, create reports and even send emails to church email lists.

Using PayPal is one of many convenient ways to accept online giving. Doing so just involves setting up an account, and then copying the code for their widget onto your page. You can adjust what it says, but many people just have it to set to “donate here!”. Most users already have a PayPal account (as it is widely used for buying things on eBay and other ecommerce sites), so sending money to the church is as simple as pressing the donate button, setting an amount, and hitting “confirm”.

For those that don’t want to deal with PayPal or would prefer to use another option, there are dozens of other alternatives designed specifically to streamline the process of accepting money for your church’s website. These tools are easily designed to be used by any church member or volunteer, very few of them actually require more than just pasting the widget into your church website. As always, Truepath can help you get something working if you need any help.

Why would you deprive yourself of the donations that could be raised by implementing online giving? The process of configuring it can take less than fifteen minutes after an online account has been created. Online giving is a great way to connect more deeply with your church members, and increase the revenue stream for your church to better provide for your community.