GIVE A GIFT
Q&A: GIVING ONLINE WITH VANCO
1. Is Vanco a secure system?
2. Are my donations through Vanco still tax deductible?
3. What are the associated fees the church has to pay using Vanco?
4. What are the advantages to using electronic check versus debit/credit cards?
5. Are we going to stop using the offering plate in Sunday service?
6. Why are we using online giving?
- Absolutely. Concordia takes your information and financial security very seriously. To learn more, read Vanco’s security policies.
- Yes! You will still receive a giving receipt for tax purposes at the end of the year.
- Why are there fees at all? For debit and credit cards, there is a 2.75% processing fee plus an additional $0.40 per transaction. There is a
similar fee of 1.00% and $0.45 per transaction for electronic checks. This fee is not charged to you, but is instead taken off of your donation
before the church receives it. In addition, there is a small processing fee the church will pay each month to clear the funds from Vanco to
deposit into our bank account. These fees are Vanco’s source of revenue in order to provide this service to churches.
- The advantage to using electronic check is that the fee associated is slightly smaller. However, some users may prefer to use their
debit/credit cards to accrue reward points on their card.
- Not at all! Online giving is just one additional source that people can use for giving. The offering plate is an important part of our service that
isn’t going anywhere.
- There are a couple reasons. First, because many people are no longer using checks and cash and instead have moved over to cards and
electronic payments entirely. By providing online giving as an option, we hope to make your faithful giving to the church more convenient
for you.
Secondly, we are hoping that online giving stabilizes giving patterns – especially during the irregular summer and holiday months. When
many families are away traveling, our giving tends to be harder to predict from week to week. This makes it difficult for us to plan our
budget accordingly and be good stewards of our resources. By providing this online option, our hope is that families will use it to stabilize
giving when they’re out of town or unable to attend the service.
2. Are my donations through Vanco still tax deductible?
3. What are the associated fees the church has to pay using Vanco?
4. What are the advantages to using electronic check versus debit/credit cards?
5. Are we going to stop using the offering plate in Sunday service?
6. Why are we using online giving?
- Absolutely. Concordia takes your information and financial security very seriously. To learn more, read Vanco’s security policies.
- Yes! You will still receive a giving receipt for tax purposes at the end of the year.
- Why are there fees at all? For debit and credit cards, there is a 2.75% processing fee plus an additional $0.40 per transaction. There is a
similar fee of 1.00% and $0.45 per transaction for electronic checks. This fee is not charged to you, but is instead taken off of your donation
before the church receives it. In addition, there is a small processing fee the church will pay each month to clear the funds from Vanco to
deposit into our bank account. These fees are Vanco’s source of revenue in order to provide this service to churches.
- The advantage to using electronic check is that the fee associated is slightly smaller. However, some users may prefer to use their
debit/credit cards to accrue reward points on their card.
- Not at all! Online giving is just one additional source that people can use for giving. The offering plate is an important part of our service that
isn’t going anywhere.
- There are a couple reasons. First, because many people are no longer using checks and cash and instead have moved over to cards and
electronic payments entirely. By providing online giving as an option, we hope to make your faithful giving to the church more convenient
for you.
Secondly, we are hoping that online giving stabilizes giving patterns – especially during the irregular summer and holiday months. When
many families are away traveling, our giving tends to be harder to predict from week to week. This makes it difficult for us to plan our
budget accordingly and be good stewards of our resources. By providing this online option, our hope is that families will use it to stabilize
giving when they’re out of town or unable to attend the service.