| Question: |
What is
e-giving? |
| Answer: |
E-giving is
short for electronic giving. It is an automatic transfer program
which allows you to make contributions without writing
checks. TOP
|
| Question: |
What is the
advantage of e-giving? |
| Answer: |
It saves time!
It saves work! It simplifies your life! It also helps the church
stabilize its budget. Surveys have shown that it can even enhance
the total amount of gifts or payments to your organization. It can
also be a very convenient tool for supporters or members. They can
donate or make payments from anywhere in the world - while on
vacation or on a business trip. It gives the ability to participate
in donations or payments to your organization to those members or
supporters who can not reach your organization easily. TOP
|
| Question: |
How long have
you been providing the service? |
| Answer: |
We signed our
first organization up in June of 2004.
TOP
|
| Question: |
Do you have
references from other organizations or administrators who are
currently using the service? |
| Answer: |
Please refer
to our Testimonial page here. TOP |
| Question: |
How long has
your company been in business? |
| Answer: |
Our Company was
established in 1915 and we have been providing quality products
since then. Our E-Giving service has been in development since 1999
and in full service since June of
2004. TOP
|
| Question: |
What do we (as
the administration) need to do to get started? |
| Answer: |
All the
organization needs to do is complete an ACH form and FAX to our
e-giving FAX number (1-304-387-5259). We will provide you with a
link to access the service as well as a username and password
to log in. You can then select the options of your choice from
the administration log-in and when you are ready - announce it
to your supporters. TOP |
| Question: |
What do we (as
a member of the organization) need to do to get started?
|
| Answer: |
Members need
to first get directions to the web site from the organization
administration. Next, they need to click the "Not signed up yet"
link on the login page to complete a short member profile. At this
point they can use the system for credit or debit card transactions.
However, if they want to take advantage of the electronic fund transfer
option they must complete a member ACH form. When completed, they will be authorized
for EFT's. They can then go back into the system and enter their
EFT specifics. TOP |
| Question: |
How much
interface do you expect us to have with the web site on the set up
end? |
| Answer: |
The church
administration input is to do the initial setup and then update any
options if there are changes in the future - these should be minimal
if any. This is done by designating the setting the options or
features you would like to utilize. Choices range from page color to
giving options. Our system is very easy to work with and we will
assist you if needed, every step of the
way. TOP
|
| Question: |
Is there a
minimum number of subscribers for our church to use the
service? |
| Answer: |
There is no
minimum and no maximum. Remember, for our current customers there is
no setup fee or monthly fee. You will not be invoiced anything until
an actual transaction occurs. TOP
|
| Question: |
Do we need
special software to access or view the e-giving? |
| Answer: |
E-Giving is
web based - there is no special software requirement - only internet
access. TOP
|
| Question: |
Can we use the
service for items other than gifts? |
| Answer: |
In addition
to donations or contributions, you can use the service for anything
that requires a payment. The only requirement is that the payment
is made by the means that the church designates through their setup
options - (i.e. credit card (Visa - MasterCard - American Express
- Discover) , debit card or electronic bank transfers from the
user's checking or savings. TOP
|
| Question: |
Can we transfer
our current ACH files and contributions to this service? How would
their contributions appear? (we currently transfer two files per
month and have been doing that for about 8 years. We have about 30
people who use the church ACH service for contributions.)
|
| Answer: |
No, you cannot
transfer ACH rights. These members would merely have to ACCEPT the ACH Authorization agreement
from their main menu page to be eligible or authorized to enter donations or payments from their checking or savings account.
TOP
|
| Question: |
How do you send
us the information about who contributed and when? |
| Answer: |
The transaction
reports of all transactions made to the organization are always
available to the administration through the administration's report
option from their main menu. This feature allows you to view, print,
and download a variety of reports depending on the report parameters
that you designate. It is a very thorough and flexible reporting
system. TOP
|
| Question: |
Can we post
funds for specific periods of time? |
| Answer: |
The
organization administration has complete control of the fund
listings (verbiage and date posted or unposted) for each
fund. TOP
|
| Question: |
How does the
site link to our web site? |
| Answer: |
When the church
completes an ACH form and faxes to NCS (304) 387-5259 we send an
email to the church with the link address for the churches access to
their e-giving pages - they merely put a link on there web site and
point to the address. TOP
|
| Question: |
Can you provide
us with the email address when a person pays through the e-giving
service? (so we can notify them that we received it.) |
| Answer: |
When a donation
is made, an email is sent directly from the application to the
donator or member's email address verifying that we received the
transaction for processing. The transaction is initially posted
to the members report as holding until it is processed and then,
when processed successfully, the status is moved to ACCEPTED. The
donation is also posted for the viewing of the church administration
on the administration report pages when processed and accepted.
Everyone is notified automatically (by the processing program)
It should be noted that if the transaction is rejected for any
reason, the person initiating the transaction is notified. TOP
|
| Question: |
What format are
the reports? |
| Answer: |
The reports are
web based. We have also given you the ability to download them as a
CSV file to an excel spreadsheet which makes them easily compatible
with most software you may be using. i.e. Shelby or ACSYS
TOP |
| Question: |
Is there a
receipt or report available for a member to present to his/her
organization or perhaps put into offering plate for a church?
|
| Answer: |
When a donation
is made by the member, an on-line receipt validates that the
transaction was submitted for processing. The receipt will reflect
the amount, the fund, and the member name and organization number.
An email with the same information will also be automatically sent
to the member. TOP |
| Question: |
In completing
an ACH form by the member, if the checking or saving account that is
specified to be used is a "joint" account, do both parties have to
fill out an ACH form? |
| Answer: |
No. This
transaction is treated the same as if a check were written by one of
the joint account owners. One can write a check and the other need
not sign it. But for simplification reasons we request that ACH
authorizations use only the primary name on the
account. TOP |
| Question: |
How often are
transactions processed? |
| Answer: |
Member
transactions are processed on a daily basis. Deposits into the
organization's account are also made on a daily basis. (Keep in
mind, however, that the actual monies placed into an organization's
account by the bank may take up to 48 hours after we make the deposit
into your bank, dependant on your bank's
practices). TOP |
| Question: |
What are the
intervals available for scheduling a recurring transaction?
|
| Answer: |
Recurring
transactions can be scheduled weekly, bi-weekly (every two weeks),
monthly, or quarterly. TOP |
| Question: |
If there is a
credit card charge, how does the charge appear on the payee's
statement? Is it NCS? How would the person who makes a charge
recognize where the charge went from the description on their
statement? |
| Answer: |
The charge
appears as NCS - they would know because NCS would be a unique
company to them. NCS combined with the date and amount on their
statement should be all they need. TOP
|
| Question: |
We do not want
to use credit cards. Is there a way we can only allow debit cards or
electronic fund transfers? |
| Answer: |
Yes, our
service allows the administration to designate which means of giving
there membership has the ability to use. The service requires the
offer to use both debit cards and electronic fund transfers but the
use of credit cards is an option of the
administration. TOP
|
| Question: |
What type of
security measures are in place to protect our transactions?
|
| Answer: |
The system
security specifications are listed below.
E-Giving System
Specifications . . .
Servers
High-End Dell PowerEdge
Servers
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (operating
system)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Firewall (network
security)
Microsoft SQL 2000 (database)
Internet Information
Server 6.0 (web server software)
128bit Secure Certificate
(provides web browser secure connection to members)
Internet
Connection
Use of SSL & https protocols (IETF approved
standards)
1.5mb (T1) dedicated Internet connection
(high
speed, commercial quality internet connection)
managed &
scalable with Cisco commercial class networking & security
equipment.
Data Center
The Data Center is operated,
managed, & located here at the
Envelope Service, there is NO
third party vendor.
The Data Center is locked with limited access
given to those outside of the IT staff.
Security
All
servers function behind Cisco Firewall hardware devices and are
running Microsoft Server 2003 Firewall software. In addition, the
servers are NOT public servers and the use of Network Address
Translation (NAT) and Port Address Translation (PAT) add additional
security layers to this state-of-the-art security system. Restricted
session connection inactivity time-out is yet another security
feature of the system.
Additionally: All servers &
network equipment receive operating system security patches as they
are released by the vendor/manufacturer. These patches are NOT
applied blindly nor are they applied solely based on the
recommendation of the vendor/manufacturer. They are applied after
reviewing the patches & analyzing how they will affect security,
operations, & integrity of our customer data.
TOP |
| Question: |
What is the
cost? |
| Answer: |
For our
current Envelope Service customers:
NO MONTHLY FEE
2.5% processing fee on all
Visa, Mastercard, Discover credit/debit card transactions.
3.5% processing fee on all American Express credit/debit card transactions.
$.25 transaction fee for each
credit/debit card transaction.
EFT transactions: See Chart
below
For Non-Envelope Service customers:
$60.00 MONTHLY FEE
2.5% processing fee on all
Visa, Mastercard, Discover credit/debit card transactions.
3.5% processing fee on all American Express credit/debit card transactions.
$.25 transaction fee for each
credit/debit card transaction.
1.5% of all donations.
EFT
transactions:
From 1-25 transactions per month:
.50 per transaction
From 26-50 transactions per month: .40 per
transaction
From 51-75 transactions per month: .30 per
transaction
From 76 & up transactions per month: .20 per
transaction
A $30.00 non-sufficient fund fee applies to both
customer and non-customer transactions.
A non-customer can agree
to switch to NCS as their primary offering supplier and eliminate the $60.00
monthly fee as well as qualify for the reduced processing and transaction rates.
If you would like to become an Envelope Service customer and receive
lower rates, you may look at our our product website here www.envelopeservice.com. TOP |
| Question: |
What does ACH
stand for and what is it's function? |
| Answer: |
The Automated
Clearing House (ACH) Network (see details below)
The ACH Network
is a highly reliable and efficient nationwide batch-oriented
electronic funds transfer system governed by the NACHA OPERATING
RULES which provide for the inter bank clearing of electronic
payments for participating depository financial institutions. The
Federal Reserve and Electronic Payments Network act as ACH Operators,
central clearing facilities through which financial institutions
transmit or receive ACH entries.
ACH payments
include:
Direct Deposit of payroll, Social Security and other
government benefits, and tax refunds
Direct Payment of consumer
bills such as mortgages, loans, utility bills and insurance
premiums
Business-to-business payments
E-checks
E-commerce
payments
Federal, state and local tax payments.
The number of
ACH payments originated by financial institutions increased to 8.05
billion in 2002, up 13.6 percent from 2001. These payments were
valued at $21.7 trillion. Including payments originated by the
Federal government, there were a total of 8.94 billion ACH payments
in 2002 worth more than $24.4 trillion.
EFT is an
abbreviation for Electronic Funds Transfer
Distinction
between ACH and EFT:
We need the ACH authorization form
completed in order to set up the Electronic Funds Transfer.
The
church's ACH authorization form gives NCS the right to place funds
into or credit the churches account with money donated to them.
The member ACH authorization form gives NCS the right to
withdraw funds out of or debit the members' checking or savings
accounts. TOP |
