Quick Way to Setup Online Donations

There are quite a few online donation options out there such as Kimbia.com, Jotform.com, E-giving.com, Bluefin.com and more, but the quickest and easiest option to implement in my opinion is Paypal. Many people use PayPal the world over in order to pay for goods and services, particularly on electronic swap meet sites such as eBay. PayPal notifies the seller when the money has been transferred, so that the seller can then send the item to the purchaser.

This is particularly convenient for sellers who don’t wish to deal with the hassle and charges involved in using Visa or MasterCard, since most eBay sellers are private individuals.

PayPal also accepts money from credit cards, allowing people who do not have or do not wish to set up a PayPal account to pay for goods and services, or in this case, make charitable donations online. With such an easy method of making donations, your members will be much more likely to contribute than if they actually had to sit down and write a check and put it in the mail.

PayPal will allow you to set up a free donation module on your website, whereby visitors can make donations using their PayPal account or credit card. You will still have to pay any fees required for the credit card transactions by the respective credit card companies, however.

Get Started by Setting up a PayPal Account

The first thing you will need to do is set up a PayPal for Business and Nonprofits account. Start with a Standard account, which is free, and provide all of your organization’s information. Once your account is ready, you can set up your donations by clicking on the Merchant Services tab, and in the Create Buttons section selecting Donate in order to create a Donate link for your site.

Follow the directions to customize the look and text of your Donate button, and then select the option to save the button on PayPal in case you need it again for another site. Answer some more questions, then click Create Button. PayPal will provide you some HTML code that you can then copy and paste into your website, wherever you would like the Donate button to appear.

Whenever a user clicks the Donate button on your website, he or she will be taken to PayPal where they can provide credit card information or else use their PayPal account to donate money to your organization. It’s a simple as that, and it doesn’t even cost anything, except for the credit card fees!

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/using-paypal-for-online-donations/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=using-paypal-for-online-donations

Google Glass Review

I finally got a chance to play with a pair of Google Glass, and I recorded my thoughts in the video above. Here are some key points:

• They are a great step forward in mobile hardware and software
• The interaction of using them without having to use your hands is very innovative
• The interface is easy to see and easy to use, so much so that when I let my daughters put them on they were able to catch on (ages 6 and 8).
• Integrating Google Glass and other devices, tablets, phones (maybe), smartwatches, internet tvs and so on, will make the lines between offline and online always integrated.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/google-glass/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=google-glass

The iChurch Method TV – Ep 11 – Churches and their Understanding of Technology

The church as a whole, I’d say maybe there are about 5% of churches that really have a good grasp of technology. They have the resources to actually utilize a lot of the new things that are going on out there, but 95% of the churches I see out here just don’t have the resources. They know what they want to do but they don’t have the resources and the expertise to actually implement it so they might have a volunteer come in and do the website; someone that really has a good heart but just doesn’t have the knowhow to make it look as effective as it could be. Or they may hire somebody that doesn’t have the integrity that the people in the church have. If they don’t have that integrity then they might just take them for their money and not give them a high-quality website.

So, in seeing those types of situations I started to realize what they needed was someone they could trust and someone that also has the expertise to allow them to take advantage of the technology that we have out here because it changes rapidly.

Content Strategy
They are somewhat aware. They understand that they want something that’s innovative; they want the neat, shiny, new thing on the block. They also understand that they want a content management system; something that they can still work with once the website is done and handed off to them from the developer. So, they understand that part of it.

What they don’t understand is just the expertise that it takes to actually develop that. They might not understand that the stuff they see that’s easy for them to use on the website might take weeks or months to develop; they don’t understand that part.

They’re starting to understand that the key buzzword is social media. So, when they see a new website they always want to know where’s the social media aspect of that, but then they may not think about the other aspects that you need in a website which would be the eCommerce aspect with online donations, online stores, the stuff that people look for when they come to the website. They want to know contact information, locations, service times, those basic things about the ministry. Those basic things need to be looked at before we even get to the new shiny, touchy-feely website. We need to look at a content strategy.

The hardest part that I’ve seen with ministries is not the website; they know they need a website because they see a whole bunch of churches with one, but they have a hard time figuring out how to get the content from the pastor or from the leadership and onto the website and onto the social media in an effective streamlined manner.

What was going through my mind was looking at these five aspects that I had, each chapter to me was something I actually would do in a typical week at work. In a typical week I work on the websites and multimedia, eCommerce, social media, and mobile, so when I’m putting this book together I’m thinking, “What is it that I do that people would need to know from the most basic level all the way up to the most technologically advanced level?”
I want to make sure if we have a pastor who’s not as technically savvy, he can look at the book and understand, and have a conversation and hand it off to someone who is technologically savvy.

But, what if the technologically savvy person picks up the book? I want to make sure this book challenges them as well and gives them new ideas and strategies so that they can utilize them within their ministry.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/the-ichurch-method-tv-ep-11-churches-and-their-understanding-of-technology/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-ichurch-method-tv-ep-11-churches-and-their-understanding-of-technology

The iChurch Method – Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

Over the last month or so since I have released The iChurch Method Vol. 2, I have been getting the same question, what’s the difference between the two books? And, which one should you buy?

First and foremost, the two books is that they are continuations of each other. They both focus on the five areas of The iChurch Method, which is websites, multimedia, eCommerce, social media and mobile. The difference between them is that vol. 1, How to Advance Your Ministry Online is the basics of The iChurch Method and vol. 2, Changing the World When You Login, is the advanced version of The iChurch Method.

 

Here is a breakdown

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Vol. 1 – How to Advance Your Ministry Online Websites Objectives of a Website Using a CMS (Content Mgmt System) Website Layout Multimedia Podcasting Live Streaming for FREE Archived Video Adding media to websites eCommerce Basic Online giving setup Basic Online store setup Social Media Social Media Strategy – Part 1 Sharing content from website Facebook/Twitter basics Mobile Mobile Websites

Vol. 2 – Changing the World When You Login Websites Advanced websites with Responsive design. Search Engine Optimization Analytics Multimedia Internet Church Campus Google Hangouts eCommerce Online giving forms Offline Commerce Social Media Social Media Strategy – Part 2 Visual Social Media Mobile Social Media Mobile Mobile Apps

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The reason I have two books is that technology is always evolving and changing, therefore in order for organizations to keep up, they need books and trainings that are always evolving and changing. I will continue to publish The iChurch Method volumes as long as necessary to keep ministries updated on current technologies.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/ichurchbook-vol1-vol2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ichurchbook-vol1-vol2

2013 Top 30 Church Tech Blogs

I would first and foremost like to say thank you to Churchm.ag and their voting process for allowing The iChurch Method blog to be considered one of the Top 30 Church Tech blogs for 2013. We are very excited and realize that just a year ago the first iChurch Method book was released so this is quite the achievement in that small amount of time.

As I look at the list I see people that I have networked with and people that I am looking forward to networking with to powerfully equip the Church to use technology better in so many new and exciting ways. Here is the list in case you have not seen it!

ChurchMag’s Top 30 Church Tech Blogs

1. churchstagedesignideas.com
2. vickybeeching.com/blog
3. churchm.ag
4. churchmarketingsucks.com
5. churchjuice.com/blog
6. dustn.tv
7. youthministrymedia.ca
8. 78p.tv
9. communicatejesus.com
10. churchtechtoday.com
11. donteatthefruit.com
12. christiandroid.com
13. churchtecharts.org
14. chipdizard.com
15. mattmckee.me
16. roar.pro/news
17. faithengineer.com
18. trinitydigitalmedia.com/blog
19. nilssmith.com
20. techgeekministries.com
21. votivepraise.com
22. socialmediachurch.net
23. churchtechy.com
24. godvertiser.com
25. tecnoiglesia.com
26. ichurchmethod.com
27. churchwebstrategies.org
28. jonedmiston.com
29. geekrev.com
30. joshburns.net/blog

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/2013-top-30-church-tech-blogs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=2013-top-30-church-tech-blogs

The iChurch Method TV – Ep 10 – Ministries on Internet TV, it’s happening!

Continuing The iChurch Method TV series, this week we are talking about Internet TV and how ministries can utilize it.

We have conversations about internet TV. Internet TV is accessible right now for ministries really for free. It’s a twofold approach that I lay out to them. Of course we can talk about big budgets, but initially they want to hear about the free option.

If we look at the free option, I tell them you can either look at using LiveStream.com or UStream.tv. If they use that to stream then they can stream to internet TV enabled devices like Roku box or Apple TV or xBox TV or even Boxee TV. Those solutions are already available today and they already have UStream channels on them, specifically the Roku box has a UStream channel on it.

When you set up your UStream live feed from your ministry then someone who has a Roku box can watch your stream for free on Roku, the UStream channel, or even on Google TV. Google TV also has internet enabled browsers where people can tune in to your live services right through their TV.

We have quite a few conversations about internet TV and where it’s going, especially in comparison to the traditional TV model where you have like a TBN or a word network and the pricing structure that’s for that. Basically once they hear that it’s free or even, we’ll say, $1000 a month or something like that, that pricing structure is much more favorable than $50,000 a week to have a half-hour show on TV.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/internet-tv-is-happenin/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=internet-tv-is-happenin

How Can eCommerce Help Your Ministry?

Obviously, anything that brings in revenue helps to finance the activities of your ministry, enabling you to spread the word, grow your congregation and continue to do all of the wonderful things that you do in your community. Here are some of the most successful ways you can use eCommerce.

Online Donations
Making an online donation is as easy as putting a bill in the collection plate these days, thanks to technology harnessed by the Obama campaign in 2008 to raise $125 million from an impressive army of small contributors. Paypal.com and kimbia.com both have free donation modules you can add to your website without much difficulty, which will allow your parishioners to donate via credit card.

For those who don’t like to use credit cards, eChecks allow someone to make payment to your ministry directly from their bank account. For parishioners who tithe regularly, this is an exceptionally convenient way to do it.

Online Event Registration
For events that require a ticket, you can get paid online in advance and allow participants to print a receipt. This saves time and money, negating the need to print tickets, handle cash, deal with bounced checks and other headaches. You can set a limit on attendance and stop selling when the tickets are sold out. Registrants can get information about the event at the same time, such as parking, directions, time and date and more.

Selling event tickets online also allows you to capture information about your attendees, such as name, address, email, phone number, age, marital status and gender, which you can use to market other events and services later on.

Online Store
Add an online store to your website to sell DVDs, CDs, video and audio downloads of sermons and lectures, books, church tee shirts, calendars and more. Digital products, such as video and audio downloads and eBooks are the best source of revenue for your online store, as they are pure profit. The parishioner pays via credit card to download the product, receives it immediately, and you don’t have to worry about shipping and handling or anything else of that nature.

Selling videos and audios of your sermons and major church events is also a great way to spread the word about your ministry, and can help you expand your congregation significantly. Consider posting some of your sermons on YouTube with a link to your store site to generate more interest.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/how-can-ecommerce-help-your-ministry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-can-ecommerce-help-your-ministry

The iChurch Method TV – Ep. 9 – How to Become an International Ministry

You become an international ministry as soon as we flick the switch on your website, as soon as you set up the Facebook fan page, as soon as you set up your Twitter account. What ministries don’t realize is they may have, we’ll say 100, a couple hundred, or a couple thousand people that will come into their sanctuary. But, if you get one person that tunes in to your ministry, your website, your online stream, from India, from Europe, from Africa, that makes you an international ministry. Had you not utilized those technological tools, that person would not have been receiving the ministry from your church.

That’s the thing that ministries have to understand; as soon as you give people a way to connect with your ministry that are not in your regional or national area then you become an international ministry. Just those simple steps of setting up your website or setting up your social media channels, that makes you become an international ministry.

[You] have to realize that initially we start off and we only think in the box that we’re in. We think about only having our services in English. We think everybody is watching the service at the same time we would watch it, or we think people are connecting with the ministry at the same time we’re connecting with the ministry. A typical example would be a ministry might have office hours from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Well, international time that may be midnight to 8:00 a.m., so they’re not connecting with your ministry at that time. They’re connecting with the ministry at the hours that they would like to.

So, when you have social media then you have to look at the fact that people want to connect with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, you just have to basically evolve your strategy to accommodate ministry at hours outside of what you’re used to, at times outside of what you’re used to, and in languages outside of what you’re used to.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/international-ministry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=international-ministry

Church Documents You Should Post on Your Website

Posting documents on your church website is relatively easy and doesn’t cost anything, beyond the time and effort required to create them. You can create documents in any kind of software such as Microsoft Word and convert them to an Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) file, which you can place on your server for linking to your site.

You can generate directories, brochures, committee reports, meeting minutes or any other sort of document that you might otherwise provide in printed form, and allow members to print them out directly from your site. This will save quite a lot of money in printing costs as well as creating an added convenience for your parishioners.

Some documents you might consider making available on your church website are:

• Your church newsletter. Create it in Word, convert it to PDF, and you can email it to everyone who has subscribed, and then make it available in a Newsletter Archives page on your site;
• Digital magazines are similar to newsletters, but tend to focus on a broader topic rather than specific church events;
• E-books can be made available for download as PDFs, either for free or for a price via your Web store. This is particularly useful if your pastor has written a book that is already available as an e-book download through Amazon or some other site; you can also sell it in PDF format directly from your site;
• Information about the various missionaries your church supports. You can provide biographical information, where they are working, contact information if appropriate, and use this information to get church members to pray for them and their success;
• Committee reports, meeting minutes and any other sort of formal or informal notational material regarding church committees and working groups. This ensures that everyone feels connected to the work that the church is doing, and stays informed of current plans and goals;
• Important contact information, for outreach centers, crisis hotline numbers, volunteer centers and such;
• Forms, such as registration, sign-up sheets, and anything else you prefer the user fill out and physically return to the church rather than filling them in online.

Documents are the easiest of all the media to post on your website, with no added expense or hosting requirements.

For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of “The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online.” or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/church-documents-you-should-post-on-your-website/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=church-documents-you-should-post-on-your-website

Biola Digital Conference Downloads

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http://www.ichurchmethod.com/bioladigital/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bioladigital

The iChurch Method TV – Ep. 8 – How to take a sermon and distribute it as digital content

Continuing my series on The iChurch Method and how it works, in this segment I speak on How to take a sermon and distribute it as digital content. Here is the transcript:

First thing I’m asking is if we have a way to get it recorded on video, because from video we can get video and audio. If we can then we try and look at that approach. But, say for instance we just can’t, then we look at taking that audio message and we’ll still let people tune in to it and archive it and watch it. We’ll create a page where they can listen to it during the week and we’ll also put a link right underneath so they can download it for a fee. We’ll also distribute that via podcast. If we start, say, putting a bumper on the front and end of it letting people know to come to the website or come visit the ministry then we can start distributing that content to a variety of outlets as opposed to just waiting for people to come to the website.

It’s good that people are coming to the website and they’re listening to the sermon but we also want to make sure we’re taking that ministry to the people and getting it out to the masses.

http://www.ichurchmethod.com/digital-content-from-a-sermon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=digital-content-from-a-sermon