Automatic Tithing Machines: The New ATMs

The quality of the students that are drawn to legal education is one of the humbling things about teaching in a law school. One of my bright students, David Fuller, dropped by the other day with some interest thoughts about the N.Y. Times story on charitable giving and religious tithing using credit and debit cards. I asked David if he would write up his thoughts so that I could post them here. David wrote:

When I was a kid I remember watching my dad rummage in his wallet for the Sunday offering, while the ushers come up the aisles in church with their collection plates.  Now, instead of rummaging for a stray bill you can swipe your credit card in a new breed of ATM, what Marty Baker, pastor of Stevens Creek Community Church, calls an Automatic Tithing Machine.  This is described in the article, "The Lord Giveth, and Now He Takes Visa," published in the December 10 issue of the New York Times.  Mr. Baker had these "giving kiosks" developed for his church after he realized that he, like his congregation, rarely carried cash. 

According to the article the credit card has not completely replaced the traditional collection plate.  Stevens Community Church only gets about one fifth of its donations through its kiosks, however the church experienced an 18% increase in donations and an average gift of $100 from each card transaction.  The kiosks, like many card based transaction points, make it easier to spend without thinking about the actual value of what you are spending.  As one parishioner put it, "If you give cash, you think about it.  And if you swipe a credit card, you don't.  It makes it easier to type that 4-0."  In all fairness though, some locations only take debit cards due to concerns about people giving money they do not have.  Still, given the success of the kiosks, they likely will become more and more common in church lobbies.

In fact, it was so successful at Stone Creek Community Church that Mr. Baker and his wife formed a for-profit company, to sell giving kiosks to other churches and nonprofits.  He says that he is talking with New Orleans about setting up kiosks so that people can donate money to Katrina relief.  One of Mr. Baker's customers, the Oregon Ballet Theater, set up kiosks so that people could give while they are "still in the glow of what they've witnessed onstage."  While charitable giving should be encouraged, perhaps it loses some of its social value when people give unthinkingly or reflexively and without regard to the real cost or consequences of the gift.  The upshot is that the kiosks print a receipt so you can get your charitable contribution deduction.

Comments

[tim zinnecker]

Here's my dilemma as a faithful tither (minimum 10% gross): If I use a credit card, I know that First Baptist Church of Houston will receive less than my full payment because of a slight service fee. So do I use a credit card and tithe 11% (love those miles -- and there's a lot at stake over a calendar year!), or do I continue to tithe 10% by writing numerous checks (none over $249.99 for tax reasons!), knowing that FBC receives the full amount? Hmmmmm. Decisions, decisions. Maybe the debit card is the way to go. (There's probably a Payment Systems essay question lurking in this post and response.)

[Marie Reilly]

Congress' concern (obsession?)about protecting religious tithing from the bankruptcy laws that regulate debtor spending is enough to drive a modern day Mr. Smith to a filabuster, perhaps directly to coma. I'm amazed at how difficult it is to persuade anyone to my opinion. I made the "at the expense of creditors" argument at a luncheon meeting of a bank lawyers group in Columbia, SC years ago when the original bill was in the works. Forks dropped, nostrils flared and my bank lawyer friends told me that no trustee in SC would challenge a tithe lest God Himself rise up from behind the bench and smite all concerned. And these were bank lawyers.

There's some powerful mojo at work about the "right" of a person to tithe at the expense of his creditors. It's not all just the political muscle flexing of the big organized religions and the fundamentalist Christian right wing. The right to tithe according to one's conscience has become the "homestead" of the landless poor, and a measure of human dignity.

[tim zinnecker]

Marie, three thoughts -- one typed with both hands, one typed with my right, and the other typed with my left.

While the issue most often comes up in the context of church contributions, the statute isn't limited to protecting only those monies. It would protect donations to United Way, Red Cross, etc. Would those donations make the protection any more palatable for you?

You won't win any converts by making your "at the expense of creditors" argument in South Carolina. Too close (if not in) the Bible belt. Gotta find a godless, pagan audience for that song. (I'll refrain from making suggestions.)

And notice the irony of a statute that protects charitable contributions while at the same time allowing the contributors to walk away from their moral obligations to honor their contracts. Hmmm.