22/11/2021
We often see more people attend our services at Christmas, some for the very first time and many will want to give generously to our churches.
As we experience Advent and Christmas this year, here are some ideas to help encourage giving in our churches.
Customise a giving poster or welcome card
In the past ten years the use of cash has slowly diminished and fewer people are carrying cash with them. The pandemic has accelerated this trend, as people are more aware of the risk of infection through handling cash. As we welcome people into our churches this Christmas, it’s important we make giving accessible to those who want to give. QR codes offer a truly contactless and quick way for people with smartphones to give to your church.
To encourage people to give to your church, create a poster or welcome card that has a QR code directing people to your giving page. We’ve created some festive templates for you which you can customise to include your church’s details using Church Print Hub.
Make sure you place your giving poster somewhere visible and hand out welcome cards so that people can take them away and give to your church from the comfort of their homes.
You'll need to order your customised materials by 18 December at the latest to ensure they arrive in time for Christmas.
Customise a Christmas giving animation
Using the video generator on A Church Near You (ACNY) Resource Hub, you can customise an animated video that encourages people to give to your church this Christmas. You can also share this video on your social media channels and during services to help promote online giving to your parish. If you live-stream your services through ACNY, you can ask people to give using the Give Now button on ACNY.
Encourage contactless giving
During Advent and Christmas we often see more visitors coming into our churches, some who may not be regular attendees at our services. Contactless giving, where people can give to your church by tapping a card reader with a debit or credit card, is a great mechanism for giving.
There are a range of contactless units available on Parish Buying to suit the different requirements of churches.
If you have a contactless device that uses Give A Little, such as the CollecTin More, you can set up a campaign which uses the imagery from this year’s Church of England Christmas theme ‘At the Heart of Christmas’. To get started download the design files and watch our short video on how to set up a Christmas campaign.
We’ve also produced a list of simple tips to help you get the most out of your contactless device this Christmas.
Encourage online giving
Online giving enables people to give to your church from the comfort of their home wherever they are in the world. Make sure you include a link to your online giving page in your orders of service, on your social media channels and during online services and events.
If you have set up online giving through Parish Buying’s recommended supplier Give A Little, you can customise your online giving page to use ‘At the Heart of Christmas’ imagery. To do this follow the same steps as with your contactless advice in the video above. Download the design files here.
And finally…
The National Giving team are here to support you as you encourage giving in your church at Christmas or at any time in the year. Explore our resources on Building a Generous Church.
