Your temple donation box is the key to raising enough funds to continue supporting your community. But if you're only relying on cash donations, you're missing out - big time. That's where modernizing your donation box can help! Read on to learn about some great tools to help you capture more donations with easy steps for you and your donors.
Temple donation boxes are important pillars of fundraising for all kinds of temples. They’re especially helpful in Hindu temples for collecting Daan, or acts of charity through donation.
It’s time to rethink the temple donation box by bringing it into the twenty-first century. With fewer people carrying cash, collecting online and in-person donations digitally is more important than ever.
This article will show you the importance of updating your temple donation box as well as seven powerful tools to make it happen.
Let’s get started!
Temple donation boxes are placed in high-traffic areas of a temple so visitors can show their gratitude for various teachings and activities. People also donate to help support the upkeep of the temple and any special projects temple leadership might be launching.
Typically, temple donation boxes are placed in the temple lobby or near a shrine.
A Hindu temple donation box also receives donations from those looking to complete acts of Dhana Daan, or donation-based charity. Giving to donation boxes can also be an act of good Karma.
The traditional temple donation box relies on cash donations. When people visit, they simply give what cash they have in their pockets. With the popularity of cash continuing to decrease worldwide, many temples are now missing out on countless donations.
That’s why it’s so important for temples to modernize and consider ways to help their visitors make quick donations via credit cards, smartphones, and smartwatches.
A donation kiosk is a powerful tool that helps temples secure more donations in an increasingly cashless world. Visitors can use a giving kiosk to donate as easily as they would with cash!
Plus, donation kiosks can help you gather contact information from your donors so you can add them to your email or mailing lists and start building lasting relationships.
Having the right donation kiosk tool is the key to making this process as streamlined as possible! The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app helps temples modernize their donation box by turning a tablet and card reader into a powerful donation collector. Visitors to your temple can easily make donations using their credit cards or smart devices. It’s inexpensive – especially since you can use devices you already have! – and vital for temples looking to recoup more donations to support their vital work.
When you’re ready to update your Hindu temple donation box, Donorbox has the tools you need to provide as many ways to give as possible. No more missing out on donations from your temple visitors!
Looking for more inspiration? Check out this list of twelve compelling temple fundraising ideas!
The Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app is a powerful way to create a donation kiosk for your temple.
Simply download the app on your iPad or Android tablet, link it with your active Donorbox account, and connect an approved card reader device. Donors can then give easily using taps, dips, and swipes with their credit cards, smartphones, or smartwatches.
To create your donation kiosk, you’ll need the following –
You can place your donation kiosk anywhere you would leave your temple donation box. During events and other activities with your community, you can walk around with it to collect even more donations.
All donations are recorded on your Donorbox account for easy monitoring of your temple fundraising goals. If donors choose to include their email addresses, they will receive an automated tax-compliant receipt for their act of Daan.
Watch this short video to learn more about how Donorbox Live™ can help you raise even more for your temple –
Creating an online donation form to act as a virtual donation box is another great way to increase donations for your temple.
Donorbox donation forms are effective and customizable to fit your needs. You choose everything from currency types, donation levels, recurring donation intervals, colors, and what information to collect from each donor. You can also choose to embed your form on your website or host it on Donorbox.
Making a donation form to collect Daan is a great modernized temple donation box and a way to boost donations for your temple! Just see how Sai Daan Foundation did it with this Donorbox form –
Check out this short video to learn how to Make the Most of Your Donation Form!
Recurring donations are an effective method to ensure a steady stream of contributed income for your temple.
With Donorbox recurring donations, you can choose to include up to four donation intervals out of the following list: one-time, daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, and/or annual. Then, you can set one interval as the default and one as the recommended interval, which will mark it with a heart.
Once someone makes a recurring donation to your temple, they can log in to Donorbox anytime to make changes to their gift.
Although visitors to your temple may not have cash in their pockets anymore, they’re very likely to have their smartphones. Donorbox Text-to-Give makes it super easy for donors to give using their smartphones so you can collect more donations through an online temple donation box.
You’ll simply enable text-to-give on your Donorbox campaign to get your unique shortcode or campaign ID. All your donors have to do is text that information to the text-to-give number, where they’ll receive a link to your donation form. Once they donate, they can easily perform Daan again via text!
Donors are quickly connected to mobile-optimized donation pages like this one from ISKCON Milton. We love how they demonstrate how much value each donation level brings to their organization!
QR codes are everywhere these days. But did you know they are fantastic tools to modernize your temple donation box?
A free QR code is automatically generated for each Donorbox campaign. Simply customize the QR code to your liking, download it, and post it around your temple.
To access your donation form, visitors simply scan the code using their smartphones to be directed to your mobile-friendly donation form on your website or hosted on Donorbox. For example, they could quickly be connected to this Donorbox fundraising page for ISKCON Austin’s new temple building –
From this fundraising page, donors can choose which currency their donation should be in, how much they’d like to give, and if they want to give once or monthly. So far, ISKCON Austin has raised over $3 million!
To modernize your temple donation box, you need to make sure it’s as easy as possible to give over and over.
Donorbox QuickDonate™ allows donors who have donated through your temple donation form to give again with one click through their donor portal. One-time donors who opt into creating a donor portal account and all recurring donors receive a link to easily create their accounts.
This means that giving to your temple again and again is only a click away! It’s a great way to modernize your temple donation box.
The key to a modern Hindu temple donation box for collecting Daan is swiftness. Donors want to get donating out of the way so they can enjoy their time at your temple!
Donorbox UltraSwift™ Pay makes donating super speedy by eliminating the need to input personal information like name, address, and credit card info. Instead, donors can use digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal Checkout, and Venmo. This adds the necessary information for them – all they have to do is select their donation amount and finish checking out.
Here’s how it works for your temple donors –
Your temple donation box is an important hub for your temple. It’s where the majority of your donations will come in! People give to show appreciation, support ongoing projects like maintaining the temple, and simply complete an act of Daan.
The ability to accept digital donations is the key to bringing your donation box into modern times. Whether you’re setting up a donation kiosk, using text-to-give or QR codes to connect your donors with your donation form, or relying on fast ways for your donors to give again, Donorbox has you covered with seven powerful tools.
Start modernizing your temple donation box today by setting up your Donorbox account! It only takes a few minutes and is completely free to start.
We have tons of resources to help you on your temple fundraising journey. Our Nonprofit Blog is filled with articles with actionable tips and step-by-step guides. Donorbox Academy has free classes to help you get started. Our YouTube channel has handy webinars with expert fundraisers. The Nonprofit Podcast has up-to-date tips for every stage of the fundraising year. And our Library has tons of free, downloadable resources on everything from event planning to volunteer recruitment.
Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
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Lindsey Baker Bower