In a few years, the offertory basket being passed from pew to pew could
be a thing of the past. Online donations now allow Catholics to decide on their donation amounts from the convenience of their home computer.
Donating online gives Catholics the option of donating via credit card or bank account without remembering to write a check each week. In an era of growing online banking, writing a check to church is one of the last regular checks many people write.
Liturgical Publications Inc (LPi), a Milwaukee-area company with 40 years experience helping churches connect with their members, is helping parishes and parishioners around the country make this change quickly, efficiently, and successfully -- with $1 million of donations accepted in just a few short months.
Introduced in late 2011, WeShare, a product of LPi, is different from other online tools available. It helps drive parishioners to make donations online by making a stronger connection between the dollar and the ministry, all while allowing churches to set up one place for parishioners to manage all of their donations to the parish.
"The tremendous growth we`re seeing right out of the gate demonstrates the need that our WeShare product fills. From one-time and recurring donations, to event sales and ticketing, and now mobile, WeShare stands out as an innovative solution that churches can trust and rely upon," says Joe Luedtke, president of LPi`s e-giving division.
"This milestone validates the potential of online giving for churches. Within this milestone is a consistent and increasing revenue stream delivered directly to the church`s bank account that they know they can count on," Luedtke continued.
Catholic dioceses understand the value -- the Green Bay diocese just selected WeShare as a preferred vendor for online giving for its parishes -- and churches are making the decision to move forward with this change to online giving as well.
While the first million took just under a year, it`s expected that the second million will be reached within three months, showing the commitment that Catholics have to supporting their parish using today`s technology.