Contactless payments are the norm these days, and it’s important for nonprofits to keep up so they don’t miss out on any donations. In this article, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of contactless fundraising for nonprofits, including what it is and how to do it!
While many nonprofits and churches were forced to add contactless fundraising to their strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, many have kept it because of the convenience it offers their donors! In this article, we’ll discuss how contactless fundraising can help increase donations to your nonprofit and provide tips to add this tactic to your strategic fundraising plan.
Contactless fundraising involves collecting donations without physical contact with a donor. You can do this using an in-person donation kiosk or NFC-enabled Android smartphone with Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, through online giving, via text-to-give, and more.
You can offer contactless fundraising during events of any size. Churches can also provide this option to their congregation during Sunday services. Other organizations may choose to add a contactless option on location, such as in a lobby or gift shop.
As technology advances, contactless fundraising has become easier to use and more convenient and appreciated by many nonprofit supporters.
Donors are finding it easier and more convenient to give digitally. Here’s how this interest in virtual giving can help your organization grow.
Nonprofit events are filled with exciting activities and opportunities to spend money. The last thing your supporters want is to wait in line. By providing contactless fundraising options like Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, people can purchase tickets, give a donation, or buy an auction item on their own.
63% of donors prefer to give using a credit or debit card.
Instead of leaving precious gifts on the table, you can make it easier for your supporters to give in the moment by including various contactless fundraising options. Not only does this help you raise more money, but it also streamlines the donation process for your donors.
While cash and checks can get intercepted, online donations have many features protecting them, so they end up exactly where they’re meant to go.
Donorbox helps keep donations safe online thanks to several security features, like:
And more! Plus, contactless options like a donation kiosk and Tap to Pay are also safer than handling cash because they remove the risk of fraud and fund mismanagement.
You already spend a significant amount of time finding and training volunteers to collect tickets, run auctions, and accept donations. Contactless fundraising lets you focus on running a successful event with fewer staff and volunteers required.
By adopting contactless fundraising, you can leverage volunteers and staff where it matters most – building relationships with new and existing supporters!
The growth of social media and digital wallets gives you and your donors more cashless options than ever before.
Here are six tactics to help you harness the power of contactless fundraising.
One way to add contactless fundraising to your strategy is with a donation kiosk. Churches and nonprofits can add donation kiosks to their facility or at different locations and events.
A permanent or temporary kiosk at an event gives your attendees the chance to donate any amount without the stress of constantly being asked to give. By adding brochures and other informational marketing pieces to your giving kiosk, you can also provide more information on your organization and turn one-time donors into long-time supporters.
The Donorbox Live™ app helps turn your iPad or Android tablet and card reader into a powerful giving kiosk.
With Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, you can collect donations with taps, dips, and swipes of credit cards, smartphones, and smartwatches. And it’s available in 17 languages – which means a more diverse crowd of supporters and more donations to your cause!
Learn how to use your giving kiosk as a point of sale to collect even more payments in this blog post.
54% of donors worldwide prefer to give using credit or debit cards – a clear indicator that we’re already living in a cashless society. That’s why nonprofit organizations must adapt to the times and enable supporters to give using their preferred payment methods.
Collecting donations becomes even more seamless when using something you probably already carry everywhere: your smartphone.
Donorbox Live™ Kiosk – Tap to Pay is available for Android smartphones and coming soon to iOS. Our Tap to Pay feature lets you collect cashless donations right from your NFC-enabled Android smartphone – no card reader or additional hardware required.
Donors can tap, give, and go with ease using their credit/debit cards and NFC-based mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay). PIN entry is also supported.
A mobile giving kiosk streamlines in-person fundraising by allowing you to collect donations swiftly at on-location drives, mall activations, in-street fundraising events, and more.
Stay tuned: Donorbox Live™ Kiosk – Tap to Pay is coming soon to iOS!
Fundraise on the go with Donorbox Live™ Kiosk
Another thing donors have gotten used to seeing is QR codes.
In fact, 46% of Gen Z and Millennial donors use QR codes on direct mailing to give to their favorite causes!
Traditional mailed appeals are still popular with donors, but younger supporters are less likely to mail a check. Adding an email option may capture some of these donors’ gifts, but a QR code provides the immediacy many of your supporters want. You can easily add QR codes to mailed fundraising appeals and signage for free.
A QR code lets your donors automatically link to your campaign page and donate online. Many smartphones already have a QR code reader, but if not, there are several online options to download one for free.
Pro tip: Streamline your steps with Donorbox. All of your Donorbox campaigns come with a free, automatically generated QR code that you can easily download and add to your fundraising materials. You can also edit the link so your donors get connected with the exact page you want.
Today, nonprofits and churches can send text appeals at any time and link donors to an online donation page for any campaign. Donors love giving via text because it puts the power back in their hands.
You can enable Donorbox Text-to-Give on your campaign in seconds. Create a campaign and share your campaign ID with donors. Donors can text this to the Text-to-Give phone number to receive a text back with a link to your online donation form.
Once they make their initial donation, they can easily give again via text – this time without any forms or websites involved!
One of the reasons donors love contactless fundraising is because it allows them to give quickly and easily – especially when they can use their preferred digital wallets!
Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay store payment and contact information, allowing your supporters to significantly streamline their checkout process significantly.
Donorbox UltraSwift™ Pay gives donors a speedy checkout experience with their preferred digital wallets. In addition to Apple Pay and Google Pay, they can use PayPal Checkout and Venmo to check out in four quick steps:
The easier you make checking out, the more likely you are to have repeat donors!
Recurring donations allow donors to automatically repeat their gifts at a set donation interval. With Donorbox recurring giving, you can choose up to four of the following donation intervals for your donors: one-time, daily, weekly, biweekly, 1st and 15th, monthly, quarterly, or annually. You can also set a default interval and mark your preferred interval with a heart.
Donors can then log in to their own Donorbox donor portal to change or cancel their recurring donation plan at any time. This empowers your donors and builds trust with your organization.
From the donor portal, donors can also easily repeat a donation with just one click – no need to enter their information again! This is a great way to get repeat donations from donors who aren’t ready to commit to a recurring donation.
Donorbox Live™ Kiosk empowers your organization to collect more contactless donations through tech you may already have on hand.
Your nonprofit or church can use an existing Android tablet or iPad and pair it with a Stripe M2 (in the U.S.) or WisePad 3 (everywhere else) card reader to form a powerful, portable donation kiosk.
Or, use an Android smartphone if using our Tap to Pay feature – coming soon to iOS!
Empower your donors to indicate where their gifts should go by enabling donation designations from within the app, and add minimum and maximum donation amounts to inspire generosity. And, if your nonprofit is based in the U.K., you can enable the U.K. Gift Aid option and collect an extra 25% on top of every qualifying donation!
Contactless fundraising with Donorbox Live™ Kiosk is easy at events like galas and volunteer days, but it’s also great as a stationary fixture in your building. And, Tap to Pay takes your on-the-go fundraising to the next level. Collect cashless in-person donations whenever, wherever – think mall activations, church youth events, on-location drives, and beyond.
All you need is a stable internet connection, and you’re ready to go!
Check out this short video for more:
Check out this quick video to discover four essential techniques to help you master your mobile fundraising strategy so you can reach donors wherever they are.
Contactless fundraising is here to stay. Donors want more giving options, especially when they’re no longer carrying cash or checkbooks with them. Adding a donation kiosk, text-to-give campaign, or QR code to your next event or campaign will help you reach a larger audience and raise more funds.
Donorbox has you covered with tons of features that make contactless giving easy and smooth for your donors. With Donorbox Live™ Kiosk, Text-to-Give, free QR codes, recurring donations, QuickDonate™, and UltraSwift™ Pay, you can collect more contactless donations and build lasting relationships with donors.
Ready to get started? Sign up and launch your first contactless campaign in minutes.
Check out our Nonprofit Blog for more cashless fundraising tips. Subscribe to our newsletter for select fundraising blog posts delivered to your inbox every month.
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor