The Art of Donation

Giving to our favourite charity or cause is something we do based on many factors. The story, the emotion and the appeal are some of the strongest motivators, but once we decide to give, we then need to choose how to give.

There are two main ways to give: cash or cashless, these two can then be further broken down into the various methods.

Cash giving tends to follow the same principle each time: an item of cash, coin or note, is transferred by hand to a receiving point at a specific location. This has been the mainstay over centuries of giving. It is currently in decline, but still in use.

Cashless giving falls into two main categories, planned or spontaneous giving. In the world of planned giving we have standing order/direct debit, or online/app recurring giving.

Spontaneous is normally facilitated by card or mobile payment.

Of all the above, planned giving is most suited to churches and charities as it enables stronger financial planning, is attractive for match funding and/or showing funders a sustainable financial forecast. More specifically the use of Standing Order (SO) and/or Direct Debit (DD) is the lowest cost option as all the donation is received at the charity.

Digital giving normally attracts a processing, subscription or equipment cost, sometimes all three!

Beyond Giving are strong supporters of planned giving via SO or DD as this maximises the donation, less prone to online fraud, reduces costs and is, we believe, the best route to build mission upon. We have a growing bank of resources to enable you transition more of your supporters to a planned way of giving. Please contact us via the website to find out more, or email davidlynch62@outlook.com