Post-pandemic, church giving has adapted to include more options such as cashless giving. Since most people don’t carry cash, adding things like a church giving kiosk, text-to-give, and QR codes lets parishioners support their church whenever and however they want.
The latest research suggests that 51% of Americans are using at least one kind of contactless payment method. What better than giving kiosks to offer these people a convenient way of making a donation and also future-proof your giving process?
In this article, we’ll share how church giving kiosks can boost donations and how to choose the right card reader to build the best giving kiosk for your church.
What is a Church Giving Kiosk?
Church giving kiosks are physical stations – including card reader apps – that help you accept contactless donations via quick taps or swipes from cards, smartphones, or smartwatches.
These physical stations are nothing but an Android tablet or iPad where you can install a card reader app to start accepting donations via the internet.
Along with donations, churches can use a giving kiosk to accept event registrations, share their mission, latest programs and campaigns, and more. Placing it in the lobby is the best way to attract more parishioners to your church giving kiosk.
Donorbox recently released Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, an iOS and Android app that you can add to your tablet device, pair with a card reader device, and start accepting donations through multiple cashless methods and speedy transactions.
Donorbox Live™ Kiosk - Learn More!
6 Ways Church Giving Kiosks can Boost Donations
1. Cashless giving
An American makes an average weekly donation of $17 to their local place of worship. In the age of inflation, this number doesn’t go as far as it used to.
Since most church attendees don’t have cash on hand, this amount has decreased for many organizations. The only way to stop this downward trajectory is to find a better way to collect parishioners’ gifts.
Church giving kiosks provide the best way for people to make cashless and contactless donations. Everyone carries their wallet and smartphone whenever they step outside the home. When you offer them ways to use their cards or phones to make a swift donation, they’d love to help.
2. Easy to use, quick to give
With your church giving kiosk, what’s even better is your supporters won’t have to necessarily go online. Just swiping or tapping at your kiosk machine should help do the job. In merely a few seconds!
Isn’t that easier for all? If you can find volunteers to oversee your kiosk, you can easily educate people and boost donations.
3. Preferable for younger donors
55% of millennials prefer to give via credit/debit cards. Gen Z is equally tech-savvy, in fact even more. These donors rarely have cash on hand, so if your church hopes to collect offerings from these members, you must find an easy way to collect these gifts.
Church giving kiosks are the most effective options to grab your younger parishioners’ eyeballs. Also, they’re so accustomed to using digital devices that you won’t need to educate them on using your kiosk. They can explore on their own and make quick donations to your church.
4. Storing data to reach more visitors
Did you know faith-based nonprofits receive the largest amount of Giving Tuesday online donations? This means more people are prone to visiting your church and making donations during this time.
Rather than just asking them to make a donation on your online donation page, direct them to your giving kiosk. Let them have a smooth giving experience while also storing their contact data in your database for reaching out in the future.
Donorbox Live™ Kiosk stores your donors’ names and email addresses in the Donorbox database. You can easily access and segment this data to personalize communications and solicit donations throughout the year, increasing your chances of getting more donations.
5. Safe and trending
Contactless card payments are as safe and secure as a chip card that one must insert into a machine. A Forbes article also says that these are among the safest methods of payment for people.
When MasterCard ran a survey, they discovered that 82% of people considered contactless payments a safer way to pay. Naturally, the safety concern is out of the way for your church!
Contributing to the popularity of this cashless and contactless method, the US market has the most contactless cards than any other in the world. The global contactless payment market is also slated to reach $51.07 billion by 2026, which means it will grow nearly 4 times.
What does all this mean for your church giving? The need for moving ahead and offering another great giving experience to your congregants.
6. Inexpensive and easy to carry
A huge benefit to a church giving kiosk is that they can go anywhere. Since your kiosk is mainly a tablet, you can use it in any location. It is also an inexpensive option for your church as a tablet should be easily available.
Just ensure that you have a stable internet connection and a volunteer taking care of it.
If you’re holding a significant event, you can add several kiosks to ensure you get to reach and cover all the attendees.
Your church can easily add the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app to your tablet device, pair it with a card reader device, select a campaign, and start accepting donations with this hassle-free solution!
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Choosing the Right Card Reader for Your Church Giving Kiosk
Giving kiosks are tablets or other devices that must include an efficient card reader app to be able to accept donations. You must choose the right card reader that fits your church’s needs and help give supporters the best giving experience.
Here are 5 qualities to look for to be able to build the best giving kiosk for your church!
1. Should be easy to activate
Your card reader app should not have endless requirements for you to activate it. You should be able to get started with the tools at hand – and in no more than a few minutes!
For example, Donorbox Live™ Kiosk requires you to have a tablet, a stable internet connection, an active Donorbox account, and an approved Stripe card reader device (Stripe M2 in the US) to get started.
Thereafter, you’ll log in to your Donorbox account, connect your Stripe account, select your location on Stripe, create a campaign on Donorbox, add your ask amounts, add the app to your device, and that’s all – you’ll be ready to start fundraising!
2. Should offer various giving options
Your church giving kiosk won’t be as preferable for visitors if it only offers contactless card payments. Choose a card reader that also includes digital wallets like PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and more.
With Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, you can offer these digital wallet options in addition to Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe payments.
3. Must collect your donor info
Just because your donors are giving through quick swipes and taps does not mean you ignore the need for taking their info. You may often get visitors who come to your church only once or twice a year. How do you reach out to them later on without contact details?
Go for a card reader app that will take at least the names and email addresses of your donors and store them in your donor database. This helps with your future solicitation and other communications.
Donorbox Live™ Kiosk automatically stores this data whenever a donation is made via the connected card reader. The data is easy to access and use on the Donorbox supporter database. You can also integrate Donorbox with other leading CRMs and apps for even more effective use of the data.
4. Should support your fundraising platform
Imagine having an online donation form while also running a separate capital campaign for your church – but your card reader doesn’t support more than a donation form!
That wouldn’t work for your fundraising strategy in the long run.
Your church needs a card reader app, like Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, that supports all features of the Donorbox fundraising platform. From fundraising campaign pages to Crowdfunding to Events to Memberships to Peer-to-Peer to Donor Management – everything is available on Donorbox!
All you have to do is choose the campaign or event you want to direct people to and get going.
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5. Should be customizable for your church
Churches should add pleasing displays for donors to see during or after their donation is finalized. That can be achieved with different display modes and screensavers.
Another important requirement should be the ability to add your church’s logo. If you can add your branding throughout the giving process, people would feel more confident about making a donation with your kiosk. This is especially true for outdoor events.
With Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, you’ll soon be able to meet these needs through customization options.
Final Thoughts
Church giving kiosks can be a fun and unique way to collect parishioners’ offerings. The convenience and variety of options a kiosk offers will appeal to more of your followers and help you receive more funds throughout the year.
When building your kiosk, remember to include other ways to connect with church attendees, like connection cards, brochures, or prayer lists.
Donorbox now offers churches a seamless way to collect cashless donations with the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk Android and iOS app, which pairs with card reader devices to make on-site fundraising quick and easy.
Check out our wide range of additional products and features that are designed to elevate your church’s fundraising and donor management. Sign up for free to start fundraising!
Find insightful guides and resources on church fundraising at the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a curated list of the best Donorbox resources in your inbox every month!
Kristine Ensor
