Promoting the Use of EFT for Ministry Giving
- Written by Johanna Antes; Radio Training Network

Stations of the Radio Training Network experienced success during their Fall Sharathons that will extend far beyond reaching their faith-promise goals set to meet operating needs. Preparation and planning for Sharathon 2002 began with in-depth analysis of fulfillment of one-time and monthly faith promises. Like many ministries, RTN station The Joy FM in Sarasota, FL encourages monthly support from their listeners. The station wanted to increase the number of people giving monthly. At the same time, analysis revealed that over the past 3 years, more than one million dollars in monthly faith promises had not been fulfilled.

Recognizing that donors have increasingly hectic lives, The Joy FM developed a plan to not only reach the fundraising goal during Sharathon but improve fulfillment of those faith-promises and retention of their donors by encouraging the use of EFT/Credit Card. The Station maximized their named giving program that identifies "committed and faithful supporters" and encouraged sustained monthly giving. They then promoted EFT/Credit Card fulfillment as a demonstration of donor commitment in addition to donor convenience. A special incentive was offered to those who selected EFT to fulfill their faith promise.

Objectives

• Increase the number of donors that are giving monthly to boost revenue
• Improve the fulfillment from monthly givers so that a greater percentage of promised revenue is realized
• Retain donors longer by offering a program for sustained giving, growing the size of the donor file

Strategies

• Create a special named contributor category for monthly givers that allows donors to sign up once and give monthly until they decide to stop
• Encourage use of pre-authorized electronic payment from bank account or credit card
• Provide an incentive to those who choose EFT for fulfillment. Incentives created included a Partner Card and four custom praise and worship CDs- one per quarter over the next year.

Note: The results were similar in other Radio Training Network stations including Raleigh, NC, Greenville South Carolina and Springfield, MO.