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Author: Miranda Aldridge

Miranda is passionate about helping charities charities to collect card donation in-person and online with the Dona Donations contactless payment solutions.

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Today’s Role of Fundraising in Religious Organisations

Graph showing donations received over time with a contactless donation terminal

Today’s Role of Fundraising in Religious Organisations

October 2024

Fundraising is an ongoing and essential part of running a Religious Organisation.

 

Funds are used to support:

·       Day-to-day operational costs

·       Achieving the mission

·      Buildings, renovations or expansion

The balancing act:

Finances vs Mission – Fundraising efforts need to align with the core values of your organisation and be in line with achieving your overall mission.  An organisation could be criticised for being greedy, not spending wisely or making purchases that do not seem to align with their core mission.

This can be avoided by ethical transparency so donors can clearly see how their donations are being used.  This also applies to reducing costs and making sound business decisions. A donation portal with strong reporting features is key to sharing the valuable contribution made by donors. Reports can be drawn up and the key successes of the marketing campaigns shared with the congregation through email, in person or a physical newsletter. 

Statue in front of scaffolding and building work at a church

Encouraging Regular Donations in Religious Organisations

Communicating the impact is key – tell the story of how the fundraising campaign is going to impact your donors, others in the community and the benefit for the future.

The religious significance of giving – this is not only monetary. It can be acts of service or helping others.

https://www.ministrybrands.com/church-management/type-of-giving/

https://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/resources/knowledge-base/charity-in-islam/

Show how previous donations have helped to achieve updated or modernised areas for worship.   Restoring ancient parts of buildings, paintings, stained glass or even hymn books.

Being open and honest about the financial situation to donors is crucial for them to feel part of the congregation. A culture of shared responsibility for maintaining buildings and traditions for the future instils a great sense of belonging.

Keep donors updated on progress – regular updates in person during gathering, email newsletters or parish news magazines are all great ways to show the progress with hitting fundraising targets.

Practicalities:

Recurring donations – offering recurring donations is a great way for donors to show support regularly without the need to keep cash or cards available each time they attend to worship or for an event.

Flexible amounts – Donors circumstances can change, they might be able to give a little and occasionally more, so being flexible in the options is essential.

Lots of ways to give – Contactless donations are a quick and easy way to donate to your Religious Organisation but you might also offer a webpage, direct debit or cash.

Gift Aid – Having contactless donations means it is so much easier to gift aid if your donor is a UK taxpayer meaning their donation is also worth so much more for the recipient.

Black writing of gift aid logo for charity fundraising

How can Religious Organisations make it easier for people to donate?

Donation terminals – Using these by your church or mosque entrance is ideal.  As your congregation arrives or leave, they can use the donation machines as they wish.  There is no need to have staff on hand as the terminals have easy-to-follow instructions, and large fonts mean they are perfect for those with accessibility problems too.

Clear signage – Ensure your card machines are clearly visible and remind donors they are there after each service.   

Full range of card options – sometimes you might use a credit card, another time a debit card, with online contactless donations you can choose your preferred card each time.

How does Dona Donations make it easier for Religious Organisations?

1.Open and transparent costs – easy to understand with no hidden extras. Each organisation has its own unique needs and demographic of donors. At Dona Donations we pride ourselves in working to meet your donors’ needs and show them how quick and easy it is to support your organisation.

2. Easy reconciliation and administration of donations through the online management portal. This saves time, makes charity staff more productive, and reduces the likelihood of theft or fraud.

3.  The Dona Portal has features that allow charities to see graphs showing their total donations, count of donations and average donation by week/month/year. The graph below shows a breakdown of Gift Aided and non-Gift Aided donations. The graphs can also be filtered by device or fund.

Graph showing donations received over time with a contactless donation terminal

4. Charities can see how much donors give to different funds/campaigns. A fund could be “Roof Repair” or “Priest Offering” – any cause the charity may collect for.

 

5. The portal also allows the option to download the full set of donation data to a spreadsheet, where charities can run their own analysis in Excel or import the data into a 3rd party analytics tool.

 

6. The “Donors Report” lists all registered donors (i.e. those who have registered for Gift Aid or registered to “keep in touch”), their emails and opt-in status and how much they have donated. This is useful for carrying out targeted campaigns.

 

7. Long-term relationships are vitally important to Dona Donations. Our Support is offered for the staff and volunteers who are using the terminals or management portal. The support team are UK based, passionate people looking to help raise donations for the organisations using the terminals.

 

Learn more about how Dona Donation can support your missions with contactless card donations for your religious organisation.

Find out more....

Our friendly team will be in touch to answer any questions you may have. 

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Donation collection tin vs contactless card donations

lots of chairs with a donation terminal behind them set up for a church

Donation collection tin vs contactless card donations

August 2024

Churches and temples have been using collection tins for centuries. One of the earliest instances recorded was from the High Priest in the Temple of Jerusalem. Fast forwarding to the 50’s and 60’s you may remember Debra? She is an early example of a collection box with a begging girl wearing a calliper. Many collection tins and boxes are now valuable historic items.

Locations

The tins would normally have been on site by the entrance/exit of the church to collect donations
for the upkeep of the building and grounds.
As communities grew, collection tins would be carried around, sometimes with the collector ringing
a bell or shaking the tin for attention.
Later they were placed outside shops or on counter tops.

Designs

There were a few famous ones. The RNLI being one of them – from the weird fish to the rocking lifeboat.  The creative fundraisers produced a whole host of fabulous collection tin, boat and box designs that caught the eye of donors around the UK. One of the first original boxes was wooden and dates back to the 1860’s.

Wooden life boat donation collection tin

Who also remembers Sooty waving on the top of the RNIB charity tins? Or the realistic life-size
labrador by the doorway of many shops to collect donations for Guide dogs for the blind.
Of course, they were not all tins, there were boxes, baskets, hats, or even handmade designs that
still did the job pretty well.

From counter top to free standing, charities would compete to tug at the heart strings of the public
to boost donations with images, messages and gamification.

Rules and ethics

Although there is no law stopping you from rattling your donation tin it is considered very bad practice in the modern fundraising world. Shaking of the collection tin is strongly discouraged as it can cause public annoyance as well as damaging the tin! It can seem pushy and intimidating and therefore it is explicitly forbidden in most charity fundraising regulations.
There is also a high risk of theft, so regular emptying is essential. Additionally, to the nature of cash donations, it is almost impossible to know how many people have donated and how much.


From loose change to meaningful amounts.


We remember as a child being given some coins to pop in the charity box after we had completed our weekly shop. The collection box would whizz the coin around in ever-decreasing circles until it dropped into the tin. We were happy children and our parents gave a little and felt good.


With the development of card machines, the giving of donations has now been added to our totals when we shop on the high street – where we can either accept or refuse the donation – they are rather more thrust in front of us at times with much of the pleasure taken away.


Freestanding contactless terminals give much more privacy and choice with less intimidation. With
the rise in gift aid too, which can amplify our donation.

Dona donation terminal in a church with lots of chairs

Collection tin vs contactless card payment

Contactless card terminals are a great way to collect donations without the need to intimidate your donors.  Using a freestanding or countertop terminal, that is self-service, gives the donor choice and can save charities money. 

  • No staff needed 
  • Easy to reconcile
  • Less risk of theft or fraud
  • Increases average donation amount 

Talk to us about how we can help boost your fundraising with contactless card payment terminals 

Call – 0203 488 3095 

Find out more....

Our friendly team will be in touch to answer any questions you may have. 

Enquire
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Donors Give Happy: Creating a Seamless Donation Experience

Person making a heart shape with hands on a mountain top to show they love the view

Donors Give Happy: Creating a Seamless Donation Experience

August 2024

Happy Donors = More donations!

Can you increase your fundraising totals by simply making the donor experience really easy?
If you can offer a speedy, hassle-free way to donate will it put donors off, or mean they give more and more frequently?
We all know that we feel great when we are able to help someone or give to a charity that
can help on our behalf. But does the actual process of giving need to be lengthy or be an
effort to make it worthwhile?
Our research indicates that an easy donation process can significantly influence our
willingness to give. Here are our top 5 psychological factors that we believe are at play:

1. That Feel Good Factor:

  • Pleasure and Satisfaction: Easy experiences often evoke positive emotions, creating
    a sense of well-being. People are more inclined to give when they feel good. A
    Harvard Business Review in 2008* stated that the act of giving releases dopamine
    and endorphins which give us that wonderful positive feeling.
  • Gratitude: When we give or receive a gift, we often feel grateful, thereby boosting
    our happiness, health and social bonds.
  • Passion: Remember that your donors are passionate about your charity, this is why
    they have chosen to donate to your cause. By making the process easy, it shows you
    care about their experience and value their support.
Heart in hands means feeling good donate more

2. Chillin:

  • Effortless Engagement: Easy experiences require less brain power. This frees up to
    focus on other aspects, such as the act of giving itself or the effect our giving is
    having on others.
  • Increased Generosity: When we're not mentally taxed, we're more likely to think
    about the needs of others and engage in altruistic deeds.

3. Perceived Value:

  • Enhanced Satisfaction: Easy experiences often lead to higher perceived value and an
    increase in trust. We associate the product or service with positive outcomes,
    making us more willing to support them in the future.
  • Loyalty and Advocacy: Positive experiences foster loyalty, increasing the likelihood
    of repeat donations, more often and with a higher referral rate.

4. Social Sharing:

  • We love to talk: Easy experiences are often shared positively with others. This
    creates a sense of social proof, encouraging others to participate and give too.
  • Giving is Contagious: Positive recommendations build trust in the charity or
    organisation, with a ripple effect, making our friends and family more likely to follow
    with their support.
Two grey haired ladies sat chatting outside about their charity donations

5. Habit building:

Routine and Ease: When an experience is consistently easy, it becomes a habit. Giving can become part of this routine, increasing the likelihood of continued
donations. 

At Dona Donations, we love to give our donors an easy process to support their chosen
charity.

Contactless card payments mean no need to carry cash and it is quick and easy to
‘tap to donate’.


If your charity could benefit from a boost to your fundraising with contactless card donation
please do contact us today. 

 

*Harvard Business Review 2008 – Professor Michael Norton –
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/5_ways_giving_is_good_for_you

 

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Peace of Mind: Security and Risk Reduction for Charities

Older man with cash and a contactless card

Peace of Mind: Security and Risk Reduction for Charities

July 2024

Safe and Secure: Can Contactless Donations Protect Your Charity?

The UK ranked 3rd in the world for the amount of money donated to charity in 2022 with 71% of the population being donors*.

Charities can often be subject to theft and fraud with Action Fraud reporting that the total amount lost between November 2022 and October 2023 to be £2,732,170 with over 500 cases.

Charities are reliant on altruism, trust and honesty. There is the risk of theft and fraud that can be either internal or external.  

Internal Charity Fraud

Charity Fraud Report 2023: This report by BDO and the Fraud Advisory Panel highlights that internal fraud (by staff or volunteers) is the most common type of charity fraud**.

While we know that staff and volunteers are crucial to running a charity, there are steps that can be taken to minimise this risk.

 

If you are a charity concerned about internal theft or fraud please see this resource from the Preventing Charity Fraud organisation. It is an excellent guide to speaking to your volunteers about charity fraud – Speaking to volunteers about charity fraud

Charity volunteer lady counting cash donations on a table

External Charity Fraud

The highest recorded examples of external charity fraud in 2022*** were the misappropriation of cash or assets – this was double the number for 2021.

Cash can be stolen from events, charity boxes or on the way to be deposited.  In addition to the loss to the charity, this can be extremely upsetting for staff and volunteers.

Scammers might impersonate your charity and try to collect funds illegally.  Having strict donation policies and appointing a representative to monitor charity collections under the charity banner is just one option.  

Why is it important to protect donors and donations

Reliance on fundraising is crucial to the charity’s survival but are cash collections the best way to collect?

We can access this from both sides – The donor and the Charity.

The donor seeks convenience, security and to feel good about their donation.  The thought of their donation being stolen or not going to the heart of the charity would be devastating and could mean they are less likely to donate in the future.

The Charity would like to raise as much money as possible to be able to fulfil their aims and to operate within their constitution.  A simple, efficient process with minimal risk and clear reporting is ideal, such as an online management portal. 

Cash vs Contactless charity donations, which is best?

You might be weighing up – Cash vs Contactless payments – which is more secure? This is a question that we are often asked, particularly in the post-COVID era.  Let’s look at more detail about the handling of cash donations.

Older man with cash and a contactless card

Are contactless donations the solution?

The UK is moving towards a cashless society.  Contactless payments utilise a series of security measures like encryption and tokenisation to protect personal or sensitive information.

Taking card payments generally reduces the risk of physical fraud as stolen cash is almost impossible to recover.  

The benefits of contactless donations are clear when we look at the risk to our volunteers, the theft risk and the reporting of donation behaviour.

With more data about our donors, charities are able to make strides to increase the donation amount per transaction, build campaigns in a more informed way, focus on the easy of donating and save on costly staff and admin fees.

If you would like to explore using contactless donations for your charity please contact us –


By phone – 0203 488 8095

Or by filling out our enquiry form. 

 

 

 

*Charities Aid Foundation – https://www.cafonline.org/about-us/research/caf-world-giving-index

**BDO Charity Fraud Report – https://www.bdo.co.uk/en-gb/insights/advisory/forensic-services/charity-fraud

***Charity Fraud examples – https://www.qlicnfp.com/charity-fraud-examples-you-should-watch-out-for/

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The Power of Contactless: How Charities Can Raise More

Contactless cards in gold from visa and mastercard

The Power of Contactless: How Charities Can Raise More

July 2024

Why going contactless is one effortless way to boost donations.


Nowadays, fewer than 1 in every 5 payments are made with cash in the UK. There has never been a
better time to switch to contactless donations for your charity.
The rise in contactless payments in the UK has been phenomenal since Covid 19 with a record 93.4%
of all in-store transactions up to £100 being made with a contactless method of payment in 2023*
In 2023 the average person used their contactless payment 231 times with an average spend over
the year of £3,623**


There is no doubt that contactless is now the quickest and most efficient way for most people to
make purchases day to day. The contactless payment limit was raised to £100 in October 2021 and
with Dona Donations terminals the most you can donate in one transaction is £9999.99.
Mobile phone wallets have no specific limits. However, it is wise to check as some providers have a
general total card spending limit. Find out more here about general mobile transactions.
Contactless payments continue to be a safe way to make payments with a small reduction in the
amount stolen through payment fraud in 2023 according to the UK Finance Annual Fraud Report
2024.


*According to Frontier Economics 
**Barclays, 2024

Contactless cards in gold from visa and mastercard

5 key benefits of taking contactless donations with Dona
Donations


1. Take donations with Contactless and Chip & PIN

2. Collect donations without an internet connection.

3. Easy-to-use Management Portal featuring Gift Aid declarations and HMRC
reporting 

4. Secure custom stand options 

5. Self-service kiosk with a 10-hour battery life


Most charities can benefit from contactless donations including churches, mosques, temples,
museums, schools, universities, hospices, and food banks. Dona Donations have raised over £25
million for over 2,000 charities thus far. With 40% of donations Gift Aided it is the future of
fundraising.

Cards Accepted include@

 Mastercard
 Visa
 Apple pay
 American Express
 Google Pay
 Contactless
 Diners Club
 Maestro

What does the future of Contactless fundraising look like?

With the use of mobile wallets, digital currencies and banks collaborating to make fintech
advancements at an astonishing rate, we can be sure that tap and go is here for the long run. But
which other areas could we see payments developing into for the future?


Consumer confidence has grown, and card payment is widely accepted as a preferred alternative to
cash. With the reduction in risk and the rise in wearable devices, the future of contactless looks likely
to grow further with enhanced convenience and accessibility. The technological advancements mean
the traceability and reporting now available help to make the running of a charity so much more
efficient.


We could see further biometric payments and the need for physical cards decline with some
providers already issuing virtual credit cards. Additionally, QR codes may have finally found their
niche with a huge uptake in the use of this technology for managing business credit card accounts
and taking automatic payments.


Find out more about Dona Donations charity donation plate and how it could help boost your
donations. 

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4 Easy Steps to Set Up Contactless Fundraising

Group of Charity volunteers by a van ready to take donations

4 Easy Steps to Set Up Contactless Fundraising

June 2024

Boost donations for your charity!

Dona Donations Managing Director Elroy Fernandes talks us through the ease of setting up contactless fundraising terminals for your charity.

The rise of mobile payments has transformed how people give. Cash donations are declining, but with contactless fundraising, your charity can literally ‘tap’ into a whole new world of generous supporters.

Here are the 4 easy steps to get your contactless fundraising up and running:

1. Assemble Your Fundraising Committee: Gather and talk to your committee about how contactless fundraising can be used for your charity as a safe and effective tool.  Speak to us and we can provide you all the costs, savings, and statistics to help you put forward your case to your fellow members.

Some of the most common questions we are asked are:

    1. How much does it cost
    2. Length of contracted commitment
    3. What support is available should there be a technical or user problem?
    4. Which payment cards are accepted?
    5. How long does it take to set up contactless donations?

    Elroy said “The biggest factor is trust, making sure we are helping your charity to make the most of the donations made with low costs and clear transparency.  Ensuring our values also align with your mission and values of your charity as a trusted professional supplier”

     

    2. Setting Up Your Electronic Donation System: The beauty of ‘tap to pay’ fundraising is its simplicity. We walk you through the entire process, ensuring a seamless integration with your existing donation infrastructure.

    Elroy noted “Nominate a team member that will help us to get you set up,  this is a quick process that is usually handled by your treasurer who can liaise with your bank, we are very happy to help guide you from start to finish”

    3. Promote, Promote, Promote! Once your mobile giving is up and running, let your supporters know! Announce your new donation option on your website, social media channels, and email newsletters. Additionally, you could consider offering incentives for early mobile donors to generate excitement or set a target to reach.

    Person making a Credit card payment for online donation terminal

    Elroy stated “Upon launch, we see a big rise in initial donations as supporters are keen to try the new technology and welcome the opportunity to use a safe method of payment.  Hence, this leads to a rise in the average donations made”

    4. Enjoy Increased Donations & Growing Support: With a card payment fundraising system in place, you’ll be opening your charity up to a whole new wave of contributions. Therefore, Dona terminals make donating easier than ever, allowing your supporters to contribute anytime, anywhere.

    Elroy added “For outdoor activities and events our terminals are perfect.  No Wi-Fi signal is no barrier; we can bring the latest technology to your charity fundraising and keep your team safe with a reduced theft risk.  We also find that charity volunteers like the reduced responsibility of handling cash”

    Remember, we're here to help!

    We have the experience and resources to make your contactless fundraising journey a success. Contact us today to learn more and take the first step towards a brighter future for your charity.

    Enquire