A few weeks ago, I shared in our newsletter that we paid $116,000 in bank and credit card fees associated with giving. In the past few years we’ve pivoted to various platforms to make financial contributions more accessible. We will never be able to avoid these fees, but I wanted to educate our congregation on costs associated with the different ways of giving. Our intent was not to make you second guess how you give, we are very grateful for every donation, simply to continue to inform our people as the world changes.
I shared that in that newsletter that,
- “One exciting feature that we hope to have up and running over the next few weeks is an option for you to pay for your bank fees when you give online. This is optional, and there is no obligation but if everyone helped us it would reduce our charges immensely”
This application is now running online and I want to tell you about it.
We are partnering with a Canadian company called “Tithe.ly” that enabled us to create an opportunity, for anyone who wants, to pay for the fees associated with their contribution. Tithe.ly is a secure company that many churches use, the PAOC recommends it. Your giving record remains within CLA’s system. This can only be accessed online through www.clachurch.com You can allow the donation to proceed with fees added OR you can simply uncheck the fee box and give the original amount, it’s totally up to you.
- When you go to www.clachurch.com and click on “giving” a contribution box appears. You will be asked for your information, which is necessary to link with CLA’s church center.
- Once you put your donation amount in you will see a box that asks if you want to pay the fees. If you don’t want to, just click on it so that the “check mark” is removed.
- Once you press “give” a confirmation will appear.
As a reminder about fees, I’ve republished some of our most common fees here.
1. Pre-authorized Withdrawals
- These are set up in advance and automatically withdrawn from your account on the 3rd and/or 17th of every month.
- The total fee for CLA is $35.00 per month + .10 per transaction making this the most economical way for CLA to receive your funds.
- If you’re interested to know more about pre-authorized regular withdrawals, please email Dana at dgobbato@clachurch.com
2. Debit / Credit Terminals found at Guest Services and CLA reception desk
- Fees: Monthly flat fee for CLA of $200.00 + Credit card fee of 0.07% of the donation amount or Debit Card fee of .07 cents / transaction making debit cards more economical than credit cards
3. Cash or Cheque
- Fees: 1.25 per individual transaction + 2.50 per every thousand dollars deposited.
- This is still one of the lowest fee options but does require extra time from our personnel.
4. Online giving
- During these past 2 years this has been the most used method for giving
- Fees:
- 2.9% + .30 for CAD visa/MC
- 3.5% + .30 for international Visa/MC
- 3.5% for American Express Card
- This is where Tithe.ly would come in as an option to help us.
5. Text giving
- 2.2% + .30 for CAD Visa/MC
- 3.2% + .30 for international Visa/MC
- 3.5% for American Express Card
We are also investigating the costs and process to set up CLA as “payee” through the 5 major Canadian banks.
