Read how the finance team at St Stephen’s, Hightown embraces and grew the Parish Giving Scheme in their church:
We are lucky to have a Treasurer who saw the benefits of the PGS and introduced it to our church. Membership has fluctuated as people have joined and left our congregation and currently we have 22 members. We are a small church but we are growing in number again and will be introducing our new friends to the PGS in due course.
At first some of the congregation were not happy as they liked to put their envelope on the plate, but we overcame that by providing a couple of tokens to each giver and as a back-up having some spares on a table to be picked up as you came into church.
During covid and lockdown it was such a benefit to the church as giving income kept coming in via the scheme and helped greatly with church finances. Without PGS we would have really struggled.
Now that banks and post offices are closing (we have neither in our village) it is more difficult to obtain cash which is another reason to encourage the PGS.
We still do not ‘pass the plate’ it is on a table and taken to the altar with the bread and wine. Givers can still put their token on the plate though. Recently our vicar has started giving thanks for gifts given via the PGS and the card machine, so however the congregation give it is acknowledged in prayer.
This is the experience of a member of our congregation:
I originally gave to St Stephens via Gift Aid envelope scheme.
Whilst this was okay it often meant I was scrambling around on Sunday mornings looking for cash to put into the envelope and occasionally I had to put in a cheque. Also, if I missed church I didn’t always ‘double up’ to cover my absences.
Joining PGS helped me avoid the weekly search for cash whilst ensuring St Stephens received my gift whether or not I attended.
Originally the only way to join the Scheme was by completing and sending off a paper form. Nowadays, though, one short and simple telephone call to the helpful people at PGS is all you need to join, revise your gifts or even make a one-off gift [you can also do this via their website]. I have taken advantage of these arrangements and would recommend the scheme as the most efficient way to donate to your church.
Our Gift Aid Secretary works closely with the Treasurer so is aware of the benefits of the PGS to both the church and the reduction in administration time. The reduction in cost of purchasing the envelopes is a secondary financial benefit to the church.
In 2014 the church purchased and issued approximately 60 envelopes. In 2024 that figure is now streamlined down to 12.
We fortunately also have in place an easily usable spreadsheet format to accommodate current envelope givers.
Our church magazine is delivered to every home in the village so we are aware of the potential of reaching new PGS givers. Articles in the magazine explain the benefits.
Our top tips for encouraging others to join the scheme:
- Advertise and explain to the congregation.
- Provide the token which can be put on the collection plate
- Convenience to givers and financial benefits to the church
Finance team at St Stephen’s Hightown
See how you can use the updated resources to encourage the scheme in your church here.