faith direct

Electronic Offertory Deductions Could Make Envelopes Obsolete

By Gretchen R. Crowe
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the Issue of 5/10/07)

Skip the ATM, cancel your envelopes, leave the checkbook at home: offertory collections are riding the “wave of the future” and splashing onto a completely electronic shore.
So says W. Brian Walsh, parishioner of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Alexandria and president of Faith Direct, an Alexandria-based company that provides a full-service automated payment program specifically designed for monetary collections in Catholic churches. Through Faith Direct, parishioners can automatically deduct their offertory contributions from their checking or savings accounts (or charge them to a credit card) in one lump sum at the beginning of each month, similar to automated mortgage, car or insurance payments.
Five parishes in the Arlington Diocese currently use Faith Direct — some others have their own methods of electronic giving — and Walsh hopes only to expand that number. As of press time, approximately 25 more diocesan parishes had registered for one of two Faith Direct information luncheons held Tuesday and Wednesday at St. Timothy Church in Chantilly and Blessed Sacrament, respectively — the first two parishes in the diocese to implement the program. Both churches have used Faith Direct for a year and a half, with St. Theresa Parish in Ashburn joining in December, St. Patrick Parish in Fredericksburg in March and St. James Parish in Falls Church in April.
Walsh, co-founder of Warfield and Walsh, a direct mail fund-raising company, said that for years he and his wife struggled to get themselves and their small children to Mass on time, and, as a result, often forgot to bring their offertory envelope. After finding no electronic giving remedy that specifically helped Catholic churches, Faith Direct was born.
“I frankly didn’t need to start another company,” Walsh said. “I want to work in the Catholic Church because I want to make a difference. I’d rather be known in 10 years as Faith Direct being the company that changed the way people gave. More than anything else, that to me would be an accomplishment.”
Seventeen parishes in the neighboring Archdiocese of Washington use Faith Direct — the largest number in any diocese in the country — and dioceses in Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island also participate.
“While we certainly did not invent electronic giving for parishes, we’re considered one of the leaders in the country because our approach is much different — it’s full service,” Walsh said. “It’s up to Faith Direct to run the entire process.”
That means Faith Direct accesses accounts and handles marketing, mailings, customer service and databases — all the details it takes to bring parish collections into an electronically driven society.
“It’s not just for offertory, it’s for any second collection that’s mandated by the diocese, plus any unique gifts,” Walsh said. “It’s really being full service in terms of giving.”
Funds are deducted or charged on the fourth day of every month and are kept in a custodial, non-interest bearing account; by the seventh day they are wire transferred to parish bank accounts. That same day, a database file is sent to the parish updating the totals and adding names of new donors. An itemized tax statement is also sent to each household at the end of the year detailing all contributions. Faith Direct charges the parish a flat fee based on parish size — on average $6 to $7 per household.
Faith Direct brings unregistered Mass attendees, and regular contributors, out of the woodwork. Some of those parishioners who might waver between one, two or even three different churches, and be registered at none, could technically be enrolled at all churches (provided they were under contract with Faith Direct), but that would mean that there would be multiple monthly deductions — one per church.
Faith Direct “will hopefully allow parishioners to have another way to support the Church and reflect on their giving,” said Bob Mueller, diocesan director of development, calling electronic deductions a “more convenient” method of giving that allows parishioners to give more than they have in the past.
Electronic giving is valuable for snow days or during the summer when attendance at Mass might be down, but “we still have our costs and need to meet the needs” of the parish, said Father Patrick Posey, pastor of St. James. “It’s a nice way for them to keep their regular contributions coming in.”
Father John Cregan, pastor of Blessed Sacrament, said his parish particularly noticed the effect of parishioners’ consistent contributions via Faith Direct during prime vacation months.
“Where collections usually take a significant dip ours stayed the same and rose a little bit,” he said. “This is a way that (parishioners) can stay connected and be contributing even when they’re not there. For us to know that we have that steady income is good.”
Only 30 percent of the parish community consistently supports their parish, Walsh said.
“We have, in this diocese, been able to demonstrate that we are converting (to electronic giving) 25 percent of those donors in year one, which is significant,” he said, adding that the 26 percent conversion at St. Patrick is a primary example. “Basically a quarter of the donating population is gravitating toward electronic giving. We’re seeing, on average, an additional 10 gifts a year in the offertory. It’s a 30 percent increase in giving, maybe a little more.”
The monetary return on the 200 families enrolled in Faith Direct at Blessed Sacrament is like having “an extra Sunday each month” — and therefore an extra Sunday collection, Father Cregan said.
While some parishes might have to “sell” the program, at St. Theresa and St. James parishioners were asking for it.
“Everyone’s doing things along those lines,” said Father Richard Guest, pastor of St. Theresa. “It made sense.”
Father Posey agreed, noting that fewer and fewer people currently carry cash, himself included. He admitted, though, feeling hesitant about the program at first, particularly about the omission of the physical act of putting a contribution in the basket during Mass.
“It’s a significant act during the liturgy,” Father Posey said.
Walsh said this was a concern in every parish, not just at St. James or in the Arlington Diocese.
“From a liturgical aspect it’s a very important part of the whole process of Mass — the physical act in front of your congregation of putting something in the basket,” he said.
In response, Faith Direct created individual business card-size cards for parishioners to place in the basket in lieu of envelopes. Marked with a name and ID number, the cards allow parishioners to continue to participate during the offertory collection. Father Posey encouraged his parishioners to use the cards and said they do help.
Maribeth Leonard, a member of the finance council at St. Timothy, said parishioners at her parish had the same hesitation, but said that “a lot of it is just getting into that frame of mind,” she said. “It’s all so new.”
Electronic giving may also change the way that some families budget, Leonard said, because money is taken out in a lump sum at the beginning of the month rather than in smaller amounts on a weekly basis.
Walsh said Faith Direct gives parishioners the “opportunity to reflect on their parish support.
“I think without question we feel that we are providing a service to the Church for the greater good of the Church to fulfill its missions and provide more income.”
Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.