ATM for GOD?
About this time, Baker began to realize he had hit on something and saw broader applications for the kiosk. He put together a business plan, created a for-profit company called SecureGive, and now sells kiosk terminals to other churches and nonprofit organizations for anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000, with a monthly subscription fee of $50. As of this writing, SecureGive has installed kiosks in more than 34 locations in more than 12 states.
Calvary Christian Center, a church in Ormond Beach, Fla., has had a giving kiosk in its lobby for eight or nine months. For Family Church in West Monroe, La., it’s been a year. Pastors for both of the churches agree that the kiosks are well worth the investment.
“They work very well. We have people who give regularly there,” says Terry L. Taylor, executive pastor of Family Church. “Our goal was to make it more convenient for those people that don’t bring a checkbook or cash and they live off of a debit card, and just to make it feasible for them to give.
“If you want to meet people where they’re living today, you need to have an ability for them to walk in and scan a card and give what they would like to give,” he adds.
Taylor says he thinks organizations of any kind that have people pass through on a regular basis or during special events would benefit from having a giving kiosk.
For example, SecureGive set up kiosks in the lobby of the Oregon Ballet Theatre last December during its “Nutcracker” performances.
“This is just how people do their business in their life,” Baker says. “They use it at the gas station, they use it at a grocery store. You know, why not in church? Why not use it to donate to someone?
