ACH is better known as Direct Deposit or Direct Payment and is used for depositing salaries and government benefits straight into bank accounts and for paying bills online. This trusted, secure payment method also is a great option for nonprofits to increase their donations and encourage ongoing giving. Using ACH, donors give to your organization directly from their checking or savings account, rather than using a check, cash or card.

How Do You and Your Religious Organization’s Supporters Benefit from ACH?

By making donations with ACH, religious organizations can better serve their congregants, employees and spiritual goals by:

• Improving Ease of Giving and Receiving Donations. When worshippers are unable to attend services, they can still give electronically with ACH. And as more people, especially younger ones, opt not to carry checks or cash, they may instead prefer to make electronic payments. It’s easy to sign up for ACH!
• Empowering Sustaining Donors. With recurring payments that are easy to update, donors can set up and control the amount and frequency of their donations. People tend to make more consistent donations when using ACH.
• Simplifying Process, Saving Costs. ACH is often less expensive to process than cards and checks, and it eliminates manual check preparation and record-keeping. This means more of each donation goes to an organization’s programs. Other benefits include same-day payroll processing and automated electronic payments to vendors and service providers.
• Enhancing Security. Unlike cash or checks, ACH donations go directly into the organization’s bank or credit union account — there’s nothing to count or carry. By using bank-level encryption, ACH protects donors’ information rather than a check passing through multiple hands.
• Supporting Employees. Thanks to convenient Split Deposit, religious organizations’ employees can direct a fixed amount or percentage of their pay into a savings or investment account to help build toward their personal financial goals.

Our Toolkit has everything you need to get started with ACH Payments.

Getting Approval

• FAQs – Learn more about accepting Direct Payments 
  > Download
• Religious Organization Success Story – Learn how a religious organization saw donations increase after accepting Direct Payments 
  > Download
• PowerPoint Template  – Show the impact accepting Direct Payments can have 
  > Download

Getting Started

• Authorization Requirements – Learn what donor information you need when accepting Direct Payment 
  > Download
• Checklist – Straightforward steps to begin accepting Direct Payments 
  > Download
• Enrollment Form (Physical Form) – Template for in-person donation drives 
  > Download
• Enrollment Form (Digital Template) – Designed to help your organization accept Direct Donation on its website 
  > Download

Getting Donors on Board

• Pledge Letter/Email – Inform your donors about the benefits of Direct Payment, including recurring gifts 
  > Download
• Phone Script – The information you need to accept Direct Payments over the phone 
  > Download
• Social Media Messages – Let your donors know your organization accepts Direct Payments 
  > Download
• Messaging – Download all three of the getting donors on board documents
  > Download

Download Full Toolkit

Additional assistance getting started with ACH can be found using the ACH Quick Start, a tool for your religious organization to learn how to pay or get paid electronically using ACH.

On occasion, we will publish updates and information in a newsletter -- sign up below. Additionally, follow #ACHGiving to stay up to date on how ACH can help your religious organization.