SimpleGiver

April 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

Yesterday, we took a look at some of the things to look for when choosing an electronic donation processor. During my research for this article, I came across a newly formed service that checked most of the boxes that I mentioned in my article. So today I would like to take the time to introduce you to SimpleGiver.com, a simple mobile solution that allows your church or ministry to accept electronic donations.

Simple Giver is an easy to use solution. Once you join, all you have to do is upload your logo and your mobile payment site is built for you automatically. Once you create a project or fundraiser, you are ready to begin accepting donations. In just a matter of minutes your church can put a complete electronic payment solution in place and be up and running.

The first thing that caught my attention when researching Simple Giver is their pricing structure. There are no set-up fees, no monthly or annual fees, your ministry pays just 5% of every transaction to process the donation. Since credit card companies will charge you 2 to 3% per transaction to process credit card payments, the Simple Giver fees are extremely reasonable.

Simple Giver Features

Free to join and all you pay is 5% per transaction. Period.
Analytics and reports that allow you to see who is giving and how much. Every cent can be traced.
Anyone can give to your organization 24/7 by simply visiting your Simple Giver website on their smartphone.
Nothing to download
No hidden fees.
Free resources to help you make the most of Simple Giver, such as, PowerPoint slides, bulletin inserts, etc.

In Technology church, donations, electronic, mobile, technology

The Results Are In

April 3, 2013 — Leave a comment

Several weeks ago, we discussed ChurchLink App, a new mobile application for your church or ministry. During this time, I explained that our church was introducing this mobile application to our members and that I would report back here with the results. Well, the results are in and after only two weeks the response has been incredible.

I was so impressed by the reaction of our congregation that I took the opportunity to share my experience with the people at ChurchLink earlier this week. So today, I would like to share those same thoughts here with you.

How the ChurchLink App Energized My Church

I must admit that this has been a perfect storm of sorts but after all, isn’t that the way God works. By putting individuals and events in the same place at the right time He furthers the advancement of His Kingdom. Let me start by giving you a little background on our situation.

My church is like a number of small rural churches across America. With an attendance of about 125 people a week, many of which were born and raised in the same church, we have not been the most tech savvy congregation. We have preferred to practice our faith in the building on Sunday with an occasional outreach program every now and then. Our congregation is comprised of some of the greatest people you would ever want to meet but certainly we could be classified as an old-school southern church and technology is not high on our priority list.

In Technology blog, ChurchLink, marlboro, mobile

And Why They Are Wrong!

There are many different reasons that churches are hesitant to create their own mobile application, however, here are the five most common ~~excuses~~ reasons.

1. My members won’t use a mobile application.

I have actually heard this put several different ways, see if any of these sound familiar to you.

My people are not tech savvy enough to use a mobile application.

Most of my members don’t even have a smartphone.

My congregation really doesn’t care about these kind of things.

If you have heard statements about your congregation, or maybe even made them yourself, then take a look at the facts. According to research, over 50% of Americans now own a smartphone. And the mobile phone/tablet market is the largest growing segment in computers today. If you don’t get on board with the mobile revolution, you are going to be left behind. You may not think that your members aren’t that tech savvy but you might want to give them a little credit. Most smartphone users do understand how to download and use applications and by the end of this year more people are going to be accessing information via their phone or tablet than with their desktop computers.

Twenty years ago, your church would not have hesitated to place an ad in the Yellow Pages. The mobile application is today’s Yellow Pages. For the cost of a Yellow Page advertisement you can have your own mobile application delivering much more information to your members for an entire year.

Let me ask you another question? What segment of the population does your church have the hardest time attracting today? If your church is like all of the others in the world, then the answer is the 18 – 30 aged group. Now let me pose another question? When you spot a member of this hard to attract group, what do they all have in common? You got it, they are all walking around holding their smart phone. The smart phone for this aged group is like the American Express card for my generation. They don’t leave home without it!

Consider the mobile application a recruiting tool as well as an information hub for your current members. Someone in the Generation Y aged range will be much more willing to give your church a chance if you are on the cutting edge of technology. They want information, they want it now, and they want it in their hands on their smart phone. If you are truly interested in sharing your message to this generation, you must have a mobile strategy.

ChurchLink: The Mobile App

March 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

On Monday I told you about ChurchLink App, a new mobile solution for churches and ministries. Yesterday, we took a look at the easy to use Dashboard that you use to create your mobile content. Today, we are going to take a look at the mobile application itself and the experience that your members will enjoy when you enroll your church in the ChurchLink App.

One of the things that makes ChurchLink unique among the mobile solutions for ministries is that they use one application, already available in the iOS and Android stores. This allows you to publish your content immediately without having to wait for a mobile application to be designed and approved. So once you have published your mobile application the next step is for your members to download the mobile application to their phones. You can find the ChurchLink App in the Apple Store or the Google Play Store.

For the purposes of this review, I will be using the iOS version of the software. The Android version has a very similar look and feel to the application with slight differences in the interface due to the differences in the two operating systems.

Once your member downloads and installs the application to their mobile device they are presented with a screen to select the church or ministry that they would like to see. There are a couple of ways that one can search for your ministry, first by typing in part of the name and performing a search or secondly by simply allowing the device to find the church or ministry that is closest to their gps coordinates. This makes it very easy for your members to find your church on the application. And when they find the church that they would like to see, the application will prompt them to make this their home church, thus allowing them to avoid having to search in the future.

In Apps, Technology android, application, ChurchLink, ios, mobile

ChurchLink is a mobile solution for churches

The ChurchLink Dashboard

March 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

Yesterday, I told you about a new mobile solution for churches that provides an economical way to give your ministry its own mobile application without having to spend a fortune in development. I have spent the last few days exploring the ChurchLink App Dashboard and mobile app, discovering just how easy it really is to get your church up and running with the system. So today we are going to take a look at the ChurchLink Dashboard.

The first thing that you will notice when you log in to the ChurchLink Dashboard is how simple and intuitive it is to set up your application. The system will walk you through step by step until you are ready to publish your church or ministry live on the application. The entire process can be completed in less than 10 minutes.

If you have signed your church up for ChurchLink and are ready to start customizing your application, I suggest that you download one of the mobile applications first and spend some time getting to know the features of the mobile app. This will give you a much better idea of the information that you are going to need when setting up your application and you will understand what information to fill in the blanks.