Change can be quite the challenge, especially if you’re the one asking but we know, in the end, change ultimately makes things better. That’s why we’re here to help you make the switch to Dime Giving as smooth as possible.
Step 1 | Alert your church staff
As you launch with Dime Giving, it’s a good idea to get your staff and team leaders on board. A good way to start is to ask them to make a test donation so they can see the platform in action. Once they see how simple it is to use and how clear the process is, they will understand why the switch was made.
Here is a good email to share with your group to start the transition:
Hey Team,
As we mentioned in our previous meetings, we are switching our giving platform from {Previous Giving Platform Name} to Dime Giving. If you can help out our finance team and click the link below to give a test donation on Dime Giving. We appreciate if you could please share your feedback about the experience with us.
As we roll out Dime Giving to our congregation in the next few weeks, it will only make the launch smoother when our whole team knows how to set up a donation on our new giving platform. Also, we want our core volunteers to have the ability to test this out before we launch church-wide. Please feel free to forward this email or share the giving link with your key volunteers.
Give a test donation by going to {Insert Church Giving Link Here}.
Best,
Pastor {Name}
Step 2 | Migrate existing recurring givers
Our data shows us that if you send one email a week for a month, the average church will have 75%+ of their existing recurring givers moved over onto Dime Giving within the first four weeks.
We’ll show you how you can switch your existing recurring givers to Dime within the first four weeks.
First, send the first email (samples below) for the first two weeks and then send the second email in the last two weeks.
For the remaining recurring givers that haven't switched over yet, we suggest to give them a call. At the start of the call, thank them for their generosity, and then ask them if they have been receiving your emails.
If they answer "No", it is a great time to confirm that you have the most up to date information. If they say that they have seen the emails but haven’t gotten around to moving over their donation, ask them if they need help and if they can move it over in the next few days.
SAMPLE EMAIL #1
Hi (giver name),
We are excited to announce that we have a new donation platform called Dime Giving. It will be replacing all of our current online giving methods instead of (current platform).
We are contacting you because you have set up repeat giving with (previous giving provider) which will be discontinued soon. We want to ensure that the transition to our new processor is smooth. Please help us out by taking the two steps below before (put a hard end date).
1) Go to our website (insert link) and set up your repeat giving.
2) Go To (previous giving provider) and cancel your old repeat giving.
If you need help, contact our contribution team at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or (insert finance/contributions email here) and we will respond as soon as possible.
SAMPLE EMAIL #2
Subject: Reminder About your Repeat Giving
"Hi (giver name),
Thank you for your regular giving to (church name) each month. Your generosity allows us to reach people all over (city or county name), across the country and even globally. Again, thank you.
You might have heard that we are discontinuing (previous giving provider) and are moving all online giving over to Dime Giving so that your donation dollars will go even further. We noticed you still have repeat giving set up in (previous giving provider). Would you take a quick moment and help us transfer your current repeat giving from (previous giving provider) to Dime Giving?
Here are steps to guide you:
1) Go to our website (insert link) and set up your repeat giving.
2) Go to (previous giving provider) and cancel your old repeat giving.
If you need assistance, please contact our contribution team at (xxx) xxx-xxxx or (insert finance/contributions email Here)
Thanks again for partnering with us to make a difference in the kingdom.
Step 3 | Create a transition giving landing page on your website
We strongly recommend creating a transition giving landing page on your website for the first two months during the transition.
When anyone clicks the give button on your main page, having it linked to a landing page similar to the example below helps create clarity for your church.
The landing page should clearly call out the transition in the giving provider with the first button pointing new givers to the Dime Giving page. A second button should be easily seen, allowing existing recurring donors to cancel their current recurring gift so that they can set a new one up on Dime Giving.
Here’s an example of what you can place on your landing page:
Step 4 | Organize a Launch Weekend
Once you’ve done the first three steps, the next is promotion. Having a successful launch weekend really comes down to two main things: promoting and creating content for your services.
On Promoting Dime Giving
Use pre/post Service slides that share all the different ways people can give
Talk about all the different ways people can give during a segment about giving during the service
Pro tip:
Most churches have a phenomenal launch weekend. Churches who see an increase of giving after launch weekend do these two things well:
Communicate all the different ways to give every week - The average church attendee comes to church 1.7x per month. This means that we need to continually share all the easy ways for people to give. Most people do not give throughout the week because they forget that they can give anywhere, anytime with Dime Giving.
Talk about giving and generosity clearly - Most churches that use Dime Giving see a huge increase in overall giving, but they also see an increase in the number of recurring givers. Share with your church the Biblical reasons for financial generosity.
Take one step further and consider sharing the practical reasons why setting up a recurring gift is best for the church—it helps you budget as you look ahead and plan to reach more people for Christ.
We find that when churches even share the practical importance of recurring giving for your church, that many will set that up—they just didn't know that it was important.