Text giving

Text giving enables anyone with a mobile phone to give to the congregation by texting a keyword and donation amount to a shortcode number. The donation is either added to the donor's phone bill or deducted from their pre-paid credit. The keyword can be shared on social media, websites, printed material and online services. Transaction fees tend to be higher than with other digital giving methods.

There are several providers including:

  • Donr
    • Allows one-off or regular donation amounts of £1 to £20
    • Choice of ‘keyword' with multiple keywords at no additional charge
    • No set up or monthly fees
    • Transaction fee 5%
    • Gift Aid information collected
    • The donor will be charged for their donation plus one standard network rate message (two standard network rate messages for regular donations)
    • Occasionally ‘text to donate' donations fail due to the donor's mobile network settings. If this happens they will be notified and given the opportunity to make their donation via card instead. If this happens the congregation will also be charged a card processing fee of 1.4% + 20p over and above the 5% transaction fee.
    • Congregation will receive donations in a monthly lump sum two months (or three months for Vodafone network) after the donation was made.
  • Donate (National Funding Scheme)
    • Allows one-off or regular donation amounts of £1, £3, £5, £10, £20 or £30
    • Choose your own ‘keyword'
    • No set up or monthly fees
    • Transaction fee 4.5% unless Gift Aid is added then the fee is 45% of the Gift Aid reclaimed
    • Processes Gift Aid claims on behalf of the congregation (see charge above)
    • The donor will be charged for their donation plus standard network message rates usually apply
    • Congregations will receive donations no earlier than 3 months after the donation was made and only once the total amount donated reaches £100. An outpayment fee of the greater of £3 or 0.5% is applied when donations are transferred.