Parishes see benefits from tech-savvy donation methods

DETROIT — Electronic giving isn’t only a convenience for parishioners who prefer online money transfers to the use of cash or checks; it also has real advantages for parishes, according to local parish financial managers.

“It gives you a more even cash flow,” said Donald Kalpin, business manager at St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township.

And that benefit becomes especially apparent during summer, when many parishioners are away on vacation and not in church with a collection envelope.

St. Thecla Parish bookkeeper Jennifer Kirsch said if a parish offers the service, clicking on the “contribute” link on the parish’s website takes a person to www.onlinegiving.com, where a contribution can be arranged, whether on a one-time or ongoing basis.

“They have total control of when they give and how much they give,” she said.

While one might think online giving would be the domain of primarily younger people, Kirsch said those who had signed up for it were of “all ages.”

While the parish did offer automatic bank transfer arrangements before the on-line option, she said the option has resulted in about a 30 percent increase in the number of people setting up automated contributions. Overall, about 15 percent of St. Thecla’s weekly collection comes in via electronic giving, Kalpin said.

Nina Galleher, bookkeeper at St. Pius X Parish, said the Southgate church has offered automatic bank transfers since about 2007, but also has a PayPal button on its website for people to make contributions online.

Whereas automated bank transfers can only be arranged on set days per month, PayPal offers more flexibility, and some parishioners set their contributions to take place weekly, Galleher said.

At St. Pius X, only about 50 of its 1,300 families use an electronic option for making their contributions, she said. But Galleher would like to see that number grow, and said she plans on setting up an after-Mass information table to promote the concept.

While online giving is relatively new, Immaculate Conception Parish in the Anchorville area of Ira Township is among the most cutting-edge in the archdiocese. Not only can Immaculate Conception parishioners contribute online, but the parish also offers giving via smartphone.

“The company we work with for online giving, Vanco Services, furnished us with a QR code, and we have been printing it in our bulletin for several months now,” said Peggy Crawford, business manager at Immaculate Conception Parish.

QR (Quick Response) codes are those small black-and-white squares popping up on posters and in advertisements that look like some kind of puzzle piece. Actually, they’re a unique symbol — like a bar code — that enables a smartphone user to simply scan them to be taken to a website.

While Crawford said she’s seen more parishioners take advantage of online giving options, she said there wasn’t a way to tell how many are using the smartphone option.

And to alleviate the self-consciousness that comes with not throwing anything into the collection basket at Mass, Crawford said the parish still supplies envelopes for those parishioners to drop in, with something such as “gave online” written on them.

Crawford said it is by no means only younger, tech-savvy parishioners using the online options.

“What I was surprised at was how many older parishioners are doing it. If they go out of town, they know the parish is being taken care of while they’re away,” she said.