One of the most frequently cited and widely used reasons for the rapid growth of digital giving over the past decade is the proportionate decline in check writing during that time. And the trend continues. In fact, according to one report, we are on pace to write our final check sometime in the year 2021–a mere six years away.
Nowhere is this “check-less” trend more prevalent than with millennials, 20% of whom have never written a check in their life. There are piles and piles of statistics to back this up (like these), but – for today – I thought we’d skip the numbers and focus instead on some good, old-fashioned anecdotal evidence. (It is election season after all.)
When I was at my parents’ house last month, the conversation shifted on several occasions to my job and to digital giving in general. Each time I did, I found myself looking around for the nearest recording device.
From my 25 year-old brother:
Bro, I think the last check I wrote was for textbooks during my last semester at Azusa [Pacific University]. I honestly haven’t even seen my checkbook since I graduated.”
From my recently married 22 year-old cousin:
We haven’t given anything [to our church] in like two months. I feel bad about it every week, but I don’t know what else to do. We never use checks, and there’s no other way for us to give!”
From my 18 year-old cousin:
Write a check? Why. Couldn’t I just PayPal or Venmo the money?”
These words came un-prompted and un-coached from the mouths of real, live, church-going millennials! The same millennials who I’m sure you have in your congregation every Sunday. And yes, the same millennials who are projected to account for 46% of all U.S. Income (and probably 46% of your giving) by 2020.
And what does that mean for your church? It means if you’re counting on cash and checks to fund 100% of your ministry, you’re in big trouble. Shoot, after 2021, you might even be flat broke!
If you don’t have a next generation strategy for reaching the next generation of givers. If you’ve been holding out hope that the trend toward mobile giving is merely a passing fad. If you had to Google either of the those peer-2-peer payment platforms I mentioned above, then consider this post the “kick in the pants” you’ve been waiting for!
And consider Mogiv the answer you’ve been looking for. From text giving, to mobile giving, to Facebook giving, and beyond. Mogiv has the tools you need to “mobilize” the young givers in your congregation.
Give On The Go with Mogiv from Mogiv on Vimeo.
Technology isn’t the final or the only answer, but – as hundreds of churches have already discovered – it can go a long way toward changing those “woulda,coulda, and shoulda’s” into actual gifts to your church.