Top Tips for utilising Contactless Donations to increase fundraising revenues

In today's fast-paced and tech-savvy world, cashless donations have become an essential tool for non-profit organisations to raise funds and make a positive impact. There are many benefits - the security, the simplicity, the ease and efficiency, however you need to make sure you are making the most of your contactless donations to be successful. Here, I share my top 8 tips for utilising Contactless Donations.

Moving into contactless fundraising is exciting, and something you can shout about! It’s news to share with staff, volunteers, and supporters.  Ensure your staff and volunteers know how to use the devices and understand the benefits, and let your supporters know they can now donate using your chosen device(s).

This will allow everyone to know what the devices are and that they’re secure and genuine.  It may peak your supporters’ interest and prompt a visit resulting in a donation!

Whether you’re using one of our partner devices, or creating your own ‘DIY’ point of donation, think about where you place it.  Is it located where it can be seen clearly? Can people access it? Is there clear signage for people to know what it’s for? Is it somewhere visitors will pass through quickly, or take time?

Guildhall Art Gallery have donation points in two places at their gallery and use Give A Little reporting to monitor their performance. If you’re using the device portably, how will connectivity be provided? Is there Wi-Fi or do you need a SIM card? Test the device before the event to make sure everything’s working.

We always say that ‘point of donation’ is very different to ‘point of retail’. There’s no set ‘price’ in terms of what someone will donate, or what the donation ‘pays for’, unlike retail, there isn’t always an easy answer. Behind every generous act, there’s a powerful story waiting to be told. Storytelling’s a compelling way to connect with potential donors on a personal level. Personalising specific campaigns to appeals, locations, seasonal activity and events makes the experience more compelling and emotionally engaging. People are more likely to donate and become passionate advocates for your cause when they see the real-life impact of their contributions.  You can read about how the Eden Project have successfully used a contactless donation box to tell a story.

Make the most out of your platform’s reports so you can see how your campaigns are performing.

This allows you to determine the most popular donation amounts, the busiest days, the average donation and more. With Give A Little, you can log in at any time to access data and not have to wait until the end of the campaign to review the performance.  This will allow you to tweak your campaigns like Liverpool Cathedral did during Eurofestival.

QR codes are useful for adding to printed materials such as posters and brochures. This allows you to turn print material into interactive donation points and reach more people. They can also be added to a collection buckets or ID badges when fundraisers are out collecting donations. At events you can combine contactless devices in the room with QR codes on menus, table settings and even on the screen for additional donations. The Royal British Legion, Jersey branch, successfully used QR codes during their 2022 Poppy Appeal.

Opting into Gift Aid to benefit from the 25% uplift in donation revenues is so important for charities. When charities turn Gift Aid on for a campaign, donors can choose to complete a Gift Aid declaration with their donation, or select for information to be sent via email to complete the declaration at a later date. This is useful when donors are busy or queuing to donate as completing the declaration form can be time-consuming. There’s no reason not to enable Gift Aid on your campaign, being sent the declaration through email allows charities to still benefit without causing queues or delays. Read more on Gift Aid stats in the ‘2022 in review’.

All charities covet that long lasting relationship, being able to convert one off donors into a long term or lifetime supporters. One of the substantial benefits of cashless giving over cash bucket collections is you can utilise software developed for the donor facing experience, and enable valuable features such as marketing communications opt-in. This allows your charity to gather more data and know who their donors are. By keeping donors informed about progress, upcoming initiatives, and success stories, you can build a sense of community around your cause.

Offer the potential for high value contactless donations, not just the spare change in people’s pockets, that’s if they carry cash. This creates an opportunity to use contactless devices at a range of events and activities. We suggest aiming high with donation amounts, be optimistic and include a larger amount than you might expect to receive. Always include the ‘choose your own amount’ to give donors the chance to choose - you never know their financial status, or the personal connection they may have with your cause.  This can impact the amount donated. Cancer Research UK have had great success using Give A Little at some of their high value events using separate campaigns for each fundraising stream. You can read more here.