Announcing: Subsplash Giving with GrowCurve

So what is GrowCurve? We are offering an incredible new feature that allows us to provide the lowest processing rates in the industry so that you can keep more of your donations and potentially save thousands of dollars every year. You never have to negotiate again. And don't worry–we still don't charge a monthly fee.

Did you know that we built the first mobile optimized giving page for a church in 2009? After launching Subsplash Giving, we kept coming back to what matters most: fueling the mission of the Church by increasing your giving and keeping the donations where they count. We decided we’re not ok with the industry standard, we’re not here to maximize our margins and profit off of the church – being privately owned and operated by a Christian family means we can give it all back to you. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

If you want to learn more about GrowCurve and how Subsplash Giving can benefit you, get in touch with us!

7 Ways to Encourage Giving

We want to help you encourage your community towards greater generosity, so while we've done our very best to set up an easy mobile giving platform, we know that's often only half the battle. Here are a few ways to reinforce your hopes for your church as they grow in financial stewardship. 

1. MAKE IT SIMPLE

74% of Americans say they write no more than one check per month, and about 80% of Americans carry $50 or less in cash. Because of this reality, online and mobile giving is key. When it’s easy to give, people are more likely to give! With Subsplash Giving we’ve made giving simple and effortless.

2. TEACH A BIBLICAL VIEW OF STEWARDSHIP

Emphasize tithing as a Biblical practice and an act of worship, not just a means to pay the church’s bills.

3. COMMUNICATE YOUR VISION

People are more likely to give to a clear cause. A mission statement or video can be a great way to share the essence of your church’s vision.

4. SHARE THE IMPACT

Share stories of how God is working in your church and community so members can see some of the ways their gifts are making a difference.

5. OFFER FINANCIAL CLASSES OR OTHER RESOURCES

Personal money management is an important aspect of Christian stewardship. Helping people learn more about finance is a great way to serve your congregation, and as people gain control of their debt or finances they are more likely to become regular givers.

6. PRACTICE FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY 

People are also more likely to make gifts when they know that their money is being managed wisely. Keep your congregation informed about the church budget and finances.

7. ASK

Encourage members to prayerfully consider how much God is calling them to give. A giving campaign can be a great way to engage first-time givers. Ask members who are able to take advantage of recurring giving, and consider sending a push notification during the summer to remind people to give.

If you have any other questions, send us an email at giving@subsplash.com!

How Church Plants Can Find Success with an App

Tyler Gorsline is the co-founding Pastor of A Seattle Church, a growing community in the heart of the city that Subsplash also calls home. We got to chat with Tyler about the impact their app has had on helping their church community stay connected as well as alleviate some of the burden of the staff so that they aren't spread too thin when loving and serving a church that is still in the early stages of growth.

Subsplash: What goal is your app aiming to accomplish?

TG: We want to meet people where they are at. People are constantly on their phones nowadays, so we want to give people the opportunity to get information easily and provide as many inroads as possible to staying connected and committed to our community. Ultimately, though, we want to share the Gospel with people near and far and our app helps us do that.

Subsplash: How has your app added value to A Seattle Church? 

TG: I've been really delighted and surprised to find out how many people are discovering our app. I got some feedback from a guy I hadn't talked to in 12 years about how encouraged he was by one of my sermons. It's crazy that a childhood friend was able to hear the Gospel through the app. The app makes our content super accessible!

People can struggle to be physically present at church each week, but the app helps frequently remind people about what we are doing as a community. Features like push notifications have helped us engage people in the community.

Subsplash: As a church plant, specifically, what are the benefits of having app?

TG: One of the biggest challenges our team faces is moving towards long term sustainability. The use of technology can ease the the pressures of the pastoral team. Generally speaking, a small church staff can carry a lot of weight in the beginning, but having an app helps us to stay connected even if we don't have the bandwidth to meet with everyone one-on-one all the time. The unique challenge (and blessing) is we have a lot of people to serve and care for than we are sometimes able, but we try to encourage people to lean into the resources available in the app when it's appropriate.

Also, the fact that the app is so user friendly helps empower our congregation to serve. The intuitiveness of the platform makes it so that almost anyone can volunteer to help upload content, even if they aren't super tech-oriented. The usability of the platform empowers busy leaders to delegate tasks related to the app without too much direction.

Subsplash: Being a small church, how did you come to the decision to create an app even though you are just getting started and resources are tight at times?

TG: There was definitely a back and forth since taking on a new project means taking cost and time management into consideration, but ultimately we decided having the ability to connect with people in new and relevant ways was a huge value add for our church. With easy access to things like baptism signups, community group info, giving, and sharing prayer requests, our people are able to be connected as they'd like.

You can download their app here! We are really grateful for the community at A Seattle Church. We'd love to hear from you if you want to explore the benefits of an app for your church. 

Subsplash Giving: Now with Text to Give!

We are on a roll this year with 64 new features and platform improvements to date including Fill In Notes/Bulletins, Google Cast for iOS, and CHMS integrations! We have another exciting announcement to make, this time with our new giving platform... Subsplash Giving now supports text to give!

If you've never tried text giving, you are missing out! It's really simple. Once you sign up with us we will create a unique "code" for your organization. You can share this code with your community, and when they text it to a designated number they will be instantly sent a link to your giving page where they can spend less than 6 seconds donating any amount. Voilá! It really is that easy.

What exactly is text-to-give? Read our essential guide to text-to-give for churches to find out!

3 Ways to Take Your App to the Next Level

When it comes to building an app, the concept of "if we build it they will come" doesn't hold true. With all of the content available at your audience's fingertips, it's impossible to be passive about your mobile strategy and be successful.

When you first made the decision to build an app for your organization, you likely had a vision and audience in mind, but it's easy to get lost along the way with competing priorities, limited resources, and maybe even slow adoption after launching your app. To help you make your app the best possible resource for your congregation, we've put together a few ideas to get you on the right track.

Let's ask a few questions that will serve as a framework so you can determine what success for your app would look like. 

1. What content does your audience want to engage with?

We would suggest starting with three of the more popular features for churches and ministries, and then building from there based on who your audience is and what is relevant to them:

Media

Regardless of what elements you include in your weekly services, every church has media in some shape or form. Whether you have videos, music, or only record sermon audio, our unparalleled media experience will help you provide great content that your community can integrate into their daily lives.

It's easy to download for a later time, users can multitask and do other things on their phone while listening, and there's even a handy 30 second rewind and fast forward feature so listeners don't miss a word of your content. 

Bible and Bible Reading Plans

The awesome thing about this feature is that your community can use it during the week, or directly in their app on Sunday morning. 

Giving

Subsplash Giving is an incredibly easy mobile giving solution, and we are invested in making sure awareness and adoption is successful. Subsplash Giving enables you to have a welcome place for new donors to give, and provides opportunity for increased donations from existing donors.

Not all churches have the same resources available to them, but that doesn't have to limit how they can use their app, which leads us to our next important question...

2. What kind of bandwidth does your team have?

Whether you're running a lean staff of 3, or a large team of 100 we are committed to walking with you every step of the way and making your app a success! We have a whole team dedicated to that purpose. If you are looking for free resources to maximize your app, tips on how to organize your app, or technical questions, our App Specialist Team is willing and ready to take your call or answer your email! 

Regardless of what your leadership team looks like, answering this question as it relates to your app is important in helping you determine what ongoing maintenance of your app might look like, which leads us to our last question...

3. What would it look like to scale your content?

As your church evolves over time, your content should change too. Maybe you want to expand into video or start including blog posts in your app. Making a plan for the future will set you up for success.

Get in touch with us if you have any questions about creating an app!