Guide To Sharing Your Financial Resources

 

The mission and ministries of The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit are supported and sustained by the generosity of our members. Your giving makes possible a remarkable range of ministries that serve our congregation, the local community and the wider church.

Holy Spirit offers various options to facilitate your giving. Please review the following giving options and select those most suitable to you.

Cash or Checks:

Holy Spirit provides weekly Offering Envelopes for giving by check or cash. These may be placed in the offering plate during worship or mailed to the church. Contact the church office to request Offering Envelopes.

Simply Giving (ACH Banking):

Authorizes automatic deductions from your bank account either on a one-time or recurring basis. You select the amount to be deducted and the schedule for deductions. Monies are then automatically transferred to the church. You may enroll by completing a paper Authorization Form, or by requesting a hard copy of the form from the church office.

Bank Bill Pay: 

Add the congregation to your list of electronic payees and then authorize your bank to issue an electronic check through its bill pay service. You have complete control over the amount of your check and when it is issued.

Online Give/Donate:  

Make a one-time or recurring online donation using your credit or debit card. Simply click here for an On-line Authorization Form and follow the prompts.

Give by Text:  

Designed for one-time donations using your smartphone and a credit/debit card. To donate, send a message to Holy Spirit’s Give by Text number (610-981-1312). Open the registration link and enter your contact and payment information. After registration is complete you will receive a verification text and an email receipt. For future giving simply send a text with the amount you wish to donate (include dollar sign before the amount and designated fund).

Amazon Simply Giving:

Did you know that Amazon will contribute to Holy Spirit when you purchase through them?  Click here for more information.

Planned Giving/Charitable Gifts:

You may make a charitable gift of any amount to The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit during your lifetime or at your death. During your lifetime such a gift may be made by writing a check, assigning stock, transferring ownership of a life insurance contract, or signing a deed to real estate. At your death, gifts to Holy Spirit may be made by will, life insurance or IRA beneficiary designation, or trust. As a charity, Holy Spirit pays no tax on the receipt of such gifts. You avoid capital gains taxes on the property and you also receive a deduction for the full fair market value of the gift.

Thrivent Choice Dollars:

If you are a member of Thrivent Financial with insurance and/or investment products, you may be eligible for Thrivent Choice Dollars. These represent your portion of Thrivent’s charitable fraternal funds. Holy Spirit is enrolled as a recipient organization in the Thrivent Choice program. You can choose to designate your Choice dollars to Holy Spirit by calling Thrivent customer service at 1-800-THRIVENT or online at Thrivent.com. Choice dollars accrue quarterly, and can be designated as earned. The deadline to designate a prior year’s Choice dollars each year is March 31.

Costs and Fees

As with your and your family’s financial transactions, The Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit incurs fees related to financial transactions. The following information regarding transactional fees and costs may help in your selection of a giving option.

Cash/Checks:  The congregation receives 100% of the amount of your checks or cashdonations, but a charge of $.25 per check is incurred after the first 250 checks processed per month.

Simply Giving (ACH Banking):  The congregation receives 99.7% of the gift.  A fee of 0.3% is levied per transaction. The giving option is very beneficial to the congregation since the giving is regular and predictable.

Credit Card:  97%-96.6% of a donation made through a credit card (online, kiosk, text) goes to the congregation. On average 3-3.4% of the amount given is charged per credit card transaction. This giving option can provide regular and predictable giving for the congregation if it is set to be recurring.

Securities:  The percentage of the gift received by the congregation and the costs involved vary based on the type of transaction.

Note:   All contributions made via any of the above giving options will be recognized on the Quarterly Statements issued to members of the congregation.