Celebrating a Year of Conactless Giving
It has now been a year since the National Giving Team and The Diocese of Canterbury joined forces to supply self-service contactless donation devices to 51 churches across the Diocese at a highly subsidised cost, made possible by a grant from the Church Commissioners. The aim of this rollout was to increase the number of churches benefiting from a user-friendly contactless giving solution, allowing donors to make cashless one-off donations with ease.
Since the devices were set up and distributed, during sessions at Diocesan House in May 2024, they have collectively raised more than £57,000, showcasing the power of modern technology in supporting our cherished churches.
St George's Church, Deal received a PAYAZ device as part of the rollout. Trevor Longman, Treasurer said:
“Since May 2024, we have received 'digital' donations almost every week from church members and visitors alike, with donations totalling £2,500 for the year and a further £200 recovered in Gift Aid. Card charges are low at 1.1% and there are no ongoing monthly charges for the machine. The PAYAZ device is very easy to use and is particularly useful over Christmas and Easter times, when there are lots of visitors to the church, or if we decide to hold any special appeals.”
Ashford Town Parish consists of six parish churches and two worship centres and received three PAYAZ devices in last May’s rollout. These were allocated to St Mary’s in the town centre and Kingsnorth and Kennington. As part of a recent Diocesan Try Before You Buy scheme, St Mary’s, Willesborough and Singleton Community Church each received CollecTin More devices which are smaller and more portable. Shirley Leslie, Treasurer explained the impact the devices have made across Ashford:
“Over the year to 30th April, the devices have collectively brought in just short of an amazing £4,000 from 254 transactions. Understandably, topping the list is the device in the town centre with 120 transactions totalling £2689 – an average of £22.41 per transaction. St Mary's is open during the week, as well as at weekends, offering the perfect solution for casual visitors – but the device is also well used on a Sunday morning. We are looking forward to the wedding season as well as social and fundraising events, and feel sure that use of the devices will continue to grow.”
The Revd Lindsay Yates, Generous Giving Adviser, shared her insights:
“When churches are seeking to increase donations, it helps to have several available ways for people to donate. Whilst regular giving via the Parish Giving Scheme or standing orders is usually the most significant way for churches to raise funds, last year’s rollout demonstrates the value of contactless devices to raise additional funds, especially from visitors or from those who attend infrequently and at certain times of the year.”
For more information about contactless devices and grants available please contact the Generous Giving Team.
Coffee Morning for Treasurers
The Finance & Generous Giving Teams were pleased to reintroduce Treasurer Coffee Mornings, with the first of three events taking place on 13th May, welcoming treasurers from the Maidstone Archdeaconry.
The morning offered a valuable opportunity for treasurers to engage in discussions and exchange questions with one another, as well as with members of the Finance & Generous Giving Teams. Discussion topics lead by the attendees included ways to reduce energy bills and the accounting software used by other parishes.
Peter Richardson from Holy Cross, Bearsted said:
“It was great to have the opportunity to meet with other parishes and ask questions. We all have different skill sets and experience so it's great to share this resource”
Sara Endicott-Clarke, Head of Finance, said:
“It’s been so lovely bringing back the coffee mornings and chatting with people from across the diocese over coffee and Lindsay’s legendary flapjacks! We’re hoping these relaxed catch-ups help us continue to support parishes and hear what’s going on in their churches”
Faith, History, Community and Fashion
Neighbours and friends Caroline Rees and Becky Sellen, with the help of their children, have taken on the challenge of fundraising to save their local churches in fashionable style!
Caroline explains,
“As a local community, we are faced with the same problems as parishes up and down the country. How do we raise enough money to maintain these beautiful buildings to provide spaces for worship, celebration and historical appreciation, for now and for generations to come?
"We wanted to give everybody the chance to support in an easy way so set up a clothes collection point at Wickhambreaux church and arranged a company to collect. They paid us 40p per kilo of clothes donated and we raised over £1500.”
Caroline introduced Becky to her fundraising efforts and the project evolved.
Becky continues,
“Caroline explained that the company that buys the clothes were reducing payments from 40p per kilo to 30p. I’m a big fan of Vinted, the online second-hand clothes shopping site. I thought we might be missing a trick to try and get the maximum amount from each item donated.
“We roped in the children to help sort, hang, price and list many of the high-quality items on our new account IckWickStod. This proved a great success, and we continue to list.
“As we had advertised on our local Facebook pages and village newsletters, the donations flooded in by the sack full. Enough so that we held our first clothes sale at Wickhambreaux church and welcomed over 50 shoppers who went away with great quality bargains.
“It was lovely to showcase the church in this way and many of the visitors had never been in the church before so spent time looking around, stayed for tea and promised to return.”
The team have raised over £2000 so far with their combined approach to clothes sales and say this is just the start!