While Churches are beginning to reopen, places of worship will continue to feel the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on their finances for some time.
With large gatherings still prohibited and traditional “face-to-face” ways of fundraising on hold, we’re recommending members use the summer to really make the most of online fundraising platform easyfundraising instead to keep funds coming in at this difficult time.
How easyfundraising works
It’s a really straightforward way to fundraise – many of your congregation shop online and with easyfundraising, you can turn that shopping into funds for your Church.
When anyone connected to your Church uses the easyfundraising website or app to shop online with 4000 leading retailers like Amazon, eBay, John Lewis & Partners, M&S, Argos, Just Eat, Go Compare & Eden.co.uk, the retailer they shop with sends your Church a free donation at no extra cost. And as well as raising money through online shopping, with easyfundraising, your congregation can also choose to make a donation to your Church at the click of a button. It’s quick, simple and 100% secure.
It’s completely free to register with easyfundraising and use and very simple to manage. Hundreds of Churches are already using it successfully and we think it can work for you.
To get started, register your Church as a good cause with easyfundraising.
Once you have registered, follow this simple 3 Step Guide to raising with easyfundraising
i. Tell your congregation that you have registered with easyfundraising – and WHY
Your Church will get it’s own easyfundraising page so share that page with your congregation and ask them to sign up to support you.
It’s also important to tell them WHY their support is needed so explain how you have been impacted by lockdown and what a difference their support can make to the future of your Church.
ii. Show them how EASY it is to support you
There are over 4000 retailers so your congregation can raise donations with all their favourite online stores. They can raise on everything from groceries, travel and mobiles to DIY, fashion and insurance and much more, as well as making one off credit card donations at the click of a button.
iii. REMIND your supporters – and THANK them too
People are busy so it can sometimes slip their minds but if you make sure that you regularly post on social media or drop them an email, you’ll keep raising funds for you at the forefront of their mind.
Here are a few additional FAQs for consideration…
• Our Church isn’t a charity – can we still use easyfundraising?
Yes – you don’t need to be a charity to use easyfundraising
• Will it cost us anything?
No – easyfundraising is completely free to register and use for both you and your congregation. And your supporters will not be charged anything extra on their shopping either
• How do we get our donations?
Your shopping donations – providing you have raised over £15, easyfundraising total up all the donations raised by everyone supporting you every three months and send them to you by bank transfer or cheque. There is no charge for this. If your Church hasn’t raised over £15 in the previous three months, the amount simply rolls into the next payment instead.
Your card donations – donations made via a credit or debit card are processed securely by service provider Stripe and transferred to your Church bank account within 7 days of the date of donation. You’ll receive an email to let you know when you have a new donation.
• How does easyfundraising make money?
Like price comparison websites, easyfundraising makes money through affiliate marketing. This means that retailers pay them commission each time a sale is made through their site and they pass at least 50% of this on to your Church. The donation rate shown on the website is what’s paid to your church when one of your supporters buys something from a retailer.
