Learn why 96% of parishioners described ParishPay as much better than envelopes
Welcome from Tim Dockery The original offertory gifts were actual livestock and produce from the field - lamb, wheat, grapes - literally the first fruits of the harvest. Over time, cash became a substitute for these actual fruits of one s labor, and offertory giving changed to gifts of money, which is a proxy for the actual products of our labor. In the modern era, checks largely replaced cash in offertory giving. We see ParishPay as the next step in that continuum. Theologically, we are operating in that same principle and modernizing the way people give back to the Lord a portion of His blessings to them. Tim Dockery President of ParishPay Why Lay Leaders and Parish Administrators Feel ParishPay Works We have over 275 parishioners on ParishPay. More and more we re becoming a non-cash economy. We included the offer to join ParishPay with our Fall Stewardship Drive. ParishPay nets almost $7,500 per week that has also served to greatly stabilize those swings in the warm weather months. We re at 20% enrollment and increasing it. Joe Kelsch, Business Manager, St. Anne Parish, Barrington, IL ParishPay is like having an additional Sunday collection every month Tina Trch, St. Peter Parish, Geneva, IL This is great! We love the direct download right into PDS. Laurie Saine, St. Edward the Confessor, Dana Point, CA We had a sizeable increase - of about 75% - in the offertory contributions for the families who switched to using ParishPay. Msgr. Francis Kelley, Sacred Heart Parish, Roslindale, MA Featured in Religion News Service Catholic News Service National Catholic Reporter Catholic New World Church Executive Magazine New York Times Atlanta Journal Constitution Detroit Free Press Philadelphia Inquirer Orange County Register Cleveland Plain Dealer Denver Post Indianapolis Star Orlando Sentinel Newark Star Ledger Newsday Los Angeles Times Washington Post Chicago Tribune Dallas Morning News Houston Chronicle Arizona Republic San Jose Mercury News Seattle Times Buffalo News Tampa Tribune Hartford Courant Bergen County Record Rochester Democrat and Chronicle National Public Radio WWOR-TV New Jersey WNYW-TV New York WGN, ABC, NBC, CBS TV in Chicago and over 500 others Personal Experiences of Our Parishioners It is very easy to set up and use. I like the fact that my church can count on a set income each month. It also frees me from worrying about another check to write. Jennifer W., Campbell, CA ParishPay makes it easy to make my donation, and the monthly giving feature makes planning my gift more convenient. I save time and my parish benefits from receiving consistent donations. Without weekly fluctuations in donations, I assume planning is easier for the Parish Finance Council. Claire W., Lawrence, MA No need to worry about having cash on you when you attend church each week. This saves us one more step Sunday mornings as we are trying to make it out the door with our children. Noelle R, Chicago, IL This is great for parishioners like me who are involved in the Sunday morning services. Since I sing in the choir, we are often presenting music during the offertory. ParishPay lets me take care of my pledge obligations automatically, so I don't have to find a time to slip my check into the plate after services. Corinne I, Annapolis, MD 2
What is ParishPay? How We Can Work With Your Church ParishPay serves churches as the country's largest religious donation processor. Since 2001, we have handled hundreds of thousands of gifts representing tens of millions of dollars for churches and schools. We do this by collecting gifts to your church on an automated recurring basis from either a church member s checking account or credit card. Church members receive paper slips to represent their gift for the collection plate. Churches receive a substantial increase in giving as well as more predictable collections. ParishPay works with your church to customize a roll-out plan with your finance council or church administration. We ll include samples of direct mail messages, homilies, enrollment cards, telethon scripts, bulletin inserts, thank you letters, posters, and other materials - all of which have already been used, tested, and approved by hundreds of churches. There are many ways church members can enroll: a) completing a quick, paper enrollment card at their church b) visiting www.parishpay.com c) visiting their church's website d) calling our toll-free sign-up telephone number Our Story Confronted with convenience-oriented church members, giving dips in summer and winter months, and the contrast between tools that churches used versus the tools used by larger non-profits, our founding team of ex-bankers and church giving experts put together the most comprehensive package of stewardship-based tools to promote giving and embrace technology without requiring churches to spend a dollar on setup costs or monthly maintenance. We ve reached the same results at almost every church we serve 75% increase in giving per parishioner, a technology and service that at least 98% of the church-members love, and a customized plan for each church to use for rolling out the program to maximize enrollees. Please call on one of our thousands of church partners and ask if ParishPay made a major difference in increasing gifts. Refer to our reference list or call 1-866-PARISH-1 (1-866-727-4741 ) to find out which churches near you are using ParishPay. Families can choose among all of the collections your church offers (which may include diocesan second collections, capital campaigns, debt reduction, etc.). On every 5th of the month thereafter, we transfer the money from their account and into your church's bank account. At the end of the year, all tax documentation is handled by ParishPay. Every day of the year, church members call us directly and ask us to help them make any adjustments or add any special one-time gifts to their account. We'll report all of this to you in a monthly giving report. 3
What Makes Us Different Many financial challenges face today's church : sporadic giving, vacationing church members, lack of administrative staff, lack of technology solutions, and fewer opportunities to make it easier for church members to give. ParishPay solves these and many other challenges by providing the highest quality features and technology that deliver bottom-line results. Here are just a few of the tools that we offer, most of which you cannot find with any local bank or church software company. How You Can Help ParishPay is looking for churches to help us spread the word about our organization and host other local churches at workshop-type events. If you know 3 or more other churches who might also benefit from our service, call us. We d like to visit and talk with the administrators and finance council members. We frequently visit cities around the country so please try to arrange a date and location with our team! 1 866 PARISH 1 Offer collection opportunities for one-time gifts, recurring gifts, capital campaign pledges, annual appeals, ticket sales, specific special collections auctions, seminars, etc. Label each collection separately (African Missions, Easter, Debt Reduction, etc.) Integrate with your website to offer direct links into our secure sign-up website Handle credit card gifts through Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express as well as bank transfers from both checking or savings accounts Automatic, monthly email reminders to let church members know that a transaction is upcoming Automatic email confirmations to let church members know that a transaction was successful Email follow-up when a transaction fails or credit card has expired Reports and projections for use by the finance council and business managers Annual Inflation Index increase (optional) Anonymous donations (optional) Church staff and donors can modify gift amounts online at any time Tax statements for church members Annual solicitation for gift increases Besides results, an important factor in making this decision is the experience that we bring by focusing exclusively on serving churches. Many companies that offer transactions to pizza parlors, dentist offices, water delivery services, and pool cleaners have witnessed ParishPay s press and positive customer relationships and have tried to build a new branch to their transaction business. Our organization is built around finding solutions to the biggest problems facing churches today not the biggest transaction opportunities. We ll continue to serve our churches with the most relevant and useful technology solutions and continue our mission to make churches more fiscally sound. 4
The Top 10 Questions Parishes Ask Us 1) What are the typical results gained by using the ParishPay program? Most churches register a 75% or greater increase per family using the ParishPay program. 2) Can a family increase their giving? Yes. Anytime prior to the 3rd of month, a payment method or amount can be changed by the church administrator or the donor. 3) What day does the transaction take place? All gifts are taken on the 5th of the month. We send out monthly email reminders to donors a few days prior to the transaction to remind them to have funds available in their account. Once funds are cleared by the bank, they are made available to the church (usually 3-4 business days). 4) What are the fees? No up front or set-up costs to church or family. Also : No software to buy, install, or maintain Account fee : $1.00 per enrollee per month Transaction fee : 1.00% of donation (Only for Credit Card Transactions) Credit card charges : billed at net, we pass through our very low negotiated credit card charges directly to you, without adding any mark-up. MasterCard : 2.06% + 10 cents Visa : 2.06% + 10 cents American Express : 2.85% + 15 cents Discover : 1.95% + 15 cents 5) How can a church enroll? Activation is simple. A one-page form is all it takes. Contact your ParishPay Account Manager for an activation form. 7) How will the church roll-out the ParishPay program? ParishPay provides an easy-to-follow roll out guide to walk through a 4-to-6 week campaign approach to enrolling church members. This will include templates for your initial mailing and follow-up mail to families, specifications for enrollment cards, and weekly tips to help lead you to optimal results. 8) How secure are the transactions? Our site uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to ensure that your personal and sensitive data - credit card number, email address, name, address, etc. - is transmitted safely and securely every time. In addition, we use internal security measures to further increase your data security. Since we deal with credit card and bank account numbers, we transfer that information via SSL. SSL encrypts your data before it is transmitted. If someone "listens in" on the wire, they'll only get encrypted information, which is completely unusable. Our system uses the highest level of security features as stringent as major banks and the most secure websites today. 9) What do ParishPay families do when the offertory basket comes around? ParishPay understands the important part of the presentation of gifts during church services. To offer the same reflection process, we provide families donation slips, to represent that week's gift for the collection. 10) What other services does ParishPay provide? Capital Campaigns (Call your account manager for more information) One-Time Gifts (Call your account manager for more information) Tuition Management (Call 1 800 468 8484 for more information) 6) Are their any additional costs once the parish is activated? ParishPay strongly recommends a roll-out campaign that includes mailings and enrollment cards being printed. While this may add up to less than a dollar per family, any ParishPay church administrator will quickly answer that the costs are made up for in a single month of ParishPay contributions. ParishPay can conduct this mailing for you for a small, additional fee. Ask your account manager for more details regarding the service. 5