If you want to know how to accept church donations online (or in person), then we can help you.
Let’s start with accepting credit cards face to face.
You will want to choose a merchant account provider that can offer you free equipment programs versus signing up for a 48 month lease or buying the credit card terminal outright.
For online solutions, there are a few points you will need to consider…
How to Accept Donations Online
Accepting credit cards online involves three components:
- Your website
- A “gateway”
- A merchant account (to process Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, and to process checks)
By the way, you can still accept credit cards even if you don’t have a website. That’s because your “gateway” also functions as a “virtual terminal” to allow you to process transactions online.
If you are looking to create, update, or upgrade your ministry or church website, check out iMinistries. They offer a great church website CMS for a low monthly cost.
Just ask for Travis when you contact them…
Now, if you already have a website in place you will need to make sure that your “gateway” will integrate seamlessly with your website.
There are a number of gateways available to you.
One recommended solution is authorize.net, since it integrates seamlessly with thousands of software solutions and website “back-end” designs.
Finally, your merchant account allows you to process credit cards and checks through your website. Think of the merchant account as the link between your “gateway” and your bank account.
The typical time for deposits to reach your bank account is 24 to 48 hours.
You can visualize the system this way:
Website >> Gateway >> Merchant Account >> Bank Account
All merchant account providers can set you up with the gateway as well. Just be sure BEFORE you sign up with a company that their gateway will work with your website.
Church Donations Simplified
The fact remains that most people want to make contributions on a regular basis that fits their monthly budget.
Unfortunately, very few churches have a system in place to make it easy for this to happen.
To set up a conscientious giving and donation program, all that is required is to accept credit cards as means for receiving donations and church collections.
This way contributions are reflective.
This means that church members make a conscious choice as to the amount they wish to contribute on a monthly basis.
When a giving decision is made monthly, as opposed to weekly, most people decide to give more as it is framed in a budget that they understand better (as most payments and giving opportunities are presented monthly).
You can even set up a “recurring billing” program to automate the process.
And by linking your website with a “merchant account” the entire process does not mean more work for your or the administrative staff.
To learn more about the process, including the costs and fees of accepting credit cards, please request a merchant account quote today…
