Is It Ok for a Church to Accept Credit Card Donations?

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

A couple weeks ago I asked if your church would accept a gift won from a lottery. One commenter left another compelling question in response:

I like your point that money is amoral (that is, neither immoral nor moral). However, the source of the money isn't necessarily amoral. I think it took a lot of strength and guts for the pastor to say, "No." It reminds me that I've heard of some churches accepting credit card tithes. Ouch. What's your take on that?

Personally, I don't have any problem with a church accepting credit card donations. Just like money is amoral, so are credit cards -- they are neither good nor bad in and of themselves. It's how they're used that matters.

As most of you know, I use credit cards quite frequently and I use them to maximize my annual cash back from them. I pay them off every month, don't charge anything that's not in my budget, never have any fees, and I don't believe they make me spend more. So why wouldn't I use them? And why would my church have a problem with it if I did?

My only concern with giving to a charity with a credit card was that they'd end up receiving less than the total amount as credit card fees are subtracted, but people who work for charities assured me that there were advantages for charities accepting credit cards that outweigh the costs. So I've given a few times online to charities -- and used my credit card in the process.

Now many of you are probably thinking that churches shouldn't accept credit card donations from people in debt. But how are they supposed to know who's using a credit card responsibly and who isn't? Is it their responsibility to do this anyway? If so, then it's probably their responsibility to verify ALL donations come from sources of which they approve. How could they do this? Answer: they can't, it's impossible.

And really, they shouldn't have to IMO. As I said, credit cards are neither good nor bad, it's just how they're used that makes them good or bad for the user. As such, I think it's completely ok for a church (or any charity for that matter) to accept a credit card.

What do you think? Agree or disagree?

Comments

[Financial Course Blog]

What's the point of donating with credit card? I think churches should not enter the finance world at all. If they receive donations is because people want to donate and not because they advertise donations or explicitly ask for them. If money comes into this, then the already expert brain washing churches will become more of a global power and more of a global threat than now.

[Hank]

People bounce checks...should they not be allowed to tithe with their checkbook either? Credit cards are convenient. My wife and I pay for all of our purchases with our AmEx card for the points. We even pay our rent with our card. It helps us budget. If I used cash, it would just burn a hole through my pocket.

[Richard]

If someone has taken out a reverse mortgage and uses cash from that to pay a donation, how's the church to know? Maybe the church should only accept donations 'in kind'...you know, chickens, etc. Of course...the person could've just borrowed that chicken from their neighbor... :-)

[hectorartm]

Is there a place for an Atheist in this conversation? Anyways, why would there be anything wrong with that? Obviously, I'm saying this from a very neutral (or not) point of view. Who cares about how I choose to disperse of my money? It's still being dispersed.

[Brenda]

I live overseas, but still make donations to my home church in the US. I use a credit card because of the convenience. It is also more secure than writing a check from my bank overseas and trusting the international mail to deliver the payment timely.

[Mo Money]

I see nothing wrong with churches accepting credit card donations. wouldn't that be discriminating for them to not accept credit card payments?

[Trent D.]

Mo Money,

What do you mean by "discriminating?" I don't understand your point...are you somehow alleging that a parishioner could sue the church for discrimination if they don't accept credit cards?

[savvy]

I pay my tithes via credit card. For me, it's more convenient. No more having to remember to take my checkbook to church or remembering to double up if I was out of town and missed a week. The fact that I get FF miles from my credit card is just an additional benefit.

[Paul]

One can argue that Proverbs 22 discourages the use of debt. OK, some folks do pay their credit cards off each month and get rewards for card use (I applaud you), but most folks don't have that kind of discipline. I interpret tithing as giving 10% off the top from each paycheck before spending a dime on anything else. To me, "tithing" via credit cards is like telling God that He is not high enough in priority for me to have set aside the cash for Him now.

[FMF]

Paul --

"One can argue that Proverbs 22 discourages the use of debt."

There are many other verses that discourage debt as well. For background, see these posts:

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2005/12/five_biblical_p.html

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2008/08/the-bible-on-de.html

[Wickle]

I'm with Richard ... from now on, I'm going to bring chickens and sheep to church for my donations.

I expect to be expelled by November ... hmmm ...

Seriously, I think it's fine -- you're right that credit cards aren't inherently evil and if the church is spending appropriate time teaching about the need to avoid debt, then we're not asking people to give more than they can afford. My church doesn't take credit cards, but I could see a place for that at other churches or for online donations, that kind of thing.

Thanks for your Christian Carnival submission, by the way!