REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pushpay, a leading payments and engagement solutions provider for mission-driven organizations, today released findings from its 2024 Catholic State of Church Technology report, revealing that attitudes toward technology have shifted as parish leaders refine their approach to adopt digital tools and embrace the exploration of emerging technology such as AI, mobile applications, and more to boost evangelization efforts.
Catholic leaders remain open-minded about leveraging technology as a way to meet the diverse needs and preferences of their community in today’s digital era. Livestreaming Mass is one of the top tools leveraged among parishes who believe technology is important in fulfilling the Church’s mission, with 75% of parishes currently offering in-person and online worship services. When asked to speculate whether they plan to offer hybrid worship, in-person only, online only, or metaverse in twelve months, a majority selected hybrid. This signals that parishes have a clear plan to leverage both in-person and digital opportunities to strengthen connection now and into the future.
“Our parish’s game plan this year is simple—faith sharing, Sunday Mass, and being together as a community. Using technology to organize our small groups, promote events, build relationships, and keep track of our progress helps us to be accountable to our mission, allowing us to achieve our ultimate goal of bringing more people into a relationship with Jesus,” said Father Brandon Macadaeg, a rector at Cathedral of Christ the Light, who wrote the report foreword. “This report isn’t just a collection of data points. It represents the work that parishes all over the country have invested in evangelization, engagement, and discipleship—all to achieve that ultimate goal.”
Pushpay conducted the nationwide study in October 2023, reaching 210 parish leaders and priests, which was derived from a larger survey that reached 2,200 church decision makers of diverse denominations. The third annual benchmark report uncovers the technology priorities, concerns, and expectations among parish leaders across the U.S.
Significant differences from last year’s report include an increase in mobile and online giving adoption, and a strengthened emphasis on IT security and data protection. A staggering 94% of churches are leveraging digital giving, nearly a 15% increase from last year (82% in 2023). Moreso, 98% of leaders believe in the importance of IT security and data protection, up from the 87% who indicated the same in 2023 (a 12%+ increase), signaling that in the wake of church security breaches, parish leaders are taking measures to protect their flock. Additional key findings of the 2024 Catholic State of Church Technology report include:
- 94% believe technology is critical to helping them achieve their mission, which is similar to last year. However, 96% of parish leaders believe that leveraging technology to engage parishioners beyond Sunday is important.
- 47% indicated they felt ‘anxious’ when making technology purchase decisions for their parish, and another 6% felt ‘completely unprepared,’ signaling that evaluating new digital tools is unfamiliar territory and an overwhelming task for many parish leaders.
- 93% of Catholic churches now use a Church Management Systems (ChMS) or Donor Management software, an 8% increase compared to last year. Also there was a decrease in the number of digital tools, indicating a shift away from one-off solutions.
- 15% of parishes are currently utilizing AI, and 28% are planning to incorporate it in the next two to three years.
- 15% are using metaverse and VR, with 25% planning to explore its potential further to engage young people, facilitate small group activities, and services.
- 63% indicated they believe mobile church apps will be strategically important in the next 2-3 years, a 26% increase in significance from 2023 (50%). The most popular app uses today are for calendaring, financial giving, and content.
- More than half (52%) allocated less than 10% of their annual operating budget to technology, and 44% of parishes surveyed operate on an annual budget of over $1 million.
- Cost continues to be the primary barrier to adopting new technology, up 36% year-over-year. However, when asked to identify important factors when considering new technology purchases, easy-to-use is the most important factor, not price.
“While there may have been caution about mixing faith and technology previously, we are seeing a positive shift in how technology is perceived in the Catholic Church, and more eagerness to adopt digital tools as a way to meet the diverse preferences of how people prefer to practice their faith,” said Molly Matthews, Pushpay CEO. “Pushpay stands at the forefront of delivering innovative software solutions to meet those needs as the Catholic Church evolves to adopt technology in a digital era.”
Today’s announcement reinforces Pushpay’s commitment to meeting the digital needs of the Catholic Church, as the company continues to develop solutions to address the technological needs of parishes and dioceses across the U.S., such as Pushpay’s development of ParishStaq, the unveiling of its new App Studio, and the recent launch of Pushpay Insights, a new product to help churches and parishes know and grow their community with actionable insights.
To learn more about Pushpay, or to view the full 2024 Catholic State of Church Tech report, visit www.Pushpay.com.
About Pushpay
Pushpay provides a donor management system, including donor tools, finance tools and a custom community app, a church management system (ChMS), and video streaming solutions to the faith sector, non-profit organizations and education providers located predominantly in the United States (US) and other jurisdictions. Our leading solutions simplify engagement, payments and administration, enabling our customers to increase participation and build stronger relationships with their communities. Pushpay is an award-winning company. For more information visit www.pushpay.com
US Media / PR Contact:
Chelsea Looney
PR@pushpay.com
