The Parish Giving Scheme is a nationwide tool to support church giving, manage regular donations and reduce parish administration.
The scheme allows people to make regular, planned donations to their local church by Direct Debit.
It is operated as a partnership between Church of England dioceses to ensure that it can remain delivered locally but administered as cost effectively as possible. It has been in operation since 2008 and is already making a huge impact.
The Parish Giving Scheme is offered free of charge to parishes in the Diocese of Bristol.
100% of donations come directly back to your parish from the PGS each month.
Introducing the PGS also provides you with an excellent opportunity to talk about money with your congregation/s. This has the potential to bring about a change in cultural attitudes to giving. To take full advantage of this opportunity youre strongly recommended to introduce the PGS alongside an appropriate giving programme.
To register your church, download a registration form below and return this to Clare Fussell, Giving and Resources Adviser, at:
Hard copies of both Gift forms are available from the Diocesan Office. Simply email Clare Fussell (address above) with the number you'd like to order.
The PGS now offers a new telephone service, designed to enable prospective donors to set up a regular Direct Debit donation to your parish over the phone.
How does it work?
The service went live on 27th April 2020 and operates weekdays between 9 - 5pm.
Please encourage prospective donors to set up a regular gift to your parish by calling the dedicated telephone line:
0333 002 1271
The sign up process normally takes around 15 minutes. They will need to have the following information to hand:
• Personal bank account details
• The name of the parish they wish to donate to
• They will need to confirm if they want to increase their gift in line with inflation each year
• Confirm if they are eligible for Gift Aid
• The PGS code for their parish (usually 9 digits in length) *
*Note: This is the one piece of information that the donor will not have. Please ensure they have this information, to guarantee the gift goes to the correct parish.
What happens next?
Donors will receive written confirmation (by email or post) of their Direct Debit, including details of the parish they are supporting, the amount of their gift and the date of their first donation.
Please note that if they currently give to the church via standing order, we advise them to wait until receiving the confirmation letter from PGS before attempting to cancel it.
How will our parish be notified of the donation?
The parish’s Planned Giving representative will receive a monthly statement, detailing the names of those who have donated (unless they choose to remain anonymous) and all the gifts given through the PGS.
What if the donor needs to change their donation?
If donors wish to make any changes to their Direct Debit, they should notify a member of the PGS team by phone 0333 002 1260, email info@parishgiving.org.uk or in writing to the address below.
Praise for this service:
“I found the ease of using the new telephone service very satisfactory. The whole process was efficient and only took 15 minutes. The staff were very helpful and I would thoroughly recommend this service.”
Dr Simon Thorp, Eastbourne St Saviour
If your parish is not yet registered with the PGS, you can download and fill in the 'Parish Registration Form' above and send electronically to Clare Fussell, along with a scan or photo of a paying-in slip from the PCC bank account into which you wish to receive funds.
