Blainesburg Bible Church operates as a church at 104 4th Boulevard, Brownsville, PA 15417. Our telephone number is 724-785-3192.
As a religious organization, specifically a church, we accept monetary donations as a 501 c (3) organization. All tithes, offerings or donations of any kind are tax deductible under section 170 c (2). When you give to Blainesburg Bible Church, you are in agreement with relinquishing control of your donations in accordance with IRS regulations with all designated funds being considered as suggestions.
Refunds
All tithes, offerings or donations are to be considered final. No refunds will be given.
Intangible Benefits Statement
No goods or services are provided in return for any tithe, offering or donation other than intangible religious benefits.
Understanding Using Your Credit/Debit Card for Donations
Fees charged to Blainesburg Bible Church for online donations are as follows:
2.40% + $0.25 – Debit/Regular Credit Cards
2.90% + $0.25 Reward/Business Corporate Cards
(As of March 23, 2020.)
For example, if you use a personal debit card or credit card that doesn’t have “rewards,” a $20 donation would actually total $19.27, because there would be a total of $0.73 in fees charged to us for offering the convenience of online donations. This includes using a terminal (credit card machine) at the church to process a credit/debit card donation as well as manually entered transactions.
What does that mean?
First, the larger the donation, the more sense it makes to mail a check in order that no transaction fees be taken from your donation. The 25 cent per transaction fee stays the same regardless of donation amount, but the 2.4% and 2.9% per transaction amount is something to consider, especially for larger donations. For example, a $500 donation at 2.4% for regular credit/debit cards equals $12.00 in fees deducted from your donation by the financial institution that processes credit/debit card donations for the church. Add in the $0.25 per transaction fee, and $12.25 of your generous donation goes toward transaction processing fees.
Second, it means that even though we always use 100% of your tithes, offerings and donations for the work God is accomplishing through Blainesburg Bible Church, that 100% begins after transaction fees have been deducted. For example, if you gave $500 in response to a donation plea for our livestream ministry, you would expect us to use every penny toward that ministry. However, due to transaction fees, Blainesburg Bible Church would only have $487.75 or $485.25—depending on the card you used for the donation—available to be applied to the livestream ministry due to bank processing fees.
The previous explanation was written in order for you to fully understand what online giving costs. The companies that make credit card donations possible certainly deserve to be paid for their services. Plus, these fees are not unique to non-profit organizations. With few exceptions, other companies pay fees every time you use a credit or debit card to make a transaction. It is built into the cost of doing business due to the convenience these payment methods offer consumers.
Churches that offer the convenience of allowing credit/debit cards to be used for donations often see an increase in giving that more than makes up for transaction fees. Whereas a for-profit business may have no need to offer this level of explanation for processing/transaction fees associated with online giving, Blainesburg Bible Church desires to always provide full disclosure to those faithful in their tithes, offerings and donations.
Minimum Credit/Debit Card Donation Amount
Due to standard fees of $0.25 and either 2.4 % or 2.9% per transaction, Blainesburg Bible Church has set a minimum donation amount to $5.00 for credit/debit cards.