Author: Elroy Fernandes

Business owner, technical project manager and Agile evangelist with over 15 years experience delivering digital software applications end-to-end for organisations with a particular focus on eCommerce.

Managing Director of Dona Donations and passionate about helping charities raise more with their contactless donation software.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough

Post author By Elroy Fernandes
Post date 24th January 2026

“As Fundraiser for the Diocese of Middlesbrough, I have had a consistently positive experience working with Dona, who supply our digital donation devices and online giving pages. From the very beginning of our relationship, the entire Dona team has been supportive, approachable, and a pleasure to work with.

Their attention to detail is excellent, ensuring that our digital giving systems are set up accurately, clearly branded, and easy for both parishioners and visitors to use. They take time to understand the needs of our parishes and the wider diocesan context, which makes their support feel genuinely tailored rather than generic.

I have built a great working relationship with all members of the Dona team, and communication has always been open and constructive. Feedback is actively welcomed, and Dona are always keen to listen and, where possible, develop and refine their systems with customers firmly in mind. This collaborative approach has been invaluable in helping us improve digital giving across the Diocese.

Dona’s professionalism, responsiveness, and commitment to continuous improvement make them a trusted partner, and I would confidently recommend them to any organisation looking to enhance their digital fundraising.”

Dan Woodgate, MCIOF (Dip)

Fundraising Officer at Diocese of Middlesbrough

£430,000+ |Total fundraised on Dona since 2022

£11+ |Average donation value

47% | Donations given with Gift Aid

10500 | Individual donors to date

9000 | Forecast of new donors in 2026 based on AI insights

Case Study: How the Diocese of Middlesbrough Raised Over £430,000 with Dona Donations

The Diocese of Middlesbrough has transformed its digital giving landscape through a long-term strategic partnership with Dona Donations, implementing digital fundraising terminals, online giving tools, and a centralised management system.

With over £430,000 raised (as of January 2026), the Diocese has demonstrated how modern, accessible giving technology can revitalise parish fundraising, engage donors more effectively, and streamline administrative processes across a diverse set of churches.

The Challenge

Before adopting Dona, parishes across the Diocese faced several challenges:

Highly varied levels of digital readiness between parishes
Limited administrative resources to manage multiple giving systems
Difficulty tracking and forecasting giving trends across several dozen churches
Missed opportunities for Gift Aid capture due to manual processes
The need for accessible giving options for parishioners who no longer carry cash

To address these issues, the Diocese sought a unified digital fundraising solution that could be rolled out at scale while remaining flexible enough to support the individual needs of each parish.

The Solution: Dona Digital Fundraising Ecosystem

1. Digital Fundraising Terminals Across the Diocese

Dona digital terminals were introduced across a wide range of parish environments—from small rural communities to large multi-church parishes—providing:

Fast, intuitive card and contactless giving
Real-time reporting
On-screen Gift Aid capture, driving the Diocese’s 47% Gift Aid average

These machines helped standardise digital giving while respecting the unique character of each parish.

2. Parent Account Centralisation

A major driver of success was the Diocese’s adoption of Dona’s Parent Account, designed specifically for dioceses and large charities managing multiple branches.

The Parent Account structure enables the Diocese of Middlesbrough to:

Use a secure, central login to manage all parishes from one administrative hub
Access centralised AI insights and forecasting, providing leadership with detailed trends, performance analytics, and predictions across the entire Diocese
Provide secure individual logins for each parish (“child accounts”), ensuring local teams can manage their own fundraising while remaining connected to the diocesan structure
Enjoy personal Account Management and Parent Account support webinars, helping fundraising teams upskill and adopt best practices

This framework allowed the Diocese to strike the right balance between diocesan oversight and parish-level autonomy.

3. Online Giving Pages for Every Parish

Dona also provided free online giving pages, which became a vital add-on to in-person terminals. These pages enabled:

QR code giving for in-church signage, newsletters, and printed materials
Donate buttons placed on parish websites, supporting giving beyond Sunday services
Easy sharing for special appeals or seasonal campaigns
A cashless option for parishioners and visitors

These online giving tools significantly broadened donation opportunities—often with no additional effort required from parish teams.

Working in Partnership: Tailored Support for Varied Parish Needs

One of the most impactful elements of the Diocese’s success was its close collaboration with Dona. The Diocese worked with Dona’s support and success teams to:

Develop tailored onboarding for both technologically confident and hesitant parishes
Structure multi-site parishes so giving is centralised even when multiple terminals are placed across different church buildings
Continually refine reporting and insights to best serve diocesan oversight
Provide coaching that helped smaller parishes maximise their digital fundraising potential
Adopt best practices that enabled larger parishes to streamline their donation processes

This combination of technology and tailored support helped ensure that every parish—regardless of size or resources—benefited from the rollout.

Impact

Financial Impact

The Diocese’s fundraising totals demonstrate the strength of combining user-friendly terminals with structured central management. With an average donation of £11.14 and a Gift Aid rate almost double the UK national average, Dona’s systems have substantially increased net fundraising income.

Administrative Impact

Centralised reporting saved parish staff and diocesan administrators significant time
AI insights supported better budgeting and strategic forecasting
Automated Gift Aid capture reduced paperwork and increased efficiency

Community Impact

Parishioners gained new, convenient ways to give
Digital giving helped include individuals who rarely carry cash
QR codes and online giving supported engagement with visitors, younger donors, and occasional worshippers

Conclusion

The Diocese of Middlesbrough’s partnership with Dona Donations has demonstrated how modern digital giving tools, combined with centralised insights and strong support, can transform fundraising at both parish and diocesan levels. By adopting Dona’s terminals, free online giving pages, and Parent Account structure, the Diocese has strengthened its financial resilience, increased donor engagement, and created a scalable model for digital fundraising across its entire network of parishes.

Learn more the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough

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Case Study: How the Diocese of Middlesbrough Raised Over £430,000 with Dona Donations

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Tags card donations, charity donations, charity fundraising, Church, church fundraising, contactless fundraising, Customer Support, DDB, digital fundraising, dona donations, dona donations review, donation security, donation technology, Parent Account, performance data, tap and go, tech innovation

Popular Technology

2025 at Dona: Turning Every £1 into £24 for Charities

Post author By Elroy Fernandes
Post date 20th January 2026

As we look back on 2025, I feel an enormous sense of pride in what the Dona team, our charity partners, and their supporters have achieved together.

Dona was founded on a simple belief: that technology, when built with care and purpose, can help charities raise more money and make every donation count. This year, that belief was tested at scale and the results speak for themselves.

In 2025 alone, charities using Dona fundraised £24 million. Even more powerfully, for every £1 paid to Dona, £24 was fundraised – a 2300% average return on investment.

That ratio captures exactly why we exist.

A year defined by real impact

Behind that £24 million are 750,000 individual donors who chose to give through Dona-powered devices and donation webpages. Their generosity was felt by charitable organisations of all shapes and sizes, including health and social charities, museums, schools, places of worship, and community organisations.

Some highlights from the year:

Over 40% of donations were Gift Aided, unlocking vital additional income for charities.
The overall average donation on Dona was £12.36: the average donation given via devices was £11.57, while the average donation via donation webpages reached £40.29, showing how in-person and online giving complement each other.
The largest single donation made on the platform this year was £9,999.99 – a reminder of the trust donors place in our technology.
Each Dona device raised an average of £740 per month, demonstrating consistent, sustainable fundraising at the point of giving.

These aren’t just numbers.

They represent roofs repaired, food banks stocked, outreach programmes funded, and communities supported.

Fundraising that works - even when connectivity doesn’t

One of the most important product milestones in 2025 was the continued success of offline donations.

Almost £1 million was collected while devices were operating offline, accounting for 11% of donations on devices that support this feature.

In real terms, that means donations were still captured in rural churches and thick-walled historic buildings, as well as busy underground stations and outdoor events – where connectivity can’t always be relied upon.

For charities, reliability isn’t a “nice to have” – it’s essential. Offline giving ensured that moments of generosity were never lost.

Platform reliability you can depend on

None of this impact is possible without trust in the platform itself.

In 2025, Dona achieved 99.99% platform availability. That level of uptime reflects the focus and discipline of our in-house Product and Tech team, who work continuously to ensure our systems are secure, resilient, and scalable.

Alongside this, we were proud to achieve ISO 27001 (information security) and ISO 9001 (quality management) certifications.

These aren’t just badges – they’re independent confirmation that we take data security, operational quality, and governance seriously as we grow.

Learn more about our ISO certifications here.

Support that puts charities first

Technology only works when people are there to support it.

Our support team maintained an average support score of 4.8 out of 5 in 2025, reflecting a deep commitment to helping charities succeed, not just resolve issues. This year we also launched the Dona Support Hub, giving customers better access to guides, resources, and self-service support when they need it.

For us, great support isn’t reactive – it’s proactive, human, and grounded in understanding how charities operate day to day.

Innovation with purpose

2025 was also a year of meaningful innovation.

We launched Antonia, our AI-powered Virtual Fundraising Assistant, designed to help charities understand their data, spot opportunities, and make smarter fundraising decisions. Antonia reflects how we believe AI should be used: not to replace people, but to empower them with insight.

Every product improvement this year had the same guiding question behind it: does this help charities raise more, with less friction?

Expanding our product range: the Digital Donation Box

In 2025, we also took an important step forward with the launch of our Digital Donation Box (DDB) – a new product designed to meet a different, but equally important, fundraising need.

The DDB is a larger, more physically imposing donation product, created for high-footfall environments where visibility, permanence, and security matter most. It offers a more secure, fixed-line solution, while retaining the same robust Dona technology that charities already trust.

Crucially, the Digital Donation Box enables custom branding directly on the product itself, allowing charities to tell their story clearly and confidently at the point of donation. This makes it particularly well suited to locations such as cathedrals, museums, visitor centres, and heritage spaces, where a strong physical presence can significantly increase engagement and spontaneous giving.

While the form factor is new, the foundations are familiar: the DDB runs on the same reliable Dona platform, with the same focus on uptime, security, ease of use, and donor experience. It’s not a replacement for our existing devices, but a powerful addition – giving charities more choice in how and where they invite generosity.

The launch of the DDB reflects a broader theme of 2025 for Dona: listening closely to our customers and building products that meet real-world fundraising environments, without compromising on reliability or trust.

Rooted in Brighton & Hove, serving charities everywhere

While Dona now supports charities across the UK and beyond, we remain proudly based in Brighton and Hove. Our team works from here, building, supporting, and improving Dona every day with a shared sense of purpose.

That local grounding matters to us. It keeps us close to our values, to each other, and to the charities we serve – even as our impact continues to grow nationally.

Looking ahead...

As Managing Director, what I’m most proud of isn’t just the £24 million raised – it’s how it was raised. Reliably. Securely. Transparently. And in partnership with charities who trust us to be part of their mission.

Thank you to every charity, donor, partner, and member of the Dona team who made 2025 such a defining year. We’re excited about what’s ahead – and we remain focused on one goal above all else: helping charities raise more, because every donation truly does count!

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