ABOUT ONLINE GIVING AT SJL.ORG
Online giving is a new feature of our website that permits people to easily and securely give gifts to the ministry through the GIVE NOW webpage. We hope it will be a blessing to all who use it, as well as to our church.
What service are we using?
The online transfer of funds requires the use of companies that specialize in this service. At St. John Lutheran we are using the ‘JOYFUL Response” electronic giving program of The Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF). In addition to ‘JOYFUL Response,’ the LCEF has partnered with Vanco® to make its GIVE NOW online giving resource freely available to LC-MS congregations.
What does it cost to use online giving?
There is no cost or fee to using GIVE NOW, either to the church or to the donor. LCEF, a ministry of our church, has made this resource freely available.
Do I need to set up an account or profile to give online?
If you wish, you may establish a GIVE NOW account profile, but it is not required. You should, however, understand the differences.
- If you create a profile, you will have options for setting up recurring gifts (weekly or monthly, for example) and you will not need to reenter your information each time
- If you don’t create a profile, your only option will be to give one-time gifts, and you’ll need to reenter your information each time you give
To create an account profile, go to our online giving page (use the blue “Give Online” button on SJL.ORG), and click on ‘Sign In / Sign Up” in the upper right corner of the screen. Follow the instructions.
What information do I need to provide to use online giving?
Online giving will require that you enter basic personal information as well as the account number and bank routing number for the savings or checking account from which you would like funds to be drawn. For the time being, there is no option for giving with a credit or debit card.
Who has access to information about my offerings?
The only people locally who will have access to information about your gifts will be the Financial Trustees and our GIVE NOW account administrator, the church secretary. Please note, however, that the secretary will not be using administrator log in credentials except to manage the service for our congregation.
How do I get to our online giving page?
On our SJL.ORG website (including this page), click on the blue ‘Give Online’ button. You will be routed away from our webpage to the Vanco® GIVE NOW page that looks like this:
The page looks very plain – hopefully in the near future Vanco® will enable us to customize our page with our church name and logo. For now, there are three ways to ensure that you are on the correct page.
- Only access this page using the blue ‘Give Online’ button on our website
- On the first page you come to after clicking the blue button, ensure that the last four characters of the URL are 11f4
- In the ‘Select Fund’ dropdown menu, make sure your four options are General Fund, Building Fund, Missions, and Endowment Fund
How do I use GIVE NOW? Giving your offering is fairly easy. Do the following:
If you established an account profile…
- Sign into your account by clicking on “Sign In / Sign Up” in the upper right corner.
- In the ‘Select Fund’ field, choose the fund to which you would like to make a gift.
- To make this a recurring gift, use the options in the next recurring gifts field that says “One Time” by default.
- Enter the amount of your gift, then click ‘Add Donation.’ Your entry will display in the ‘Fund’ box, and your total will display beneath this box.
- Repeat this process for giving gifts to other church funds.
- When you have made all your selections, click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the screen, then follow instructions.
If you have not established an account profile…
- In the ‘Select Fund’ field, choose the fund to which you would like to make a gift (you will not have the option of making this a recurring gift).
- Enter the amount of your gift, then click ‘Add Donation.’ Your entry will display in the ‘Fund’ box, and your total will display beneath this box.
- Repeat this process for giving gifts to other church funds.
- When you have made all your selections, click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the screen.
- In the next window, enter your personal and account information (this will need to be entered every time if you don’t establish an account profile).
- Click next, and follow instructions.
When you’re all done, your gift will be automatically deposited into the church bank account, and an email will be generated for the Financial Trustees so that your offerings can be recorded.
