It’s Stewardship Season, the time of year most dreaded and hated by Episcopalians and other Mainliners because we are terrible at asking for money and even worse at reminding people that they promised to give money.  So we are always on the lookout for the best system that will do the work for us: the perfect scam.  The one part I’m going to write about is one collection tool: automated giving.

On Sunday at the church I often attend, the Stewardship Chair included in his regular pitch a change: they are cutting the credit card payment option for pledging.  In describing the change, he pointed out the cost to the congregation to take credit cards was approximately $1,200 and that he didn’t feel justified in continuing the practice, so that every dollar pledged would go to the congregation.  He then described the steps one could go to set up a direct deposit at one’s bank.  I found the whole bit pretty odd.

Several years ago, a previous parish wrestled with this.  They were seeking out a service that would process weekly, monthly, or annual pledges automatically.  The service provided ease of use, simplicity, and the potential to maximize giving, since the pledger wouldn’t forget to bring their offering on any given Sunday.  The downside, of course, is that it would cost money.  The shrewd financial planner looks to see if the increase in pledges surpasses the cost, and if so, it is a sound investment.

All of this, of course, came about before free online banking became pretty standard and the option to use direct deposit for anything was ubiquitous.  Now, the thought of paying a service to do something like that no longer feels like quite the investment it used to.  At least that is how it is being seen by the Stewardship Team.

The optic of standing in front of people and saying essentially “let’s do away with the simple, easy thing you’ve already set up and replace it with these 18 steps not all of you will do so that we can save a little cash” seemed simultaneously sensible and stupid.  The amount of work needed to help guide this transition better exceed the cost of eliminating the current system, or so the thinking goes.

They are probably right in trashing the existing system, because those who are using this option are likely to already be engaged in online banking, so paying for the service is probably not worth it financially, but there are two things that are almost universally undervalued that might change their minds:

1. More people want to pay for convenience than the Stewardship Team believes, particularly when it comes to dealing with older members who are anxious about both the computer and their money.  In other words, the lowest price isn’t everyone’s first choice.  Many love simplicity and convenience.
2. I’m not convinced free online banking will be with us forever.  The more we come to rely on this service, the more likely that banks will look to profit from its use, adopting transaction fees, direct deposit fees, or even a monthly usage fee (like they are now doing with debit cards).  Chances are really good that your cost savings today will be lost in a matter of two years’ time.  Then what?

Lost in the pursuit for savings and responsibility is the fact that economic savings sometimes bring a non-economic cost.  Some of which include smaller or more inconsistent pledges, a perception of antiquated behaviors, and the perceived preference for more difficult or opaque processes.  In other words, the church starts to look like it requires each person to write out a check by hand, stuff it in an envelope, and bring it with them each and every Sunday.  This practice seems downright normal to anyone born before 1965, but ridiculous and complicated to the rest of us.

The problem, of course, is that this is one big perfect scam to get people to behave how they wished they behaved rather than actually behaved.  We don’t remember to follow through, so we get the bank to do it.  That is smart, because we actually feel better about ourselves in this scenario.  We will always be chasing the big scam.  Always.

Question

How might we do what we wished we would do without resorting to the perfect scam?