Pushpay published the report based on insights from over 2,200 church leaders. It reveals a trajectory towards a new configuration of the Church.

Churches increasingly embrace technology as a cornerstone of their mission. Currently, 95% recognise its critical role,and 98% acknowledge its importance in fostering community connections.

Notably, the report indicates a surge in hybrid church services. 90% of surveyed churches offer a blend of physical and virtual worship experiences.

Livestreaming emerges as a linchpin in this digital transformation, with 91% of churches currently utilising it and 62% planning to further integrate it in the future.

"We're seeing churches continuing to test, adapt, and evolve their use of technology to extend the Church experience, making ministry content and connection available 24/7" said Molly Matthews, Pushpay CEO.

Matthews stressed the necessity of adapting to meet the expectations of younger generations accustomed to seamless digital interactions.

Strategic importance of AI

Furthermore, the report explores the potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. It said 33% of churches are considering the strategic importance of AI in the coming years.

However, interest in virtual reality-based services appears to have dwindled. Only 5% continue to offer such experiences compared to 8% last year.

Mobile church apps are on the rise, facilitating volunteer scheduling and prayer requests, with a 44% and 8% increase since 2022.

Yet budget constraints remain a barrier for many. The report indicated that 55% of churches allocate less than 10% of their operating budget to technology.

Clay Scroggins, who wrote the forward for the 2024 State of Church Technology report, underscores the profound impact of technological integration on the future configuration of the Church:

"Online churches, digital small groups, virtual staff meetings and AI-enhanced sermons aren't temporary BandAids; they represent a new, permanent fixture in our faith practices."

Sources

AP News

Pushpay

Existing shareholders will be paid $1.42 per share, and it is expected the delisting will occur on May 12.

The sale was made to Pegasus Bidco. Pushpay identified the takeover being made by a United States investment firm Sixth Street Partners and Australian private equity firm BGH Capital, which together held 20.3% of shares. Read more

Sixth Street - a global investment firm - and BGH Capital - an Australia and New Zealand-focused private equity player - are offering $1.34 a share for the company by way of a scheme of arrangement.

Pushpay, which provides digital platforms through which churchgoers make donations over their mobile phones, first disclosed that there had been expressions of interest in the company in April this year. Read more

On Thursday the company provided the market with long-term projections forecasting that the total value of money processed on its platforms would exceed $15.9 billion and it would have more than 20,000 customers by the year ending March 2025.

Pushpay chief executive Molly Matthews said the forecast was based on the company capturing a 20 to 25 percent share of the Catholic church market.

Providing mobile donation services to churches and charities, particularly in North America, the company processed $12.1 billion and had a total of 14,508 customers for the year ended March.

Matthews said being dual-listed on the NZX and ASX is not on the cards for now. Continue reading

There had been an increase in the number of donors switching from cash to digital over the six-month period as a result of the pandemic, and those numbers were holding steady.

The company's expansion into the Catholic faith sector was expected to see continued growth for the business, said Pushpay chief executive Molly Matthews said in a statement to the market.

"As we shared at the start of the financial year, the Catholic initiative is our first step in investing to grow our customer base outside of our existing core customer base, and we have set the goal of acquiring more than 25 percent of the Catholic church management system and donor management system market over the next five years." Continue reading

The 10-year-old company helps churches collect donations and engage congregants.

According to Matthews, Pushpay's software saw heavy engagement this past year with Covid-19 forcing many churches to cease or limit in-person gatherings.

As of Sept. 30, the company had 10,896 customers and 441 employees, but Pushpay is seeking further growth into Catholic churches, nonprofits and schools.

"We are not going to win if we are just looking at what the needs of today are," Matthews said.

Matthews will officially become CEO on March 1, replacing interim CEO Bruce Gordon.

The Business Journal spoke with Matthews about her background and long-term goals for Pushpay.

What are Pushpay's plans for expansion?

We serve schools, ministries and nonprofits.

It's a small amount of our customer base today. It is absolutely part of our medium and long-term growth strategy to excel in those markets.

One of the things that has helped Pushpay to have the success that we've had is staying really focused on our target market.

We feel like there's still so much room for us to grow in the church space.

The first growth move that we're making heading into our new fiscal year, which begins in April, is serving the Catholic faith sector more heavily.

We do have several Catholic parishes and even an archdiocese that we work with, but our desire is to serve that community of Catholic parishes, diocese and archdiocese really well.

What are your plans for the company when you take over as CEO in March?

We've always been a growth-focused company from our inception. It's been threaded throughout who we are.

We do that in a couple of different ways.

We are always looking to expand the product suite that we offer our customers and our prospective customers. That is something we will continue to do throughout this year. It's the initiative that we're heavily focusing in.

We feel very strongly that it takes immense focus in one or two areas in order to win in those areas.

We really try as a company to not divert our energy into too many things because you tend to not make enough progress to really win in any space.

We'll continue to serve nondenominational (churches) and really go heavy into serving our Catholic parishes, diocese and archdiocese heading into this year and next year.

We'll begin to research and dive deeper into those nonprofit and education spaces for our middle-term and longer-term growth strategy.

How has the business changed during the pandemic?

Our customers have had to move massive organizations and weekend gatherings to this fully digital space.

As you can imagine, it looked different for everybody.

For those churches and organizations who had already been doing some online things, it was ... a smoother shift to going fully digital. For others, they had to jump on that learning curve really quickly. Continue reading

Pushpay services include a web-enabled giving platform and online donor management.

Net profit fell 15 percent for the year ended March 31.

One of the issues facing Pushpay has been the recent sale of shares by key investors.

That includes outgoing chief executive Bruce Gordon, who sold 1.4 million shares last month, and rich listers the Huljich family.

The Huljichs have been involved with the business since it listed on the NZX in August 2014 for 37c per share.

The family sold 25 percent of its stake when the shares hit a high of $9.25 a share in July.

The stock fell 8 per cent on the day the family sold and was down 3 percent the day Gordon sold his stake.

"The recent sell-down by insiders is a result of strong share price performance and the first opportunity since the impact of Covid-19 to take some profits," Forsyth Barr analyst Jamie Foulkes says.

Forsyth Barr forecast a leap in net profit to US$36 million for the current financial year and US$54.6 million in two years.

Pushpay is currently used by 10,900 customers, including evangelical giants such as Hillsong New York and CedarCreek.

Churches were not immune to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many small churches have been forced to close permanently in recent months.

However, many churches are now looking to re-open, allowing physical church services.

There has also been Church consolidation, with the more established megachurches expanding.

This would benefit Pushpay.

Foulkes says digital giving is still likely to remain the predominant method of donation because of concerns over handling cash.

Digital giving was as high as 99 percent in some US churches, compared with cash.

Churches still received cheques in the mail, but even older churchgoers were taking to digital giving.

Stuff.co.nz says Chris Heaslip and Eliot Crowther got the idea while they were sitting in church one Sunday. When the plate came round they found they did not have any cash, but they did have their phones.

Another story is that initial idea started while Crowther was queuing at a coffee shop and wondering why on earth anybody was still having to do that.

But eventuallly they chose to nurture fresh pastures - principally charity donations and things such as utility bill payments on the go.

Pushpay is marketed as "the fastest, free, and convenient way to buy stuff, pay your bills, support your favourite charities or give to your church."

It allows you to," make secure 10 second payments from your iOS or Android smart device."

The business grew 10-fold in less than 10 months last year, going from average monthly revenue of $1m to $10m.

That intense growth meant the NZX-listed company led this year's Deloitte Fast 50 with 4574 per cent growth, almost four times more than the second fastest growing company on the list.

They are now based in the Untied States. They have more than 5200 merchants, including five of the top 10, and 30 of the top 100 largest churches in the US, and processed more than US$1b in payments a year.

Pushpay will keep focusing on the US church market and is on track to reach $100m in average monthly revenue by the end of 2017.

More than US$119 billion (NZ$162b) was given each year to religious organisations in the US and there were more than 340,000 churches.

Pushpay now has more than 5200 merchants, including five of the top 10, and 30 of the top 100 largest churches in the US, and processed more than US$1b in payments a year.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• idealog.co.nz
• pushpay.com
• Image: facebook.com

Pushpay provides mobile tools that help make payments easy between consumers and merchants and is geared to mobile charitable giving.

Some 93 percent of Pushpay's merchant clients are located in North America, with 7 percent across Australasia.

For the six months ended 30 September 2015, Pushpay exceeded its targets by 11 percent having increased merchant numbers by 111 percent, CEO, Chris Heaslip said.

It ended the half year with 2,102 merchants out of a faith sector including 314,000 churches with an average size of over 500 attendees.

During the period, Pushpay launched additions to its payments technology including eChurch Apps, Pushpay Fastpay and Virtual Terminal/Envelope Giving.

Pushpay Holdings increased its first-half loss while revenue more than tripled.

The company boosted spending on product development and sales in a bid to attract US churches to its system.

The Auckland-domiciled, Redmond, US-headquartered company posted a net loss of $6.1 million, or 12 cents per share, in the 6 months ended Sept. 30, from $2.6 million, or 7cps, a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Revenue jumped 290 percent to $6.3 million, while expenses rose 176 percent to $12.4 million.

Pushpay has a staff of 143, most of whom are in sales roles.

Source

• zdnet.com
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: image.slidesharecdn.com