Implementing the Square: If I Can Do It, So Can You! Part 2
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Welcome back to the Square 101! Well, it’s been a week, hasn’t it? I need some kitten and puppy videos. In any event, I hope you’ve had fun thinking about how you’ll be making the shift to the Square so that your people – many of them who carry little to no cash, let alone a checkbook – will have the opportunity to give generously as God calls them to do.
Last week, it was all about what equipment you’ll need to be successful (to review: you’ll need a computer tablet, a Square stand, a table, and a file box). This week it’s about using the equipment. So let’s go!
The main thing you will need to do before anything is to match your Square app (that you’ve downloaded on your tablet) with your desired bank account. This means you’ll have to be working in concert with your finance person and/or treasurer. This is step one.
But when our committee came to step two, we were still confused as to how to make sure that people who used the Square had their gift noted as a donation. Because the Square’s primary purpose is for commerce and not for donations the Square does not help you track people, it tracks credit cards.
This is where my awesome Square mentor, Pastor Ed Grant from New Life Christian Center in Milwaukie, OR came to the rescue. Knowing you can find just about anything on the Internet, I searched for some guidance and found his video about using the Square in church. I had a few questions so I decided to email Ed directly. Well whaddya know? In less than 30 minutes, Ed was calling me. We set up a phone meeting and in an hour, he had me feeling like I could conquer the Square world. Thank you, Internet! Thank you, Ed!
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Pastor Ed provided me with templates that he said I could reproduce: a Bulletin announcement, a giving form, and the sign that goes next to the Square station. The ones I came up with are all reproduced here in their glory and I encourage you to borrow them freely as you see fit.
Back to the pesky dilemma of associating a giver’s gift to their credit card: one of the biggest “ah ha” moments was understanding that
if our Square givers want their gift recorded for their giving statement (and for tax purposes), they need to fill out a “Giving Form.” See the sample below.
So here are your various visual aids:
Bulletin Announcement: If your congregation is a little reluctant to do something new (and even if they aren’t), advance notice is always a good thing. Here’s what we put in our Bulletin two weeks before we started using the Square:
Giving Form:
Sign Near the Giving Station:
Pastor Ed also has this
informational video that he created. It includes a demonstration on how you can use the Square. Check it out
here.
A few of you have let me know how you are already using the Square (and other options to the Square) in your own churches. I want to hear more.
If you’re using the Square (either from your phone or from a tablet), let me know what works and what could be better. We can all learn from each other. That’s what we’ll focus on next week.
So see, you
can watch kitten and puppy videos and learn something new about the Square, all in seven days. Let’s hope the next week has us catching our breath. Micah 6:8 still stands: “Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.”
Cesie Delve Scheuermann (pronounced “CC Delv Sherman,” yes, really) is a consultant in stewardship, development, and grant writing. Over the past fifteen years, while working as a volunteer and part-time consultant, she helped raise over three million dollars for numerous non-profit organizations. OK, this
owl video is pretty cute too. She was the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference Lay Leader from 2008-2012. Her position with the Conference is funded through a generous grant from the Collins Foundation. She is available to consult with churches. You can reach her at
inspiringgenerosity@gmail.com or on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/inspiringgenerosity.
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