Is Your Parish Ready for December Giving? Start Now
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August 3, 2026December generosity doesn't need to be manufactured. It needs a parish that's ready for it.
Year-end giving isn't only a financial event. For many parishioners, December is when gratitude turns into action. It's a moment of stewardship, of renewed commitment to the community they belong to.
But how can you prepare your parish to make the most of that time?
It requires work like ensuring a parishioner can find your giving page without hunting, complete a larger-than-usual gift on a phone without confusion, understand what recurring giving is and why it helps, direct the gift to the right fund, and receive a receipt and a thank-you that lands correctly in parish records.
We analyzed three years' (2022-2025) of eCatholic data from more than 1,600 parishes and found that December is the most expensive possible moment for any link in that chain to break.
December is Different
Based on our data, at three out of four parishes, December brings in more online giving than a usual month. For the typical parish, it's about 30% more.
But many parishes enter that crucial time with a giving experience that's unclear, fragmented across channels, or simply never tested.
One in five parishes takes in at least twice as much in December as in a usual month.
Bigger Gifts Over New GiversDecember doesn't bring a crowd of new givers. The typical parish (based on the median) sees only about 5% more gifts than in a usual month.
What changes is the size of each one. Across all parish giving, the average online gift is about $116 in December, against about $80 the rest of the year.
Nearly all of that increase comes from one-time gifts. Recurring giving runs at roughly the same level in December as in any other month — it's the one-time gift that jumps, and it jumps a lot.
What This Doesn't Mean
There's no gradual build in the fall. At the typical parish, September, October, and November all come in within a few percent of a usual month.
The goal is not to turn August through November into a long year-end appeal. It's to use those quieter months to make sure every part of the way people give is ready before December arrives.
If you want giving to rise in September or October, you'd have to make that happen yourself. It won't come on its own, and it costs staff time and parishioner patience.
Where Does Your Parish Stand?Make a gift the way a parishioner would. Pull up your parish site on your phone, and answer these honestly.
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Can you find the Give button immediately?
Check the homepage, the mobile menu, the bulletin, and your parish emails. Every extra step is another chance for someone to give up before the gift goes through.
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Can you finish a gift easily on a phone?
Most parishioners won't troubleshoot a confusing form. They'll close the tab meaning to come back.
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Can you enter any amount you want?
This is the one that matters most in December, when people give more than usual. Make sure someone can type in their own amount easily, instead of being boxed in by the buttons you've set.
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Are recurring gifts clearly presented and explained?
Don't assume parishioners know why recurring support helps the parish. Say it plainly.
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Does the follow-up work?
Confirm the receipt arrives, the thank-you sounds like your parish, and the gift lands correctly in your records. A broken confirmation email costs you the most in December, when each gift is bigger.
- Make the giving page easy to find from the homepage and the menu on a phone
- Fix whatever issues the phone walkthrough turned up
- Make the custom amount box obvious — December depends on it
- Clear out old funds, finished campaigns, and dead links, so a December gift can't land in the wrong place
- Check that receipts and thank-yous actually go out, and that gifts land correctly in your records
- Use one giving link on the website, in the bulletin, in email, on social media, and in QR codes
- Explain recurring giving the same way every time
- Write your Giving Tuesday, Advent, Christmas, and year-end messages together rather than one at a time
- Make sure the pastor, staff, and volunteers all describe giving the same way
If you answered "no" to any of those questions, that's what you need to work on this fall.
You Don't Have to Do It Alone
Giving Success is a free program for eCatholic Online Giving & Pay customers, built to help parishes increase how many parishioners take part in online giving.
Starting now is what makes it pay off in December.
Three Priorities Before Advent
If you want to make sure you're ready for December, these should be your priorities:
Priority #1: Decide Who Owns It
Before reviewing a single setting, decide who owns the parish's online giving through the end of the year.
At many parishes, no one does. The pastor assumes the business manager handles it. The business manager assumes communications handles it. The giving page hasn't been reviewed in two years, the website and bulletin point to different links, and nobody wants to change anything mid-Advent.
Owning it doesn't mean doing every task yourself. It means one person is responsible for making sure the tasks happen. Name someone for the giving page, someone for giving messages and follow-up, and set dates for reviewing funds, testing forms, and scheduling messages–with the last check landing before Advent begins.
Priority #2: Clear the Obstacles
This is the to-do list your walkthrough just produced.
Priority #3: Say It the Same Way Everywhere
A parish that says the same thing everywhere is easier to give to than one that doesn't.
When to Do It
Now through August: Check and Fix. Go through the questions mentioned above, then fix what they turn up.
September and October: Get Parishioners Ready. Point everything at one link, explain recurring giving, prepare QR codes and printed materials, and work giving into what's already on the fall calendar: ministry fairs, back-to-school Masses, stewardship weekends.
November: Test and Schedule. Test every link, form, confirmation email, and receipt again. Walk the pastor, finance council, staff, and volunteers through the plan. Schedule your year-end messages before Advent gets hectic.
Don't Overlook Recurring Giving
Recurring gifts make up about 66% of parish online giving. That's a larger share than many parishes assume, and it has grown every year. Its real value isn't the total, it's knowing what's coming. Recurring giving tells a parish roughly what to expect each month, which makes planning for ministries, staffing, and repairs far easier than hoping December covers the gap.
It's also the one thing December won't hand you. December's surge is almost entirely one-time gifts; recurring giving barely moves. A strong December is a good month. A strong recurring base is a predictable year.
For some, the first step is simply turning the recurring option on and putting it front and center. For others the work is explaining it–from the pulpit, in the bulletin, over email, and on the website, until giving that way feels normal. Either way, it's one piece of the giving experience, not a separate project.
Start With One Gift and One Name
Do two things this week: decide who owns online giving, and make a gift on your parish website from your phone. Every obstacle you hit on the way through is part of the work to finish before Advent.
Giving Success is free for eCatholic Online Giving & Pay customersMake one gift on your parish site this week.
Then let our team help you fix whatever it turns up, while there's still time before Advent.