Why Your Other Church App Didn’t Work

“We tried a church app. It didn’t work.”

We hear church leaders say things like that a lot. They built a custom app, rolled out digital giving, and . . . crickets. Nobody used it. The return on investment just didn’t pan out.

We understand why churches get frustrated with “solutions” that don’t work. You’ve been entrusted with stewarding your congregation’s resources and investing in things that help your church grow and accomplish more.

That’s why it’s so important for churches to know: not all church apps are the same. 

When it comes to web-based giving, nonprofits and churches typically need to expect that about 60 percent of potential donors will leave without making a donation. But with a Pushpay Church App, that number is less than 5 percent. Our web giving experience has a 95.9 percent success rate. If you assume that if you’ve tried one church app, you’ve tried them all, your church isn’t going to reach your full potential for generosity.

Here are four reasons why your old church app (or your current one) didn’t work—and why Pushpay does.

It took too long to give

The longer it takes to give, the less likely people will do it. During the service, church members have a couple of minutes at most to enter all their information and give to your church. If it takes longer to download and navigate your app and fill out all the fields, people are going to put their phones away so they don’t miss anything.

Many churches lose potential donations because of difficult websites and poor technology choices.

With Pushpay, church members can give for the first time in 30 seconds or less. And it’s even faster the next time. This makes it easy to demonstrate digital giving without taking up more time, and your congregation can finish giving before the offering plate even passes.

Here’s what a church finance director in Tennessee had to say about it: “Pushpay makes giving quick and easy, which increased the amount that we receive overall because of the convenience.”

A church member named Chelsea Buwalda said, “I love how easy it is to give to a church on Pushpay. One click and it’s done. Stores all my information so each week I can easily give.”

It didn’t look and feel like your church

Your congregation trusts you. That’s why your church app needs to look and feel like part of your church. The moment someone opens your app, it should affirm “you’re in the right place.” To do that, your app needs to match your church’s brand, from the icons and colors to the messaging and sections you include.

At Pushpay, we make sure that your brand is clearly on display through every step of the giving process and in every section of your app. You can easily customize the modules in your app, and you can label sections however you want, so it always looks, sounds, and feels like your church.

It didn’t give people a reason to come back

If there’s nothing to do or see in your app, people aren’t going to use it. Your church app should be the digital hub your congregation uses to find out about what’s going on in your church, get involved, and explore everything your church has to offer. That means your app has to support sermon videos, podcasts, blogs, events, documents, and everything else you want to share with your congregation. (It also means you need to keep your content up-to-date!)

With Pushpay, your app becomes a launchpad for people to register for events, watch sermons, read devotionals, and catch up on anything they missed. Church members can even create bookmarks, so they can easily come back to the videos and articles that have impacted them the most.

It didn’t support your church member journey

Every person in your church is on a personal journey with Jesus and your church. You want to support them on that journey and lead them toward the appropriate next step—whatever that is, and wherever they are. With one-on-one relationships, it’s easy for your staff to get to know church members and follow their journey. 

If your church app doesn’t allow you to send specific people specific notifications, content, and messaging, then it can only do so much to support your ministry and guide your members on their journeys. It is treating them all the same.

Pushpay integrates with your church management software, so your team gets advanced insight into where people are and what needs to happen next. But Pushpay doesn’t just borrow information from your ChMS. We give you something you won’t find anywhere else: the Donor Development Dashboard. You’ll be able to see where each church member is on their journey toward generosity, and we’ll provide tips for helping them grow and connect with your church. We’ll also let you know if someone who used to give regularly has stopped—which is a big indicator that it’s time to reconnect with someone who used to be closer to your church.

See the difference for yourself

Quality matters. The Pushpay Church App is designed from the ground up to provide a first-class experience for your church administrators and your church members. We know that our success depends on yours, so we build tools in direct response to what our customers share with us. Talk to an expert, and find out what makes Pushpay different from that other church app you tried.