There was a time when people gave using items they grew or raised, like goats, vegetables, or grain. Then one day, someone had a great idea: Sell all my crops for money. They went to church with cash and asked if they could give. It was a quandary, but churches will always take cash – and they did.

Today, people want to be able to give in new ways. Cash and checks have been replaced with debit and credit cards, but churches are still resistant to the idea of digital giving. Don’t get left behind when it comes to giving! Implement a digital giving strategy that will grow your church’s budget and engage people in new ways.

This month, we’re coaching all of our Giving Rocket members in the area of digital giving.  If you’ve been thinking about jumping in, this is the time to do it.

Click here to give Giving Rocket a trial run for only $1.

Surf wisely.
Get more money for ministry.
Sign up today for your $1 Trial Membership!

With less than 3% of Christians tithing, are believers really going into debt from digital giving?

This seems very unlikely with many churches seeing contributions decrease while consumer debt continues to increase.  Have you ever heard someone say, “I’ve given my way into debt!” It’s not likely that people will increase their debt by giving money to their church via credit cards. If anything, they have spent money on themselves, increasing their debt, while never giving to the church.

Don’t buy into the lie.  Digital giving does not increase personal debt.

This month’s member success story was chosen specifically to prove how effective the resources, available to our members, actually are.  This church saw tremendous results  ONE MONTH into their membership!  The key here was that they USED the resources we made available.  Now they are reaping the benefits of having money to fund important ministries in their church! Check this out…

Dale Schaeffer BridgeWay Community Church, Morton, IL

 From: Dale Schaeffer
 Date: Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 9:32 PM
 Subject: Thank you!
To: Casey Graham 

“Casey,

Hey man just wanted to say thank you for what you and the team at Giving Rocket are doing.  

After thinking about joining Giving Rocket several times over past month, we finally pulled the trigger at the Chicago Giving Rocket Tour stop two weeks ago.  After just two Sundays I’m blown away by the results.

We were inspired on the Tour to share with our church in a giving talk where their money goes when they give.  The next Sunday was the final Sunday of our fiscal year so we decided to create a 4 page Annual Report to share with everyone who attended the next Sunday.  We created it on Wednesday and had it back from the printer on Friday.  Then passed them out on Sunday.  We took the “Where the Money Goes” giving talk and updated it for our situation and applied it to the Annual Report we’d printed.  At the close of our worship experiences, before the offering, we took 4 minutes to celebrate what God had done in the past year, where their giving went, and challenged everyone to be a part of what God was going to do in the next 12 months.

We usually average around $6,500 per week in our offering.  Our previous highest regular offering was $8,994.  This past Sunday, with no special giving emphasis, we received $13,059.15 in un-designated giving!  I think it’s safe to say, I wish we’d joined Giving Rocket months ago.  The giving talks alone, with a little local creativity, are worth the price of membership.

Thanks again for what you and your team are doing!

Dale

PS…I attached the annual report that we put together so you could see how simple what we did really was….the whole thing was designed off of the giving talk outline you guys provided.”

We hope that this story gets you FIRED UP enough to take action! If you haven’t become a member yet, there’s no greater time than now to do it! For $1, one month’s time and a little effort on your part, you too can see results like this.

Dale has given us permission to share not only his story, but the annual report they handed out to the congregation.  Click –> here <— to download the file.

Here are three great churches with great online giving pages.

Check out Church of the King.  I love how they give a simple tutorial and use video to show people exactly what to do.

Saddleback Church has a great online giving portal. Notice how they give people the option of making recurring contributions or making a one-time gift.

If you expect LifeChurch.tv to have a great online giving page, you are right.  This is probably my favorite giving page because it’s so clear.  I love how they give users the opportunity to create an account but give quickly via PayPal.  A lot of people have PayPal accounts (with “extra” money sitting in them) so this is a fantastic option.  Their page also does a super job of answering questions and showing where the money goes.

Making your website donor-friendly is just one component of creating a digital giving strategy for your church.  This is something we’re talking about for the next few weeks with our Giving Rocket members.  Jump in now, and you can grab a ton of resources.

We have been asked for a long time, “What should I send people who give to my church to show we appreciate them?”

Well, after looking for a good solution, we decided to create it:

What Happens When You Give
Quick facts:

1. It’s personalized (thank you note included)

2. It’s inexpensive (under $3 per family)

3. It’s inspirational (44 page booklet people will actually read)

Check out the video of the kit NOW!

We highly recommend that you appreciate your donors and we think this is a great way to do just that.

Get Fired Up!

P.S. FREE shipping on our new Giver Appreciation Kit this month. Grab a case!

Every month, we send 4-5 brand new and professionally written Giving Talk scripts to our members.  Some turn them into videos.  Some hand them to volunteers.  Some use them as inspiration to write their own.

A Giving Talk is a 2-minute set-up of the offering, and it’s one of the most important times in your service.  As you get ready for Easter, we wanted to give you a FREE Giving Talk that’s perfect to introduce the offering (and the reason you do it) to all the guests who will attend your church on Easter.

Fill out the short form and a PDF will arrive in your inbox.

After talking to hundreds of pastors, we’ve realized that while preachers love preaching, it’s the preparation that often hurts.  So we’re going “behind the scenes” with some of America’s best preachers to find out how they bring great content, week in and week out.

Would you like to hear how Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Dr. Charles Stanley, Louie Giglio, and Vanable Moody prepare their messages?  How would you like to learn communication principles from one of America’s best comedians…Jeff Foxworthy?

All of this happens this Thursday, March 15 at 1pm EST.  And best of all, it’s 100% free.  Preach Better Sermons is a free, three-hour, online conference focused on helping communicators prepare and deliver messages that matter.  Some of the best communicators in the world will unpack these seven preaching principles.

1. Start with the Scripture.
2. Keep it simple.
3. Make it portable.
4. Show it, don’t just say it.
5. Find common ground.
6. Finish early in the week.
7. Preach with the end in mind.

It’s 100% free, and since it happens online, there are no travel costs.  Register for the free event here.

Here’s a story we received recently from GivingRocket.com member, Scott Sparks.  Scott is the Lead Pastor at The Grove in Knoxville, TN.

 ”You guys are doing an incredible job with resources this year.  We’ve been with Giving Rocket for less than a year and we have begun several healthy practices that we have gotten from you guys - quarterly giving statements, offering intros, first time giver letter/notes, and connecting with significant givers.  Our giving has increased over 30% from last fall to this spring.

The Atlanta Giving Rocket Tour was excellent.  I made the trip with our executive pastor.  It generated lots of great conversation and action steps for us.  Thanks for everything your team is doing, especially the care you show toward pastors and your focus on discipleship.

As a pastor I have struggled with finding a comfortable place and rhythm when talking about money.  I am starting to find that with the resources that you guys are providing.  

Thanks Casey and thanks to your team.”

Scott Sparks

This FIRES ME UP!

One dollar is all it takes to gain access to resources that will transform the way you communicate and think about money.  You have nothing to lose.  Sign up today!

We just wrapped up another month, and as I look back on all the stuff we delivered to our members, it’s incredible. This year, we made the decision to pour into members by giving them access to everything we have. It’s the year of the member! Here’s a list of everything we delivered:

• Video, audio and eBook on The Giver Follow Up System
• A money back guarantee giving flyer, sample giving envelopes, first time giver
  letters, first time giver email, quarter giving letters, email to all contributors, email
  promoting digital giving, pledge follow up letter, card promoting online giving
• Video from Bob Franquiz on how he follows up with people at Calvary Fellowship
• Video interview with Michael Robison from UnCommon Church
• Three follow up letters (first time gift, online gift, big gift)
• Four brand new Giving Talks

We also answered a ton of email and met a bunch of members on the Giving Rocket Tour.

Incredible month!

In the coming months, we’re talking about digital giving, how to talk about money, how to
do a financial initiative and more. You can try Giving Rocket for $1.