The moment we should have seen coming
A finance team leader at a mid-size church in Nashville told us a story. During their annual giving review, they pulled the numbers and realized that 70% of their total giving now came through their online platform. The offering plate -- the thing they spent five minutes passing every Sunday -- accounted for less than a third of their income.
That wasn't a sudden shift. It happened gradually over four years. But nobody had looked at the trend until now. When they did, the implications were immediate: their Sunday morning giving moment was no longer the primary financial engine of the church. Their website was.
This is the reality most churches are living in, whether they've examined it or not. The giving landscape has changed fundamentally, and the churches that respond intentionally will be more financially stable than the ones that don't.
Cash isn't dead, but it's no longer king
The numbers tell a clear story. Before the pandemic, most church giving was still cash and check. By 2024, that had flipped. The majority of church donations now happen digitally -- through websites, apps, and text-to-give platforms.
This isn't just a generational thing. Yes, younger members have never written a check. But older congregants have also shifted. They pay bills online, order groceries on their phone, and transfer money to their grandkids through Venmo. Digital transactions aren't novel anymore. They're normal.
What this means practically: the offering plate isn't going away, and it shouldn't. Some people will always prefer to give physically. But building your giving strategy around the plate alone is like building your communication strategy around the printed bulletin. It's one channel among several, and it's no longer the primary one.
This doesn't mean eliminating the offering moment from your service. It means expanding what that moment looks like -- a QR code on screen, a text number from the pastor, a link in the chat for online viewers. Multiple paths, one act of worship.
Text-to-give changed the math
Text-to-give adoption grew dramatically during the pandemic and hasn't slowed down. The reason is simple: people already have their phones in their hands during service. A text message is faster than opening a browser, navigating to a website, logging in, and entering payment details.
The first-time setup takes about 60 seconds -- the giver texts a keyword, clicks a link, and enters their payment method once. After that, giving is a single text message. No login. No password. No app to download.
Making text-to-give work
The churches that see real adoption from text-to-give share a common approach: they connect it to specific moments. Instead of a generic 'Text GIVE to 55555' on a rotation slide, they tie the giving moment to the sermon's application point.
A pastor talking about a community outreach initiative says: 'If you want to be part of this, text SERVE to our giving number right now.' That contextual connection between story and action dramatically increases response rates compared to a passive announcement.
Text-to-give setup checklist:
- Choose a keyword that's simple and memorable (GIVE, TITHE, or your church name)
- Test the complete flow yourself before announcing it publicly
- Display the number on screen during the sermon, not just during announcements
- Have a greeter or usher available to help anyone who gets stuck on the first attempt
- Send a personal thank-you text after the first gift -- not automated, genuinely personal
Recurring giving is your stability engine
Every church finance leader knows the anxiety of a low-attendance Sunday. Holiday weekends, summer vacations, bad weather -- any of these can cut weekly giving by 30-40%. For churches living month-to-month, one bad Sunday can mean a stressful conversation with the bookkeeper on Monday.
Recurring giving eliminates that anxiety. When a significant percentage of your giving comes through automated monthly transactions, your income becomes predictable. You can budget with confidence. You can plan capital projects. You can say yes to a new hire without wondering if the money will be there in August.
The threshold most finance leaders point to: when 40% or more of your total giving comes from recurring donors, the month-to-month volatility drops dramatically. Getting there isn't complicated, but it does require intentionality.
How to grow recurring giving
- Make recurring the default option on your giving page -- with a clear way to choose one-time for those who prefer it
- After someone gives for the first time, send a personal thank-you within 24 hours
- One week after the first gift, send a gentle invitation to set up recurring -- explain what it makes possible for the church
- Share impact stories monthly so recurring givers see where their money goes -- not just budget reports, but real ministry outcomes
- Celebrate recurring givers privately -- a quarterly note from the lead pastor acknowledging their consistency
There's a discipleship dimension here too. People who set up recurring giving tend to be more engaged overall. They volunteer more, attend more consistently, and feel more ownership in the church's mission. Recurring giving isn't just a financial mechanism -- it's a commitment signal.
Mobile wallets remove the last barrier
Apple Pay and Google Pay have become the default payment method for a growing segment of the population. For younger demographics especially, tapping their phone to pay is more natural than pulling out a credit card. No card number to enter. No password to remember. Just a fingerprint or face scan and the transaction is complete.
When churches add mobile wallet support to their giving page, they remove the last meaningful friction point. The entire giving experience -- from intent to completion -- takes under five seconds. Compare that to the 45-60 seconds of manual card entry, and the difference in completion rates is significant.
Don't overlook the visitors
First-time guests are more likely to give if the process is frictionless. They don't have an account with your church. They haven't bookmarked your giving page. But they do have Apple Pay on their phone. A mobile wallet option turns an impulse to give into an actual gift.
The technology side is straightforward. Most modern payment processors (Stripe, for example) support Apple Pay and Google Pay natively. It's a configuration setting, not a custom integration. If your giving page doesn't support mobile wallets yet, the technical barrier to adding them is lower than you might think.
Giving transparency builds trust
One trend that doesn't get enough attention: givers increasingly expect transparency about where their money goes. This isn't suspicion -- it's the same expectation they have of every other organization they support. Nonprofits publish impact reports. GoFundMe campaigns show progress bars. People want to know their generosity is making a difference.
Churches that communicate giving impact well see higher retention among their donor base. This doesn't require detailed financial statements in every newsletter. It means telling stories: 'Last month's giving funded 200 meals through our food pantry.' 'Your generosity covered the full cost of summer camp for 15 kids who couldn't afford it.'
Simple giving transparency practices:
- Share one specific impact story per month in your regular communication
- Give a brief quarterly update on giving trends from the stage -- not with anxiety, but with gratitude
- Send year-end giving statements with a personal note highlighting what the church accomplished together
- When launching a capital campaign or special project, set a clear goal and report progress publicly
Transparency doesn't mean opening your books to everyone. It means consistently connecting giving to outcomes. People give more generously when they can see the fruit of their generosity.
Your next move
You don't need to overhaul your entire giving infrastructure at once. Start with the change that addresses your biggest gap. If you don't have text-to-give, set that up this week. If you do, check whether mobile wallets are enabled on your giving page. If your recurring rate is below 30%, build a 3-email sequence to invite one-time givers into monthly giving.
The goal isn't to make giving complicated. It's to make generosity as easy as possible while keeping it personal and connected to your church's mission. Technology handles the transaction. Your team handles the relationship. When both work together, giving becomes less of a budget conversation and more of a worship experience.
See how Relius simplifies giving
Text-to-give, mobile wallets, recurring automation, and giving analytics -- all in one platform.
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