Digital Giving

Online giving platforms have huge reach and much potential. Online giving platforms can be used by congregation members but they broaden the giving invitation to the wider community, those who love and value you, near and far, but may rarely attend.

You can link from

• • your church website

• • A Church Near You page

• • your social media

to donation pages hosted by Give A Little (using SumUp), JustGiving, VirginGiving, GoFundMe or give.net from the Christian charity Stewardship. All these work well and also have a good look at the online giving solution from Parish Buying.

You can use ParishBuying.org.uk (not to be confused with ParishGiving.org.uk!) to sign up for online giving at specially negotiated rates for Church of England churches. Another perk of using Parish Buying to sign up for your digital giving, is that they are at the end of the phone to help and support you through the process.

• • How to set up Give A Little for online giving – here

• • How to link your online giving to your church’s ‘A Church Near You’ page – here is a ‘how-to’ guide

• • Purchasing a contactless giving device – here

Give A Little (GAL)

Many of our churches now use Give A Little to facilitate their donations (integrated with either SumUp or Stripe who are the payment processors), here are a few reasons why it is a good solution:

• • It takes all major payment methods and is used in popular contactless solutions. Compatible with Wallet Apps (e.g. Google Pay or Apple Pay).

• • You can use your account for multiple contactless donation devices and online giving accounts.

• • GAL generates QR codes which help donors rapidly link, using their smartphone camera, to your online web campaigns for fully contactless giving.

• • Multiple fundraising campaigns for different purposes gives donors access to a list of these to make their choice.

• • The service can facilitate Gift Aid claims – but please note that this option is only available if you have signed up through parish buying. One way to make sure of this is to use the log in givealittle.co/parishbuying

Integrating your GAL account with a payment processor

GAL facilitates the donation, while a ‘payment processor’ puts the money in your church bank account. You can integrate GAL with the following through Parish Buying at discounted transaction rates:

• • SumUp: a SumUp account can facilitate both contactless and online donations. You can also use your SumUp account separately with the SumUp app for taking payments.

• • Stripe: a Stripe Express account can facilitate online donations at a much lower cost than SumUp. It can accept Apple Pay and Google Pay for online donations and also has a high donations threshold (up to £1m) in a single transaction.

(If your church is beginning to use MyFundAccounting/MyGivingOnline for their accounts, there is also an integration for this with Give A Little.)

Contactless Screen Templates

Canva is the ultimate tool for creating backgrounds for your GiveALittle campaign screens. If you do not have an account, follow the instructions here to get a free premium account for your church. You can also register for their latest webinars on how to use canva, here.

Seasonal backgrounds

Using Seasonal backgrounds for your Contactless machine screen helps draw visitors and members in, creating an eye-catching design that encourages donations and connects to the worship.

How to edit and download the video background

Choose from the links below. You will see two pages in Canva: page 1 is your campaign screen image, and page two is your Thank You screen image. Firstly, edit the text so it maches the name of your church. Once you have made your changes, click the ‘Share’ button (top right), then ‘download’. Importantly you must download each page separately – so select ‘page one’ then click the purple button ‘download’. Now, do the same again but select ‘page two’ only. You will have two separate downloads that you can use to upload to GiveALittle.

• Lent
• Easter
• Pentecost
• Advent
• Spring
• Summer
• Autumn
• Winter

*If Canva will not let you download the image, it will be because you do not have premium access. If this is the case, you can upload your own image, or search for free canva images in ‘elements’.

How to change the background of your Contactless Giving campaign in GiveALittle

See this guide for greating a GiveALittle campaign. To change the background of an existing campaign, simply edit the campaign you want to change and replace the image file with your new design.

• • Start with Parish Buying who have negotiated deals with various providers of card readers and have advice on contactless solutions.

• • Watch a video on the use and value of contactless giving in churches; a 60 second version is available here

• • View a wide range of contactless solutions at Parish Buying. They range from cheap and cheerful (see below) to high end units which don’t need internet wi-fi in the building and can be customised and offer Gift Aid.

Contactless Solutions

Below are solutions we have tried and tested across the diocese. If you would like advice about which device might be best to suit your church setting, please contact with our digital giving advisor lucia.miller@liverpool.anglican.org.

1. 1. SumUp Solo – Costing around £60 before VAT, the SumUp solo is a small touchscreen device which allows you to take contactless and chip + pin payments. It is a basic and simple solution that works well for church cafes, taking fees and other payments. It also used free mobile data so does not require wi-fi.

1. 1. CollecTin More – CollecTin More would be the next step up, and arguably, a more donor-friendly device than a card reader. A built-in tablet screen uses Give A Little software with a SumUp card reader to take donations. It is portable, easy to use and not too expensive.

1. 1. Payaz Giving Station – Payaz Giving Stations are sturdy, come with a dark-wood base which blends in better with the churchh environment, and similarly to the CollecTin, uses Give A Little software with a SumUp card reader to take donations.

1. 1. GWD – GWD are a high-end line of donation stations that can be customised with decorative banners bespoke to your church. These are a more expensive option that would suit a church with a high footfall, large events such as graduations, mayoral services, tourist sites etc.

More options available on Parish Buying. Please note that donations and purchases need to be recorded separately if you are claiming on GASDS.