Q&A: GIVING ONLINE WITH VANCO
1. Is Vanco a secure system?
Absolutely. Concordia takes your information and financial security very seriously. To learn more, read Vanco’s security policies.
2. Are my donations through Vanco still tax deductible?
Yes! You will still receive a giving receipt for tax purposes at the end of the year.
3. What are the associated fees the church has to pay using Vanco?
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.
4. What are the advantages to using electronic check versus debit/credit cards?
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.
5. Are we going to stop using the offering plate in Sunday service?
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.
6. Why are we using online giving?
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.
Absolutely. Concordia takes your information and financial security very seriously. To learn more, read Vanco’s security policies.
2. Are my donations through Vanco still tax deductible?
Yes! You will still receive a giving receipt for tax purposes at the end of the year.
3. What are the associated fees the church has to pay using Vanco?
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.
4. What are the advantages to using electronic check versus debit/credit cards?
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.
5. Are we going to stop using the offering plate in Sunday service?
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.
6. Why are we using online giving?
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.