How LCBC Increased Giving and Influence, in Order to Have a Greater Impact on Their Local Community

26% increase in recurring givers in under 2 years

Summary

Few churches have a broader influence over their community as LCBC (Lives Changed By Christ) church in South Central Pennsylvania. More than 14,000 people attend one of 12 campuses spread out throughout the Keystone State. But the church’s influence goes far beyond just attendance numbers. From its birth three decades ago in a rural garage to today, the church has been radically othersfocused. For example, the church gave more than $430,000 to community causes (along with 6,204 volunteer hours). Even the church’s students pitched in, raising $26,618 to provide clean water for the people of Swaziland, Africa.

In the last two years, the church has embarked on a bold vision to saturate the state of Pennsylvania with the good news about Jesus by continuing to start new church campuses throughout the state. Generosity isn’t just a word thrown around at LCBC; it’s a core value that helps to define the church’s imprint upon the community.

Problem

Although generosity has long been a hallmark of the church, it wasn’t always easy for people to give to LCBC. For years, the church had seen progressively more people who wanted to give online. The church wanted to eliminate any obstacles that could stand in the way of people expressing generosity.

Plus, for a church with a vision to reach 100,000 Pennsylvanians in the coming years through a series of new LCBC churches throughout the state, LCBC needed a giving solution that could grow with the church. Their current giving solution had stopped innovating. For the church to take its next steps in its bold mission, it needed a giving solution that wouldn’t just keep up with them, but create new solutions for tomorrow’s giving needs.

Pushpay

LCBC began partnering on giving with Pushpay in October of 2016. They looked at a variety of options, but felt Pushpay provided the best user experience. They also provided the greatest promise for future innovation in the space.

“Each week we invite those at all of our locations to trust God with their finances; and if we are going to ask them to trust God in that way, we don’t want to have hurdles that get in the way of them being able to do that through online or mobile giving,” said Kwinn Reed, the church’s accounting director. “We want that process to be as seamless and as simple as possible for them to express their generosity in the moment where they feel called to give. We noticed that Pushpay provided a great user experience that was similar to what we see from Amazon or iTunes. That is the benchmark that is out there today and we didn’t want to fall short of that. When people decide to trust God with their money, they are also trusting their church to be good stewards of those gifts. Providing a great user experience when they give is a great first step in earning that trust on our end.”

Several years earlier, LCBC had made the realization that they didn’t have the in-house resources to produce a great mobile app on their own. They began partnering with Bluebridge at that time. A month after LCBC became a digital giving customer, Pushpay bought Bluebridge.

“We knew this would be great for us,” Hann said. “We’d already developed a great relationship with Pushpay’s Customer Success team. We were excited about where the app would go through Pushpay.”

Result

Less than two years after LCBC came on board with Pushpay and the church’s improved giving experience has meant a continued growth in the percentage of people giving digitally. Today, about 70 percent of the church’s giving comes digitally. It also has translated into more recurring givers. The number of recurring givers has grown by 26 percent since October of 2016. Reed says that growth is even more exciting considering that in October of 2016 they were just concluding a capital campaign. It’s likely that some of those who were giving to the capital campaign are no longer recurring givers, which means the increase is even higher.

But, LCBC says, Pushpay’s value goes way beyond mere dollars and cents. Reed and Hann specifically cite how impressed they’ve been with organization’s Customer Success team.

“With all the different relationships we have, we have so many bad experiences with customer service,” Reed said. “It’s been great to work with Pushpay. I know I can reach out to them with a question and, within 24 hours, I’m going to get a good answer back and my problem resolved.”