In recent years, the dematerialization of donations has entered churches. Application, connected baskets, automatic terminals, parishioners are free to choose among these digital tools. “ This responds to a change in habits among the faithful, who have little cash, and who use their bank cards and their telephones more and more”, explains Gonzague Lemaître, intendant at Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille cathedral, in Lille. A phenomenon that concerns all generations, according to him.
In 2016, the La Quête application was launched, to facilitate the collection of donations from the faithful at Sunday mass. To date, according to site data, the application has been deployed in more than sixty dioceses, for more than 12,000 churches registered in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Six million euros have since been collected thanks to this application, with an average donation amounting to 8.70 euros. “ Even if we have recorded a drop in donors in recent years, we notice that the average amount of donations is higher thanks to these digital tools”assures Gonzague Lemaître.
Connected baskets
In the diocese of Lille, bringing together 380 churches, a third of the bell towers have been using connected baskets for a year during Sunday masses or for various events, such as concerts. The basket contains a terminal allowing the faithful, with a bank card or a telephone, to pay contactless. In Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille Cathedral, two automatic terminals are also available to buy candles or make a donation. “These systems work very well, approves Gonzague Lemaître. This means we don’t end up with piles of parts to count afterwards. This is a huge time saver for us. A gain in money too, since the bank’s withdrawals from cash are higher than those from dematerialized donations. »
However, cash donations remain the majority, underlines the intendant. “But we estimate a growth in dematerialized donations of around 20% to 30% in one year. For churches, it has become an indispensable godsend. »