Options for Donating to Good Shepherd
Do you know about all of our different donation options? There are several methods to share your financial offerings to help support the work of Good Shepherd. Many of these methods are outlined on our website at gsolympia.org/donate, but here is a quick overview along with additional options to consider.
Of course, we always welcome your gifts given in person during worship or sent through the mail! But for some, sending gifts through electronic means has become more comfortable in recent years, and in fact we currently receive roughly 40% of our total general offering dollars through Vanco, our online donation processor. Vanco offers a safe and secure online donation portal that can be used for both one-time and recurring donations, either through electronic transfers from a bank account or via a credit/debit card. You can access the portal any time at gsolympia.org/vanco, or you can complete a paper form to sign up through the church office.
Vanco also offers a mobile app for giving (look for “Vanco Give+” to download from your app store and then search our ZIP code in the app to find Good Shepherd), and even a text-to-give phone number for general offerings. For example, texting “50” to our text-to-give number (360) 525-9285 will set up a one-time $50 donation to Good Shepherd, which you can then choose to make recurring or keep as a one-time donation.
Some members have chosen to shift from giving via their personal accounts to making distributions from their retirement accounts or through donor advised funds. It is helpful for us to know if you plan to use this approach so we can be aware of what to look for in the mail, although we are not able to assist directly with setting up those types of donations.
We can also accept transfers of stocks and mutual funds through our brokerage account at Morgan Stanley. Additionally, some may wish to consider including Good Shepherd in their estate planning. If either of those is an option you would like to explore, please contact the church office for more information.
In addition to the various “active” forms of donations listed above, we also have several options for “passive” giving via shopping rewards through AmazonSmile and Fred Meyer, as well as designating Choice Dollars for eligible Thrivent members. These are great ways to help support the church without incurring any additional costs Again, please visit our website at gsolympia.org/donate to learn more, or contact the church office for assistance.
We rely on your continuing generosity to keep our operations going and to keep making progress toward a sustainable future. Regardless of the method or the amount, we are enormously grateful for the gifts shared by our community in so many ways!
