You are very likely one of the 4,000 givers using the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) to make a gift to your church, and may have received an email about upcoming developments to the platform.
The PGS have been able to expand their work to share their support to every parish in the country since being acquired by the Church of England. Our diocese is proud to be entering it’s 11th year of membership with the PGS, and we are enthusiastic about these upcoming changes. Exciting developments will include;
· Integrating GoCardless for processing Direct Debits – this will provide better security as the platform grows to manage a greater capacity of givers
· A refreshed website that will function better for everyone using it
· 2 Factor Authentication for extra security
· New reporting tools to help your Statement Receiver/Treasurer navigate church data
And a few more additions, including a refreshed Gift Form for new givers.
What do you need to know?
If you give to your church using PGS – nothing will change for you. You will still be able to cancel your direct debit if you need to, but save increasing your giving till the new website is live (expected 1st October). In other words – keep calm and carry on!
If you are a Treasurer or Statement Receiver – Keep an eye out for email correspondence for the PGS. The PGS website will be taken offline on Thursday 11th at 3pm as data begins to migrate over to a new system. Nobody will be able to set up a new gift while the systems are down, however all other giving will go uninterrupted. The new platform is expected to go live on Wednesday 1st October, and this will be confirmed by the PGS Team in an email to you. For any ‘business as usual’ queries, please continue to contact the PGS team as you would, or contact Lucia on the Resources Team lucia.miller@liverpool.anglican.org
If you are a church leader – Please be aware that no new gifts can be set up whilst the data migration is happening. So, whilst we always encourage you to support your members to join the Parish Giving Scheme, they won’t be able to do this until the new site is up. Please confirm with your Statement Receiver/Treasurer in October that the site is ready for new givers and then you can talk, preach, sing and dance about the PGS till the cows come home! And if you’d like some help with that, contact Lucia on the Resources Team lucia.miller@liverpool.anglican.org
Thank you for reading this update and for using the Parish Giving Scheme to give to your church. The PGS is used by almost every church in the diocese, and continues to grow every year. The platform has alleviated so much administration from Gift Aid Secretaries and Treasurers over the years and enabled our diocese to be part of a larger movement of regular givers across the Church of England.
Your giving does make a difference, and sustains the wonderful mission and ministry in our diocese. So, thank you!
