Synagogues use mobile apps like Venmo to collect tzedakah – J.

Every Friday night at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, Shabbat services end with a member of the clergy reminding congregants that there is a tzedakah box in the back of the synagogue and encouraging them to give generously. . People are told they can leave cash, coins, or a check in the box, or donate through the synagogue’s website. Inevitably every week, the shrine fills with laughter when the final payment option is pronounced by the bimah: Venmo.

“It’s slowly taking hold,” Rachel Tasch, executive director of Beth Am, said of tzedakah contributions through the popular payment app, while admitting, “It might be more of a novelty at this point. stadium.” Online credit card donations remain the synagogue’s most popular source for tzedakah donations.

While this concept may seem alien to some, several Bay Area synagogues are increasingly using a variety of mobile app payment methods to collect tzedakah.

Congregation Beth Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in Berkeley, accepts tzedakah through Venmo and the Zelle banking app, as well as credit card payments through its website.

Chabad of San Francisco, which has been accepting digital contributions for some time, offers a long menu of payment options, including Zelle, Venmo, credit cards, App Cash, Paypal, and even cryptocurrency.

“The act of giving is emotional,” said Chabad Rabbi Moshe Langer. “If someone wants to donate, but they don’t have a check, cash, or credit card on them…but they have a Venmo account, then they can. We want to try to make it as accessible as possible.

In 2021, most Americans chose to pay for purchases with credit cards, then mobile apps, then cash, according to the Diary of Consumer Payment Choices. The report, released by the Federal Reserve Bank in May 2022 and based on data from 4,674 respondents, looked at how US consumers used and held cash last year. The preference for mobile app payments has nearly doubled during the pandemic.

As for Venmo, a September 2022 Pew research study found that of the 38% of American adults who said they use the app, the majority (57%) were under 30.

The act of giving is emotional… We want to try to make it as accessible as possible.

When synagogue services were held virtually during the Covid-19 shutdowns, Tasch said Beth Am started streaming their Venmo handle on the screen at the end of each streaming service, then a new option for the gift of tzedakah. (The synagogue got its Venmo account in November 2019 to collect contributions for youth group events.)

In Beth Am, the dollar amount of tzedakah people donate via Venmo typically comes in multiples of chai, typically $18 and $36 — higher amounts than traditional cash contributions. Venmo has not yet created an option for recurring payments. Tsedakah is donated each month to a different local charity, such as the Jewish Fund for Abortion Access, Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley and the JDC.

At San Francisco’s Chabad, credit card donations on the website are the primary method people use, followed by Paypal, then Venmo, according to Langer.

The tzedakah collections are for a variety of programs the synagogue runs to address food insecurity and support homeless people around San Francisco. A favorite Langer program is the Giving Kitchen, which provides a hot meal to about 40 seniors a week, and also offers an open-door Shabbat meal program serving 100 to 300 people a week, he said. .

Daffy, a year-old Los Altos-based company whose name means ‘donor-directed fund for you’, updated its charitable giving app in September to include a ‘chai feature’ when making a donation. to Jewish non-profit organizations. Daffy members gave tzedakah to Chabad of San Francisco; Congregation Emek Beracha, an Orthodox synagogue in Palo Alto; and Congregation Kol Emeth, a conservative shul also in Palo Alto, among others.

The minimum contribution is set at $18, and when donors select a Jewish organization, the app displays a brief description of chai’s importance in Jewish philanthropy and fills the screen with multiples of 18 for easy use. After the donation is sent, brightly colored balloons with the Hebrew letters chai appear and float across the screen.

“It’s fun,” said Adam Nash, co-founder and CEO of Daffy, noting that Jewish users, himself included, are happy to have more of their culture represented and an easier donation experience.

Langer appreciates the value and convenience of digital tzedakah methods, but still believes the importance of having a physical tzedakah box, along with old-fashioned coins and cash, are important aspects of the construction of a ritual around the tsedaka.

“It’s a very impactful action when someone takes a coin out of their pocket and puts it in the tzedakah box,” Langer said. “Doing it on a phone just doesn’t have the same feel. But it definitely does the job.