When people give online there is always a delay of some sort, depending on at least 3 variables:
- The method of Giving Used: Credit cards usually have the fastest processing time (2 business days) while ACH/bank donations take a few days longer to process (6-7 business days total) and can vary greatly by the bank being used.
- The day when the donation was initiated. Processing time excludes holidays and weekends, so if a donation was initiated over Memorial weekend, the processing time would not start until the following Tuesday.
- Your Transfer Day. The weekday your ministry chose for funds to be deposited into your bank. This variable is a little trickier to think through, but basically, if you schedule for deposits to be made on Mondays, you might not see the weekend gifts for a couple of weeks due to those previous variables. This is why many churches opt for deposit transfers on Wednesday or Thursday, to maximize the transfer timing. You can find steps to change Your Transfer Deposit Date in this article if you would like to change this day.
We have a really helpful visual chart that provides some helpful examples of gifts given on certain days to help illustrate this. Check out this link: Timing Examples