Nidderdale Museum: Increasing Donations Contactless Technology

Nidderdale Museum relies on visitor donations to support the preservation of Pateley Bridge’s social history. By introducing Dona contactless donation technology, the museum has been able to modernise its fundraising while keeping the experience simple for volunteers and visitors alike.

The museum first adopted Dona during the COVID pandemic, when cash payments and traditional entry fees were no longer practical. Dona provided a reliable, easy-to-use alternative without the limitations of a full point-of-sale system, which wouldn’t have been able to accommodate Gift Aid.

Simple for volunteers to use
Dona’s tap-to-donate interface allows volunteer stewards to manage entry fees and donations confidently, even when they are not on duty regularly.

Faster admin and regular payouts
Automated processing and regular payouts reduce administration time and help improve cashflow, allowing staff to focus on running the museum.

Increasing donations on-site and online
Visitors can donate using contactless terminals inside the museum or via online donation links on the museum’s website, making it easy to give at any point in their journey.

Reliable service with clear reporting
With dependable connectivity, responsive customer support, and clear data and reporting, Dona gives the museum full visibility over its fundraising performance.

Dona has become a trusted part of their daily operations, helping them raise significant funds through simple, contactless and Chip & PIN giving.

“We introduced Dona during the COVID pandemic as we were able to open up the Museum with certain restrictions, but not able to take money for entry fees. We had previously considered using a card payment system, but our volunteer stewards could well have had problems with a full system that involved a Point of Sale screen and data entry as they are not regularly on duty. Finding a system that just involved tapping a button on a screen made it viable and it has proved to be an excellent system.

The Customer Service team have always been very responsive and helpful, enabling us to use the system every day, and the connection with the payment processor works well so that weekly payouts are received. Apart from taking entry fees within the Museum, visitors also tap the screen to make additional donations in-house, as well as using links on our website to send us further gifts. Having processed around £50,000 since we started working with Dona, we are delighted with the service.”