3 Reasons Your Church Should Avoid Text to Give
Text to give used to be occasionally billed as “the future of giving,” and you may have been told it’s a must-have for your church — but it really should be left in the past. Let’s take a look at the three main reasons you should avoid using text to give for your ministry, and which giving solution is a much better choice.
1. The Costs Really Add Up
Text to give can be an expensive solution when compared with more cost-effective giving options. Many text giving providers require you to pay monthly fees (even if no one uses it) and initial setup fees, with charges for custom shortcodes and extra keywords. Some even have a limit on the number of text messages you can receive without being charged an additional fee.
These costs may not be huge separately, but when you add them all together, your ministry is looking at a pretty large expense. Why spend all of that money when you could use a mobile giving app like Givelify at a much lower cost? With no monthly fees, no setup fees, and only a low 2.9% + 30 cents convenience fee per transaction, your ministry ends up paying much less for a far superior giving solution your members will love.
2. Text to Give Isn’t As Convenient As It Seems
In theory, donating by text sounds easy enough, but reality doesn’t live up to those expectations. After their first text, your members get a reply text — but it doesn’t contain a confirmation message that the contribution has been received. Instead, they are sent a link that they have to click to complete their gift. After clicking on the link, they are taken to a donation webpage where they have to enter their credit card and contact information, which they may or may not complete.
How is that any more convenient or consistent than donating directly through your organization’s website or Facebook page? Instead of speeding up the process, text to give adds extra steps. If you already have a “Donate” button on your website or Facebook page (like the simple-to-use website giving buttons offered by Givelify at no additional charge), text to give offers little to nothing in the way of additional functionality or convenience.
3. Memorizing Numeric Codes vs Knowing Your Church’s Name
Most text-to-give setups involve texting a message to a 5-digit code. The message itself may have to be a certain keyword or another numeric code. What happens if someone doesn’t type the code correctly? What if they are traveling and don’t happen to remember the code or keyword they need to use to give? Your place of worship misses out on that offering, and your member can’t remain faithful in their giving.
Imagine instead that the person opens the Givelify mobile giving app and searches the name of your church. They then see your personalized giving profile that includes a custom cover photo and an image of the lead pastor. They immediately know they are in the right place and that their offering will go to the right organization. They don’t have to memorize any codes or numbers or worry about making a mistake. They can even save your organization as their home place of worship, which means any time they open the app, it will go straight to your profile.
Text to give may have been a decent option in the past, but app based giving with Givelify is now the most beautiful and user-friendly solution available.
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