Q: What are the benefits of online giving?
There are several benefits to online giving for both you and the church.
- Simplicity – You will not need to remember if you gave this month or pay period, or send your offering checks when you are out of town.
- Security – Online giving is more secure than giving with a check in that an electronic gift can’t be lost or stolen.
- No Distractions – Instead of needing to worry about writing your contribution check during the service, you can be fully engaged with the worship service, knowing that you have already given your offering.
- Helping St. Andrew – Online contributions require less processing from our administrative and volunteer staff since the information is logged to your donor record and deposited automatically.
Q: Is it safe to give online?
Yes. In many ways giving online is safer than writing a check because an electronic gift cannot be lost or stolen. The security of the system is continually managed by our online provider, Fellowship One.
Q: What types of bank accounts can I give from?
You can give online from your checking account using your bank routing and account numbers.
Q: Can I give using a credit or debit card?
St. Andrew accepts Visa, Master Card and Discover through InFellowship for giving and for making payments for classes, books and events. Keep in mind that we pay a transaction fee of about 2.5% when you give with a credit card, so you may want to add a bit more to help us defray the fees when donating. But there is no cost to you for using online giving by credit card or by e-Check. Overall, they are a more cost efficient and convenient way for the church to process donations. Our Text-to-Give option also permits you to use American Express for donations.
Q: I currently use my bank’s online bill pay feature for my donations. How is this different and should I switch?
You do not necessarily need to switch. Our online giving is different from your bank’s online bill pay feature in two ways: First, with St. Andrew’s system, donations are immediately recorded to the church and your giving history at the time of your contribution whereas your bank takes time (several days) to process and mail a check to the church. Secondly, our online giving is processed electronically, so there is no need for our contribution volunteers to handle a physical check.
Q: Can I make a one-time contribution?
Yes. The system allows you the option of either making a one-time contribution
or setting up a recurring contribution. For a one-time contribution, you can
designate that the contribution should be made immediately or, for both onetime
and recurring contributions, you can schedule the contributions to come
out of your bank account on the date(s) specified by you.
Q: If I want to set-up a recurring gift, what are my options for frequency of my gift?
For recurring gifts, you have the option of giving weekly, monthly, twice a month (1st and 16th) or every two weeks. You may also specify the starting and ending dates for your recurring gifts.
Q: Can I change my personal information or the amount or the frequency of my gift once I have set it up?
Yes. You can change or cancel your contribution at any time before the date of your next scheduled contribution (once a contribution has been processed it cannot be canceled). Simply log in to the system using your user name and password and make the necessary changes in the system.
Q: Can I review my donation history online?
Yes. InFellowship will allow you to view the complete history of your contributions, given either online or otherwise. Once you’ve created an account, you will be able to contribute immediately. In some cases, before you can see any past contributions, we must manually connect your online account with your previous information. This is a one-time process that usually happens within a week of creating your account. After that, you can view your giving history (online or by check) at any time.
Q: How long does it take for my donation history to post online for review?
When you first set up your online giving profile, it will take about a week for our staff to link your InFellowship ID with the church database record. After this, you will be able to review your previous gifts to St. Andrew in the online giving section of the website. Once your record is linked, future gifts will be posted and available after your gift is received.
Q: Can I see giving history for other members of my household?
Yes, if you are in the system as an adult you will be able to view giving history for all members of your household. In order to view history or generate a statement for selected people in your household, select the person or people you want to display under the “Contributions for” selector and click View. Click the “Download statement” link to generate a statement for the person or people in view.
Q: Why are some transactions attributed to my household and others attributed to an individual?
All online giving transactions are always attributed to the individual whose InFellowship ID was used to set up and process the transaction. This is because an InFellowship ID is used for one unique person and cannot be shared among
multiple people. Paper checks processed by the church are usually attributed to the household. We anticipate this difference not being an issue for married couples filing jointly since it doesn’t matter whose name is on a gift for tax deduction purposes. For instances where you need to show an individual’s giving on a separate statement, select the person you want to display under the “Contributions for” selector and click View. Click the “Download statement” link to generate a statement for the person in view.
Q: Will I still receive regular contribution statements from the church?
At this time, a printed contribution statement will be mailed to your postal address after the year end for your tax purposes. We may also send some interim reports. InFellowship gives you the opportunity to print or download your statement at any time for the current year and past year. If you ever need a printed statement sent to you, please contact the church office.
Q: When will contributions be taken from my account?
Contributions will be taken from your specified bank account within 2 business days of the date you requested. This time frame allows time for the contribution to process through your bank and the church’s bank. If the date of your contribution falls on a weekend or a holiday, the transaction will be initiated on the next banking day.
Q: How will I know that I set up my gift correctly?
Very shortly after submitting your contribution, you will receive an e-mail verifying your contribution and you will see it in your giving history online. If giving for the first time after setting up your account, you will be able to see past giving history in about a week.
Q: Does it matter which Internet browser I use?
No. Any browser will work, including later-model mobile devices.
Q: Will I be able to give to special campaigns online?
During times when these campaigns are occurring, you will be able to give a to support the given initiative or campaign.
Q: Can I give by online or paper check?
Yes, you can give via online or paper check. If you’d like to write a paper check to St. Andrew, please send it via mail, deliver it in person, or place it in an offering plate before or after one of our services. Our address is:
St. Andrew By-The-Sea UMC
20 Pope Avenue
Hilton Head, SC 29928
Watch for ways that you may place something in the offering plate to indicate
that you have given online…and have your gift blessed along with the cash and
paper checks.
Q: I have additional questions about online giving that have not been addressed. Who can I talk to?
For any questions, concerns or comments about the online giving system,
please contact the office:
Phone 843-785-4711 or email standrewbythesea@gmail.com
You will receive a response from our financial secretary as soon as possible.