Introductory Letter from Fr. Mike
Dear Parishioner:
There is something that we would like to ask you to consider that could help significantly improve our parish finances. It relates to the way in which you contribute.
As you probably know, during the summer vacation months and also during bad weather, we see a dramatic drop in our collections. Despite best intentions, those collections are never fully recovered and it hurts our ability provide for the needs of the parish and the services that we provide to those who depend on us. As we move into a new fiscal year and the holiday travel season, we wanted to reintroduce to our parishioners a new way to make their offertory gifts and to create the means to “smooth things out” with our budget.
The solution that we feel best meets the needs of the parish is an automated method of collection that allows the use of credit cards (Amex, MasterCard, Visa & Discover) and pre-authorized deductions from checking, savings and brokerage accounts. We introduced this program last year at St. Mary’s and it was immediately successful. We are once again asking that you consider signing up for this program. Of course we will still have the weekly and monthly offertory-envelope system for those who prefer that method.
The new method is all automatic, which offers convenience and a variety of other benefits that are superior to the envelope system. Now you don’t have to write 50 or more checks per year, or worry about having enough cash-on-hand at the time of offering, or play “catch-up” when sidetracked by winter weather. We hope that you will find one of the automated offering methods to be a convenient option for your weekly offering. Indeed, many of you have been asking for this for a long time.
While these alternatives will provide you with flexibility and convenience, they will also ensure that we are making the best use of God’s gifts in our parish. Increased predictability and reliability of the parish offering will allow us to serve the needs of our parish more efficiently and more effectively.
To register and get started with ParishPay, click here.
If you know of other family members who currently support the parish financially, but do not use the envelopes, please encourage them to register for ParishPay or begin using the envelopes. Without the weekly envelopes or ParishPay, we have no way of knowing if you and your family are active members of the parish. At some point, that will be important to you and your family.
Thank you for your continued support of our parish community, and for considering ParishPay. This is of great importance to us in helping to address our finances and to better insure the success and growth of St. Mary’s.
Sincerely,
FR. MICHAEL ROSE
Members of Parish Finance Committee:
Richard Sherman, Chairman
Michael DiPierro
Steve Mosakowski
Peter Blanchard
Dan Doyle
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Questions and Answers
General Questions
What is an Automated Recurring Direct Donation?
This type of donation is a pre-authorized amount deducted directly from your checking, savings, brokerage, or credit card account and deposited into the church account saving time and money each month, simplifying your annual giving.
What payment methods does ParishPay accept?
ParishPay accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express and the Discover Card. ParishPay also processes debits from checking accounts, savings accounts or any other account such as a money market or brokerage account.
How do I enroll with Parish Pay?
Our easy-to-use website lets your parishioners enroll in just a few short minutes. Parishioners simply go to www.parishpay.com type in our 01545 Zip Code and complete the enrollment form.
How and when will my parish receive my parishioner’s donations?
After setting up your Parish account, ParishPay will process authorized donations on the 5th of every month and credit all collected funds to your parish’s bank account.
How quickly does the parish receive the funds from automatic contributions?
Funds are transferred to your parish immediately as they become available.
Can donations be processed weekly?
No. The convenience of using ParishPay is based upon a monthly transaction. By processing monthly, ParishPay helps keeps transaction costs as low as possible for your church.
How long does it take before a parish receives the benefit of people who have signed up for automatic monthly contributions from their accounts?
All new enrollments and transactions are input within a week of receipt. New donations to the parish will be processed on the 5th of the following month.
Can the parishioner change the day of the month that the contribution is debited?
No. All automatic donations are processed on the 5th of the month, or if the 5th is not a business day, then donations are processed on the next business day.
Can ParishPay service special collections?
Yes. There is a place on the enrollment envelope and the online signup for special collections.
About Personal Data
How does ParishPay obtain parishioner information?
There are two ways to provide ParishPay information: by using the attached form or you can enroll using the Internet by going to www.parishpay.com and completing our online enrollment form.
How does the pastor know how much each parishioner gave?
Pastors are provided a monthly and annual report detailing the amount of donations by parishioner.
How does ParishPay handle anonymous donations?
If a parishioner chooses to make an anonymous donation, their personal information will not be included
on the report - the Pastor will only see a cumulative total of donation amounts received from anonymous donors.
What happens if the parishioner’s checking account is closed?
The process is similar to that of a paper check. Typically, there is a $1.00 fee incurred by the parish, and a notice is sent to the parishioner by letter or email.
What happens if the parishioner supplies an incorrect checking account number when signing up?
If the enrollment is completed by using an envelope, ParishPay or the parish office will contact the individual. If this enrollment is completed through the internet, the parishioner will be immediately prompted to correct the invalid routing or account information.
What happens if the parishioner supplies an incorrect credit card number when signing up?
Our system detects incorrect credit cards upon entry and immediately rejects the incorrect number. If the parishioner is enrolling through the Internet, they will be immediately prompted for a corrected account number. Likewise, the parishioner should update their account when they receive a new credit card number.
What happens with parishioners who feel uncomfortable not having something to physically drop into the Sunday collection basket?
ParishPay provides a special “Donation Slip” for those who feel more comfortable putting something in the basket each week.
Must an enrollee have a social security number?
No, parishioners do not need a social security number to use this service. All they need is a United States bank account or a valid credit card.
How does a parishioner change his/her information, such as the amount of the donation, bank account number, new credit card number, or mailing address?
Changes to information may be done by completing another enrollment form or on the Internet at www.parishpay.com.
Can contributions be adjusted for inflation?
Yes. During the enrollment process the donor is given the option to adjust their donation to allow for inflation. This calculation will be applied automatically each January.
How does a parishioner discontinue the service?
Simply go to the ParishPay website at www.parishpay.com and hit the button to terminate the service, or email to accounts@parishpay.com saying that you wish to terminate the service.
How long does a parishioner’s enrollment last? Do they need to re-specify their donation each year?
No, re-enrollment is required and updates can be made through an envelope, or over the Internet at www.parishpay.com. If parishioners decide to, we will apply the ParishPay inflation indexing option to their donation, allowing a 3.00% to 4.00% increase in the amount donated, starting in January of each year.
Enrollment is good until cancelled and parishioners do not need to re-register each year.
About Security
Is my bank account or credit card information disclosed to anyone?
No. ParishPay will never release any financial information to any party for any reason, except as required by law. For more, read our privacy policy located at www.parishpay.com or call us so that we can address your concerns.
How safe are Internet transactions using ParishPay?
As safe as transactions are at the highest security bank sites. ParishPay utilizes the most sophisticated security and encryption techniques permitted by the federal government. We have taken every measure to monitor and ensure that all of your transactions are safe. For more, read about “why it is safe” on our website located at www.parishpay.com or call us so that we can address your concerns.
Are ParishPay procedures audited?
Yes. ParishPay is audited each year by an independent auditor. In addition, your diocese, archdiocese, or overseeing religious organization has the right to conduct an annual audit of ParishPay.
Must a parishioner provide their social security number to enroll?
No. ParishPay’s enrollment process does not require a social security numbers. We ask for a four digit pin number which we recommend to represent the month; 01 - 12, and the day; 01 - 31, of their mother’s birth. Any four digit pin number will do. This is used to help ParishPay authenticate them when making Internet or telephone transactions, such as changing their contribution amount or bank name.
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ParishPay Privacy Notice
Thank you for using ParishPay. We appreciate the opportunity to work with you. Please take a moment to review our Privacy Policy.
It sets forth the kinds of information that we collect from you, the kinds of information that we will disclose and the kinds of organizations to which we will disclose such information.
We collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:
We will not disclose to anyone, except as required by law, the account information about the credit card or financial institution accounts that you are using to make your donation or other payment.
The Church people and organizations who have hired us to make electronic payment services available to you and them, have asked that we make available to them certain of the other nonpublic personal information that we collect about you. This information includes your name and address and certain aspects of your payment history with us.
These Church people and organizations to which we disclose this information are:
Generally, we disclose the same information to the parish, church, religious charity, parochial school or other Church organization to which your donation or payment is being made, and to the governing body, such as a Bishop or Archdiocese, that governs that parish, church, religious charity, parochial school or other organization. We do not, however, disclose your address to such governing body.
For parishes, churches, religious charities, parochial schools and other Church organizations that have hired us separately from their governing body, we will not disclose the nonpublic personal information we collect about you to the governing body.
We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about you to other Church organizations, whether they are governed the same governing body that governs the Church organization to which your payment is being made, or by a different governing body.
We may also disclose nonpublic personal information about you to nonaffiliated third parties as permitted by law. This would include, for example, disclosing your name, address and account information in connection with the processing work that must be done to enable your automatic payment to be made.
We will not disclose any information to companies that perform marketing services on our behalf or on behalf of the relevant governing body, or parish, church, religious charity, parochial school or other Church organization to which you want your payment to be made.
If you prefer that your name and address information not be disclosed to the Church organization to which you want your payment to be made, or to its relevant governing body, please sign up using the “Anonymous Donor” feature. When you use this feature, we will not disclose name and address information about you either to the Church organization to which you want your payment to be made, or its governing body, although we will disclose other information we collect about you, such as your payment history. If you want us not to disclose any of the nonpublic personal information that we collect about you as described below to anyone, we regret to say that we cannot enroll you to make electronic payments. In that case, we will not disclose any nonpublic personal information that we collect about you in the course of your attempt to enroll.
ParishPay values the trust you are placing in us and works hard to protect and keep secure the nonpublic personal information we collect about you. We restrict access to nonpublic personal information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide products or services to you. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to guard your nonpublic personal information.
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Copyright © 2005, St. Mary's Parish, Shrewsbury MA.
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