7 Reasons To Use A Church Giving Kiosk In Your Community

One of the easiest ways to increase giving in your church is to provide more ways for people to  give .

From collecting an offering during your service to providing mobile and online giving options, there are several ways your church can encourage people to give. However, one option that many churches overlook is the church giving Kiosk.

Now, let us be clear ... we're NOT encouraging you buy an expensive piece of hardware that looks like an ATM sitting in your lobby. We're simply suggesting for you to grab a few inexpensive tablets (e.g., iPads) and put them on simple stands. You can lower your costs by using tablets, which will also allow you to be mobile with your devices.

In this article, we’d like to share with you seven reasons why your church needs a (mobile) giving Kiosk.

#1. People don’t carry cash or checks

Many churches report an increase in giving when they use a giving Kiosk for churches.

Why? Simple ...

Many people don’t carry cash or checks with them. In fact, answer this question... do you have any cash in your pocket right now? Do you know where your checkbook  is? Many of you reading this likely don't have any cash on hand and haven't seen the check book in weeks!

But, chances are you have your credit and/or debit card in your pocket right now! Am I right? When it comes to giving, many people will be more inclined to give if they can just swipe their card.

#2. Tablets are inexpensive and mobile

Your church doesn’t have to invest thousands of dollars to install a stand-alone church giving Kiosk that looks like an ATM sitting in your lobby. With Tithe.ly, you can turn any tablet with a browser and WiFi into a full-fledged online giving Kiosk.

Whether your church worships in a building you own or rented space, all you need to do is load the giving kiosk form onto the tablet of your choice.

#3. Giving Kiosks provide another opportunity to give

Church giving Kiosks provide members  with an additional opportunity to give. Whether it’s before or after your worship service, Kiosks provide an easy way for people to donate and help while they're  in the building. Be sure to mention it in your announcements, bulletin, signage , etc. so that people are aware!

#4. Giving Kiosks are easy to use

With Tithe.ly, you can turn your tablets into a giving Kiosk that enables people to give a one-time gift in seconds. What is more, donors will receive a gift receipt via email (which is better than writing down a gift in a ledger statement, right?) and they can set up a recurring donation, too.

#5. Kiosk giving makes for easy reporting

Your church will need to continue to count cash, add checks, make deposits, and input this data into your system. But, with giving through a Kiosk, accounting and reporting are made significantly easier.

No manual counting cash/checks. No trips to the bank account. No merging data from different systems. No more risk of theft.

After donations are made, you and your staff will get access to the data immediately for simple reporting and accounting.

#6. Reduced risk

Although we'd like this not to be the case, people steal. And people steal in Church.

Passing  the plate around presents a risk  of people stealing money out of the plate while it's being passed and risk of volunteers or staff stealing while they are counting.

I know, it's painful to think about, but it happens.

With digital giving done via a church giving Kiosk in your church building, you remove 100% of the risk by not having any cash or check donations being passed around. Individuals give using their credit or debit card directly without any other people "in the middle".

#7. Increase engagement

Depending on the Kiosk giving solution you offer, you can engage people in new ways. For example, with Tithe.ly, you can provide several new ways to connect with people:

• Make it simple for people to read the Bible and take notes
• Allow people to submit prayer requests
• Give app users the ability to listen to your sermons on the go
• Send push notifications about announcements or a Bible verse
• Send push notifications about upcoming events & event registration

Considering that more people are adopting smartphones, it’s a good idea to start engaging with your church members and visitors in a way that they prefer to communicate.

Over to you

Let us be clear, we believe there is a place for a giving Kiosk as you can tell from the above information, but a giving Kiosk should NOT be the primary method of giving. Here's why: Everyone is walking around with a mobile giving kiosk in their pocket. It's called a smartphone! The beauty of mobile giving is that church members  can give anywhere, anytime without having to be in the building or wait in line.

Training your church to use their mobile device for giving is by far the most beneficial and sustainable way to increase generosity. Do that first, then get to work on your Kiosk.

Editor’s Note: This post was updated on August 21, 2020 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.