Church Fundraising Online with Free Fundraising Tools

 Churches need money for its operation, maintenance, renovation, charity, and mission trips. They are able to get money through communion services and offerings from parishioners and churchgoers.  Church fundraising is often necessary so that the church’s needs are met. They also solicit for help from the neighborhood or community they are situated in. There are times that the money raised is not enough therefore they constantly need to think of ways to generate cash for other necessities.

Nowadays, many churches have used online fundraising platforms to raise money for their needs. They have discovered that in having their own website, they can reach many people and solicit for their support. Their website serves as their virtual office and very minimal expenses are spent. They no longer have to incur communication expenses such as phone and fax bills and they can use the money saved for other charitable purposes. People, especially those who are located in other cities, states or countries, can still visit the church via its website and acquire information or make a donation with just a click of the mouse.

Church fundraisers can also be conducted online. They can hold a live auction in certain websites that do auctioneering and ask their supporters to donate some items to be bid in these online auctions. Many people from all over can participate in this event and they can donate at their convenient time as the auction can run 27/7 for a year or so. In traditional fundraising activities, much time is spent on planning and these can also be very expensive. Churches have to rent a venue for the event, get additional staff, and spend on advertising and invitation.

The use of the Internet for fundraising activities breaks all geographical boundaries as people from the United States can correspond with individuals, organizations and governments from Asia in seconds. The Internet allows massive exposure of the church and its activities. Social media sites have millions of members and when the church has its account on such sites, its mission and objectives will reach many quickly. An online church fundraising campaign for an orphanage does not only reach a nearby community but a global level.

Most of the time, church fundraisers end up spending a lot of money for advertisements and other expenses.
They make banners to be placed in specific locations. These banners however will not be used again once the activity they are promoting is finished. Sometimes, churches also advertise on local dailies and radio and TV programs to get support for their causes and this can be very expensive. With online advertising, such expenses are eliminated. There are even search engines that pay for ads of charities and place the link to the church’s website on their pages, as long as they are a registered 501 c 3 non profit.

Donors can also make online donations to the church fundraisers using their credit cards. They no longer need to travel all the way to the church and give their donations. In just seconds, they can give to their favorite churches to support their causes.  Fees for credit card transactions online are paperless and less expensive and hectic than depositing money through a bank.

Using multiple channels for church fundraising online is indeed very convenient, traceable, and economical.