Online Giving
Online Giving
Welcome to The Sound’s Online Giving Portal. Online giving is a safe and easy way to support the ministries of The Sound and help us raise funds to launch our church. Our portal enables you to support the church by making a one-time or recurring contribution.
3 Simple Steps
- Create a user id and password
- Provide contact and credit card information.
- Indicate the amount, frequency (one-time or recurring) and designation for your funds.
Ready to contribute: DONATE NOW
Need more information? Here are some helpful sections concerning our online giving portal:
BENEFITS: There are several benefits to online giving for both you and the church. FAQ’s: View additional information regarding online giving and frequently asked questions. SECURITY: Keeping your information and contribution secure is a top priority to The Sound. Learn more about how The Sound keeps your information secure.
Benefits
There are several benefits to online giving for both you and the church:
- First Fruits – In Proverbs 3:9 we are taught to honor the Lord with the “First Fruits” of our labor. By setting up a recurring contribution that is scheduled to come out of your account on the day you specify you can ensure that your First Fruits are given back to God.
- Simplicity – You will not need to remember if you gave this month or send in your offering checks when you are out of town.
- Control – You decide the amount, frequency and date on which your contribution goes through. You can select an amount and schedule the contribution payment over your time frame. You can even set up a one time contribution and select the date on which it goes through (or pay it immediately).
- Accountability – You can view your contribution history and print out a giving statement. This statement reflects contributions given online, during a Sunday service, or sent to us through the mail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it safe to give online?
Yes. In many ways giving online is safer than writing a check. Your credit card information is encrypted so that the church can only access the last four numbers of your card – the same way you notice on any receipt from a retail store. This ensures that your credit card information is not available to anyone at The Sound.
Q: What cards are accepted for online giving?
At this point The Sound is able to accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. American Express and EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) from your bank account will be available soon.
Q: Are there any fees involved with giving online?
Not to you. You will not pay any fees with an online contribution. In addition, online contributions are more cost efficient for The Sound.
Q: Can I make a one-time contribution?
Yes. The online payment portal allows you the option of either making a one-time contribution or setting up a recurring contribution. For a one-time contribution you can designate that payment be made immediately or, for both one-time and recurring, you can schedule the contributions to be paid on the date(s) specified by you.
Q: Can I change my personal information or the amount/frequency of my contribution once I have it set up?
Yes. You can change or cancel your contribution at any time before the date of your next contribution. Simply log in to the portal by entering your user name and password and make the necessary changes.
Q: Can I review my contribution history online?
Yes. The portal will allow you to view the complete history of your contributions given both online or otherwise (Sunday offering or mailed to our office). Once you’ve created an account you will be able to contribute immediately. However, for security purposes, before you can see any past contributions we must first manually connect your online account with your previous information. This is a one-time process when you initially create your account. After we verify that all of the information matches you can view your contribution history at any time.
Q: When will contributions be taken from my account?
Contributions will be taken from your specified bank account within 48 hours of the date you requested. This allows time for the contributions to process through your bank and the church’s bank. If the date of your contribution falls on a weekend or a holiday, the transaction will be initiated on the next banking day.
Q: Can I designate my gift to particular cause?
Yes, you can designate your contribution to go towards tithes and offerings or to our Launch Fund. Our Launch Fund is set up to help us raise the funds needed to launch our church. We tithe all of our giving (10%) towards our Points of Passion (local and world missions) as a church.
Q: Does it matter which Internet browser I use?
No, any browser will work.
Q: Can I use a debit card?
You can use a debit check card from Visa or MasterCard, but true debit cards are not accepted through our contribution portal due to the sensitivity of securely requesting a Personal Identification Number (PIN).
Q: I have additional questions about your online giving that have not been addressed. Who can I talk to?
For additional questions about online giving please contact us at finance@thesoundchurch.org – you will receive a response from our staff as soon as possible.
Security
At The Sound, we use an online database called Fellowship One. Their system allows us to provide access to your contribution records and allows you to make donations online. They provide all of the security for the system. This system is used by churches throughout the country and has been fully tested by them.
There are two aspects of security related to the system. First, Fellowship One provides data security using the latest security technology. The following statement is from their security documentation: “[the system] utilizes the most current encryption technology to maintain the security of your data. Every parameter passed in the hyperlinks is fully encrypted. Additionally, the Login module handles passwords using what is known in technical terms as salted hash. In laymen’s terms, this means it would take 50 computers (running constantly) continuously presenting password combinations four years to discover the password.”
The second aspect of security relates to account creation. When you first create a new account in the system, you will be able to donate immediately, but you will not have access to any previous contribution information. Before that can happen, we must manually link your previous information to the account you created.
In order to verify the authenticity of the account request, we will ensure that all of your data matches our current records (e.g., address, phone number, and email address). If there is any question, we will contact you via email before creating the link. Since this is a manual process, we will perform these steps approximately once a week, but if you would like to speed up this process, you can send an email to finance@thesoundchurch.org
When you create your account, you will determine your own login id and password. If you forget your login id or password, you can have the system email it to you by entering the email address that you used when you created your account. If you need help or cannot remember the email address you used, you can contact us at finance@thesoundchurch.org – you can also change your password at any time.
Please help us keep your information safe by protecting your login information. Access to sensitive personal and financial information can be gained by letting someone else use your account or by leaving the information for someone else to see. The Sound will never call you to ask for your login information.
Our Policies
Your information is held securely by the Fellowship One system. This information will remain private and will never be given away to third parties, other than to process your scheduled contributions.
You can schedule new contributions at any time and can modify or cancel those contributions at any time prior to the date they are scheduled. Once the contribution has been processed, however, it cannot be cancelled. If you have any problems or questions related to this, please contact us at finance@thesoundchurch.org
